Sudha Murty

“I learned reading and writing from my mother.”

“Coming from a middle-class background of Northern Karnataka, where good education was the only insurance policy, I started reading and writing very early.”

“We can spend Rs 5,000 for a meal at the Taj and thousands on all kinds of shopping, but we're always stingy about books. We always think of borrowing. Why? Writers can use some support. If you have space and money, you should buy your own books.”

“In life's journey, we all meet strange people and undergo many experiences that touch us and sometimes even change us.”

“My first exposure to sanitation issues occurred when I got admission into an engineering college. They probably didn't want to admit me and informed me that there was no ladies toilet in the college. I was adamant and pursued my studies in engineering in that very college.”

“During my younger days, we didn't have digital media or electronic gadgets the way we do now. So the best part of my day was the one I spent either in listening to stories from my elders or reading them.”

“For someone who wants to write a story, they should go on thinking about the story. When it comes up to a level, where it has reached your neck that's when you should go about writing it.”

“Women should realise their strength and set goals.”

“I will continue to work for people, but not from any political party. What I can do do as a Rajya Sabha member, I can do without being a member too, perhaps even more efficiently.”

“Professionally, my first book came out at the age of 29, where I wrote about my experiences of backpacking in U.S. on a frugal budget.”

“If I give someone flowers, what will they really do with it. If I take food, the person could be diabetic... But books are a source of knowledge, I have great thirst for knowledge.”

“Planning things is neither my cup of tea nor my choice. Same applies to books too.”

“For every job you require a kind of mindset. To be a teacher one should be knowledgeable. To be a software engineer you should know computer data system analysis, computer language etc. So, my mindset is not aligned with politics.”

“I will not buck to pressure of delivering to publishers.”

“People often ask me how I get so many unique experiences while they get none. I tell them the difference is in the sensitivity. I can observe those small emotions, which may look trivial to others.”

“We can give our children only two things in life which are essential. Strong roots and powerful wings. Then they may fly anywhere and live independently. Of all the luxuries in life, the greatest luxury is getting freedom of the right kind.”

“I am touched by my readers who loved my books. All the stories are true incidents in life. Now I have realised, any amount of imagination will not be as beautiful as the real life.”

“I like to write and that's why I write. I don't think about how much the book will sell.”

“My grandfather was a history teacher, one reason the subject has been an integral part of my life.”

“Nobody owns the money he/she possesses. They hold it just as a trustee.”