There is much more to the Mahabharata than meets the eye! says Sudha Murthy. Her latest children’s book, The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata by Puffin which is just out is a great gift for all children on Children’s Day (NOV 14) and what’s more, adults are sure to enjoy it too!

In a telephonic conversation, the computer engineer and author  confesses that she is a story teller at heart and says she loved telling the ancient stories of our land to both her own children and then her grandchildren. Featuring some of the most interesting but lesser known stories of the Mahabharata, this is the first time Sudha Murty is writing in the mythology genre. The charming Sudha Murthy, grandmother, mother,  wife of Narayan Murthy and Chairperson of  Infosys Foundation  speaks with a lilt in her voice as she  says, “ I love writing for children and I think it is the most difficult genre of writing. One of the most important things to keep in mind is the use of language and words. Writers must be careful to avoid words like sati when you retell the old tales.”

A Padma Shri winner of 2006, she continues,‘I belong to the land of Hubli, a city in Karnataka. 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. These stories were often based on our epics and hence, did not always follow the logic of real life. So I perpetually had questions on the whys and hows about the stories’ sequence of events. However, no one could completely satisfy my curiosity or withstand my endless questioning. Little did I know that my curiosity would follow me into adulthood and culminate into this book for my young readers. My hope is that this book answers at least some of the same innocent questions that I also wondered about as a child.’

Even as an adult I found the book to be  full of information about our ancient stories and it tickled my curiosity enough to keep me turning the page untill the very end. Surely a great must read for all kids and at Rs 250 the best way to transport your child to a magical world!