More than her achievements as a social worker, author, educator, philanthropist and Padma Bhushan award winner, Dr Sudha Murty is today a celebrity and a role model for a young and aspiring India, akin to the late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
Her simplicity, ever smiling demeanour, sense of calmness she exudes, positivity she carries around her and her straight-from-the-heart style of honest talking, interspersed with hilarious comments has won millions of hearts and minds.
Photos By: Life In Chandigarh & PU Chandigarh
So, when it was announced that the founder of Infosys Foundation would be in conversation with the faculty and research scholars of Panjab University on Friday, a day prior to her being awarded with Honoris Causa Degree by Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar on the occasion of the 70th Annual Convocation of the university, a full house was the least which could have been expected.
Indeed, the not so large auditorium of Dr S.S. Bhatnagar University Institute of Chemical Engineering & Technology, which usually remains half empty even during the best of lectures by eminent personalities, seminars or conferences, was jam-packed, with many in the audience having to squeeze themselves in.
Listening intensely to every thought expressed by the free-flowing Sudha Murty, the audience intermittently burst into laughter and spontaneous clapping, which has become synonymous with the 72-year-old’s by now famed wit.
To Sudha Murty’s credit, she has a way with the audiences. Despite most of what she says being already common knowledge, and she being a prolific talker (by her own admission, be sure when Sudha is around she will do the bulk of the talking), her listeners enjoy and soak in every word of what she says.
What people appear to particularly like about her thoughts is that there is no pretence and she talks real sense, drawing from her vast experience of interacting with a multitude of people from diverse fields.
On Friday, while stressing on the need for people to walk the talk, she said children are closely looking at your actions and they will emulate what they see. “I for one do not talk about something I do not believe in, or indulge in anything which does not engage my mind,” she shared.
Known to be a strong votary of simplicity and value based behaviour, she said money is not everything in life. Without compassion for others, life tends to become meaningless, she added.
Asserting that she is not a Buddha, Mahavira or Guru Nanak, to preach the true meaning of life, she nevertheless expressed the opinion that there is nothing perfect in real life. “Living with the realities of life, the imperfection it brings and striking equilibrium in life is not easy, it takes time. Eventually, everyone has to find his own path to achieve inner happiness. As far as I am concerned, helping the helpless, and bringing some joy in their lives, is a source of tremendous happiness.”
Advising the young to follow their own calling, she said there is no fixed formula for success because life is so much unpredictable. “Just put in that extra effort and believe in yourself. Repeated success makes a man arrogant, so failures should be taken as life lessons because these make a man strong, and help sustain humility,” she averred.
The interactive session was presided over by university Vice Chancellor Prof Renu Vig. Prof Rumina Sethi, Dean of University Instruction, hosted the conversation. The other organizers Prof Anju Suri, Dean of Faculty of Arts, and Prof Anupama Sharma, Dean of Alumni Relations also graced the dais.
A lady from the audience presented a self painted caricature of Sudha Murty to her.
In their enthusiasm to get close to the celebrity, several faculty members and research scholars literally mobbed her on the dais after the event.
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