Those close to nature lean towards literature: Prasoon Joshi

Mumbai, Jan 23 (IANS) Writer-lyricist Prasoon Joshi, who has been conferred a Honorary Doctorate from Amity University at the Jaipur Literature Festival, believes that those who are more exposed to nature are inclined to grow a liking for literature.

"...those who are close to nature like hill station or mountainous area aren't exposed to the busy life of the city. So they are more relaxed and have an inclination towards literature," Prasoon told IANS.

Prasoon has penned down for much acclaimed Bollywood movies like "Taare Zameen Par", "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" and "Rang De Basanti", among others.

"You can make a kid either an engineer or doctor but you can't make a kid a writer unless he or she read a lot from their childhood. Unfortunately, city life doesn't allow that. Even literate who stay at city visit nature often, it gives them the energy," he said.

He also thinks money has become more important than the principle.

"Today our ideals have become those people who are money minded, worthless and extortionists. We should not make them our ideals. We don't think about how this money is earned. I don't oppose making money.

"We consider wealth as our goddess provided that is earned in a righteous way. Our models should be those who have achieved success by their hard work, sincerity and values," he stated.

Joshi, who also received the National Film Award for Best Lyrics twice and was also awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2015 for his contributions towards the field of Arts, Literature and Advertising, has been conferred with Honorary Doctorate from Amity University at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Saturday.

As a renowned Indian poet, thinker, lyricist, screenwriter and in recognition of his contribution towards the field of Arts, Literature and Advertising, Prasoon Joshi was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) - Honoris Causa.

Some of the other distinguished recipients of Honoris Causa include Abdullah Gul (President of Turkey), Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (President of the Republic of Liberia), Arun Jaitley, Prof C.N.R. Rao, Dr R.A. Mashelkar, Dr S.K. Brahmachari, Dr K. Kasturirangan, Dr K. Radhakrishnan, Dr R. Chidambaram, Ajay G. Piramal, Dr Sekhar Basu, Prof Bibek Debroy, Shobhana Bhartia and N.R. Narayana Murthy, among others.