Author Sudha Murty’s latest book gives Grandpa a chance

When Sudha Murty started writing 44 years ago, she did not think a book written by someone without a background in literature would get published or that anyone would want to read it. At the recent release of her 300th title, Grandpa’s Bag of Stories (Puffin), she had a message for her younger self, “Literature does not have borders or a degree. It is about a passion to express yourself in words. As long as you have that passion, you will write.”

Grandpa’s Bag of Stories, is a collection of 19 stories about four children and their grandparents’ journey to Mayawati, a scenic region in Uttarakhand. Along the way, their grandfather regales them with tales of kings and princesses, mermaids, and bitter gourds, imparting wisdom and compassion. 

The book launch was attended by prominent Bangaloreans, litterateurs, publishers and translators. In conversation with actor and writer Twinkle Khanna who released the book, Sudha talked about her approach to writing, telling stories as a grandmother, and other books that are in the pipeline.

When asked who was the better storyteller at home, Sudha admitted she was a step ahead of her husband, Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy. “In this book, I purposely wrote “grandpa stories” because Murthy doesn’t tell stories. Maybe one day he will write a book on technology, such as C++ for four year-olds or How to teach Pascal to a six year old,” she joked.

“It becomes too much for a grandmother to tell stories every time and as an author, you don’t like monotony. So this time round, I decided it would be a grandfather, even though the stories and the voice are mine.”

Speaking about the unique challenges that come with writing for children as compared to writing for adults, Sudha said she always tried to write positive stories that imparted morals without being too preachy.

“If I say “You should work hard”, “Always tell the truth”, then they’ll think it is a moral science class and tune out. That is why I convert the whole theme into a story.” Constantly seeking feedback from her readers also helps her write better, Sudha says, “They ask me tough questions which I enjoy. After interacting with children I wonder, is the language alright? Is the story repetitive? Children tell me these things.”

Next, Sudha wants to write a book on unusual shlokas — a project she has been mulling over for years. “I recall a beautiful shloka, which my grandfather used to recite; it called on Raghu, Nala, Arjuna and Shakuntala’s son Bharata. All these people left their homes, conquered the world, returned safely and looked after their kingdom. My grandfather always said when someone was setting out for a journey, it was apt to say, “Go out, conquer the world and come back safely”. These are some of the unusual shlokas I wish to write about.”

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