Lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar underscored the importance of literature and liberal arts in nurturing empathy, creativity, and well-rounded education.Speaking at a session moderated by Suchetna Banerjee, Assistant Professor at Symbiosis School for Liberal Arts (SSLA, Akhtar said literature has the power to bridge human differences.“Literature is not only for those who write it, it is for everybody. It teaches you about people of different nationalities, languages, colours, and castes and simultaneously it shows how similar human beings truly are. It makes you understand everyone; it makes you a much better person,” he said.He further stressed about broad-based education. “General education is necessary. An art student should know what’s happening in AI, in astronomy, in genetics and vice versa,” said Akhtar.“Everybody cannot be a literary genius, or a scientist, or a doctor. But having basic knowledge about every field makes you a well-rounded person.”Calling literature the “foundation of a meaningful life”, Akhtar added, “Even if you’re an engineer, doctor, or scientist, literature makes life more compassionate, aesthetic, and beautiful. You can’t visit every home or every region in the world, but literature builds in you the compassion and understanding of every human being.”Story continues below this adOn artificial intelligence, Akhtar describes it as “a powerful invention” but maintained that true creativity belongs to the human subconscious. “AI might have a higher IQ, but creativity doesn’t come from the conscious mind, it happens in the space between consciousness and the subconscious. That’s something no machine can replicate right now,” he said.Tharoor urges nuanceAt the same event, in another session, Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said engineering teaches a black and white approach to the world, while liberal arts education helps students understand nuance.“Oxford University did a study on all the terrorist incidents that had occurred in the 1990s. I think it was up to 2005 if I remember right. And they discovered that though, in fact, all these incidents were in different parts of the world and not very much in common thematically, the one thing they had in common was that 87% of them thought that the terrorists had studied engineering…And the only explanation you could get is that basically engineering teaches you a black and white approach to the world and to thinking. That was the theory anyway. So I said, what’s the obvious answer? Liberal arts.”“Let the engineers also, as a compulsory subject, study liberal arts in addition to their engineering courses. So they get to realize that there is more than black and white in the world,” Tharoor added.Expanding on his view on education, the MP remarked, “In an age of algorithms and analytics, it’s very often tempting to think that data will save us. When we hear data is the new oil, data is the new gold. (But) The data needs a narrative. Facts need framing. Truth needs telling. Let us invest in language and in words. Let’s invest in educating people in languages, in English and their mother tongues. Let us support libraries, translation projects, and literary festivals like this one. Let us teach our children not just to code, but also to compose. Let us remind ourselves that storytelling is not just a luxury, it’s a necessity.”Story continues below this adAt the event, Tharoor also launched a book written by Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor of Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, titled 200 Motivational Mondays.