by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Mysore, May 7: Jnanpith laureate Dr U R Ananthamurthy said his grandmother was responsible for his success in literary world.

He was replying to queries from children at Chinnara Mela, a summer camp, at Rangayana.

When children wanted to know who was his source of inspiration, Dr Ananthamurthy said 'my grandmother'.

"She told a lot of stories everyday to children. It inspired me to enter the literary world", he said.

Q: Though you are a literary figure, why did you contest elections ?

URA: MLAs elect members to Rajya Sabha. People elect mostly intelligent persons as MLAs. I thought MLAs were intelligent when I contested elections...

However, Dr. Ananthamurthy did not elaborate.

The children then wanted to know whether there were many writers in his family.

Dr. Ananthamurthy replied in the positive. He said one Vivek Shanbhag related to his family was interested in literature.

Rangayana Director Chidambara Rao Jambe presided.