By Archana Sharma

Jaipur, Jan 22 (IANS): Calling on mothers to put their gadgets aside and spend time with their kids, renowned author, entrepreneur, educator and philanthropist Sudha Murty said that courage and confidence should be inculcated in children as these qualities are more important than academic excellence and cant be taught anywhere.

"There is no coaching class unfortunately anywhere in the world which teaches courage and confidence to kids. Also there is no syllabus, and everyday we have examinations in life so you should encourage your children to have confidence in life.

"The only way we can give children confidence is to allow them to try new things. Encourage children to learn new things, encourage them to fail, don't discourage children in making decisions and thinking differently," she said while speaking at a programme in Jaipur.

A good amount of success and a certain amount of failure are needed in life to make a person mature. A little failure is also a kind of lesson in life so allow your children to experiment, do new things and learn. Parents mostly feel that our difficulties should not happen to their children, but they will have certain other difficulties. We can't stop waves in the sea. If you know the art of surfing, you can surf any sea, she said.

She advised moms that they should not use gadgets at home, if the mom uses them, the kids will get addicted to gadgets. She added, "I thank God I delivered two children in the 80s before gadgets came, if it would have been now, I don't know how I would have handled it."

Murty asked parents to spend time with their children. "Spend time with your children, at least till they are 14-15 years old. Be with them, try to understand them."

"You won't get this time back."

After the event, Murty, speaking to IANS, said, "It is important to have a more humanised approach at home. People don't write letters anymore; we use WhatsApp and if not WhatsApp, we use message service. With this technology change, people become technology oriented. It is better to call mother instead of 10 messages, instead of sending 2 emails call a person, it is better to make more humane sense."

Instead of WhatsApping friends, invite them home; however when in business, stay committed. "I prefer not to have lunch, dinner but to send messages, emails and whatever is necessary, but at home, we need human space..."

Murty answering a query on the resignation of New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said that women are supposed to do a double amount of work, 100pc in office and 110pc at home. It is difficult to do 210 pc, however it depends on the individual, how much support they get at home, from family, kids and spouse, she added.

When asked if women are on an equal footing today with reference to a letter she wrote to JRD Tata demanding equal opportunities for women at the workplace, Murty said, "I graduated 50 years ago. Social change is a slow process. There have definitely been equal conditions for women in some areas. Any social change comes from a change in mindset. Any social change takes time, requires a change of mindset, it requires awareness, awareness requires education. Things have changed a lot, people in general are lethargic to change, with knowledge, people change and a certain change has definitely come in."

When asked if she has any further goal in life which has remained unfulfilled, she said, "I have always aimed at delivering the best in whatever role I received as a human being, as wife, mother, teacher and whatever other role I got. I delivered the best and never thought of anything else. I am satisfied with what I have, whatever I get I prefer doing the best."