Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], February 1 : Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murthy attended the Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday, where she shared her views on the differences between acquiring knowledge through reading books and through digital media.
Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy were also present at the event.
In an interaction with the media, Sudha Murthy explained the importance of reading by stating an example of her children and grandchildren.
"Reading is more important than digital life. When you read you have a scope of imagination. It increases your depth of knowledge. You can describe Lord Vishnu. I can imagine each adjective of those lines. When I asked my children to describe Krishna, my daughter and son said Nitish Bharadwaj from BR Chopra's Mahabharat, that's what Krishna is to them."
Sudha continued "Then I asked my granddaughter to describe Krishna. She said Suarabh Jain. The imagination stopped by the ceiling of digital media looks like that. "
However, Sudha believes that people still love to read despite the change in reading methodology over the years.
"I found out that reading methodology might have changed but people still read. My ancestors used to read in Bhoja Patra. Before that people used to read on stone slates. I read on paper. So the method of acquiring knowledge has changed but the love for knowledge has not. So, you also need to understand that we cannot avoid digital media 100 per cent." said Sudha.
The co-founder of Infosys also reflected on the challenges faced by women authors in the past.
While speaking to Media, she said, "In my olden days, when I was young it was so difficult for a woman author to publish books. Men never believed. They used to say, 'Women can write only Kitchen stories but they cannot write about life. But today it is not true. Today women are changing their whole way of living. They are in good jobs, they are astronauts, and when they come back with much experience, it will be great."
The 18th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival is being held at Jaipur's Hotel Clarks Amer from January 30 to February 3.