'Opening Dasara is an honour for any Kannadiga'

“I never imagined that I will get an opportunity to inaugurate the Mysuru Dasara. This is a great honour for any Kannadiga,” said Infosys Foundation chairperson and writer Sudha Murty on Tuesday.

Speaking to mediapersons at the Mysuru Airport in Mandakalli near here, Sudha said, “The government should think of including Mysuru Dasara, which depicts the culture of the state, in the school curriculum. The coming generations should understand the importance of Dasara,” she said.

“Dasara is different from Ganeshostava and Deepavali festivals. Dasara celebrations are important as they are connected with the history of the state,” she said.

Sudha said, “I was delighted to be invited for the Dasara inauguration. My happiness is similar to the one experienced when one secures the first rank in a prestigious examination,” she said.

She said, in 1959, when she was eight years old,
she witnessed the Jamboo Savari along with her family members.

“The then king Jayachamaraja Wadiyar had taken part in the procession. There is a lot of difference between the present Dasara and the Dasara of those days,” she said.

Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar welcomed Sudha Murty and her husband N R Narayana Murthy of the Infosys. Murthy, a native of the present Chikkaballapur district, is an alumnus of the National Institute of Engineering in Mysuru. Infosys has set up its Infosys Leadership Institute on the outskirts of Mysuru.