‘Experiences are important in writing’

CHENNAI : I  don’t have to try. The stories just come to my head, like a movie frame. I see everything that is going to be written,” says Sudha Murty, chairperson of the Infosys Foundation. 
 Her new book, Here, There and Everywhere was launched on Friday. It includes among others, a collection of some of her favourite stories, unusual experiences while working for the Infosys Foundation, and two new stories.

A native of Shiggaon, north Karnataka, Sudha has read most of the Kannada authors of her generation including Triveni, Shivaram Karanth, and S L Bhyarappa. She is also an admirer of English language authors such as Pearl S Buck, and works such as Simone de Beauvoir’s Second Sex and some of Shakespeare’s plays. Sudha started writing at 50 but feels she has come into her own. 

Talking about women in publishing, Sudha believes that gender does not matter if the stories are good. She does, however, agree that women did have limited experiences for a very long time due to various inhibitions. Sudha highlights how women from her grandmother’s side wrote poetry but never went to school. “I think experiences are important in writing. As one’s experience widens, the literature they create will be more beautiful. Once I planned on going to Iran,” she recalls, “and I did go and see the place. Now I can write about it. It’s different from what one can write by only imagining Iran in their heads.”

About developing characters in a novel, she goes back to her movie frame reference and talks about the time she met a Marathi director who felt the same way as she did. “The only difference is she directs and I write,” says Sudha.In her days as a columnist for newspapers, she says, she learned the discipline of sticking to a word count. When she started writing for The Week magazine, Sudha had to stick to 500 words. “I could stick to that word limit and eliminate all the extra words from my pieces.” She has also written columns for many other newspapers as well.

Sudha believes that if one is good at doing something, they should not waste their lives doing something that they are not interested in. “I agree, writing, dance, music, and other arts don’t bring in a lot of money. The financial aspect is also important. But if it brings you satisfaction, then you should do it. I’ve met several engineers who have become RJs, TV anchors, Kathak dancers,” she says.