Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl

 

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is the author's account of life in Nazi camps  - as a prisoner. The perspective, however, is very different. It does not focus on the living conditions, the torture, or the uncertainty of not knowing what is happening to one's family. It focuses on what individuals did with all of that - how they interpreted the conditions, their mental processes. The signal of smoking as a last pleasant thing before they decide to die. 

The second part of the book introduces logotherapy - a system of therapy that believes that one who has a Why to live can manage any How. 

Since I don't have a Why to live, i cant really identify with the premise of the book, but the book has enough cases of people who discovered their mojo once they were able to find the purpose of their lives. The author says that it may not apply to everyone, but does apply to most people, and to that extent, i do agree. People with purpose in their lives might be happier and more content. 

The second part does not read like a textbook. Only an introductory primer. It is not pedantic, pontificating, or pestilent in its persistence that logotherapy is the one best kind of therapy. That is a relief. It gives the reader an opportunity to explore and mildly understand the idea, read some cases where it helped, and then leaves one to think. 

The book is brief and is a good, engaging read. 

 

On grieving a friend

This is not grief 

that will settle 

in a day, week, or month. 

This will hit 

while riding a bike 

or driving a car 

at random traffic signals 

Tears welling up 

out of nowhere 

as i wait 

for the signal to turn green

Wondering 

whether they have 

traffic lights in heaven

and why 

they don't allow U turns. 

******* 

When a childhood friend dies, a part of our childhood dies with them. Sometimes, its a shard of glass. Sometimes, a waxx crayon. Sometimes, a shiny piece of plastic. 

कतरन

इस रिश्ते की सारी हदें तो तुम ही तय करती हो - ये नहीं कर सकती, ये नहीं कह सकती.. 

एक बार बेहद प्रेम किया था किसी से।  

उसी से सीखा - अपनी हद में रहा करो। 

******* 

Book Review: Laghukatha Saptak - II

 

If you have been wanting to start reading Hindi, this is the perfect kind of book. It has short stories that range from half page to two pages.

But don't be fooled by the word count. Each story manages to do its job - make the reader feel, think, or both.

The book is a compilation of short stories written by Suryakant Nagar, Bhagirath, Dr. Satishraj Pushkarna, Shyamsundar Agrawal, Dr. Ramnivas 'Maanav', Dr. Kamal Chopra, and Sukesh Sahni.

11 stories of each author have been selected, making this a compendium of 77 stories in a very compact 134 pages.

The language is easy and the writing flows. You wont experience it as a compilation because there is no jarring difference between the styles of individual authors. One doesn't get the sense of reading Christie and Thomas Hardy in the same book. And for that, the editor, Dr. Ramkumar Ghotad, deserves credit.

The stories span pretty much the entire spectrum of human conditions and emotions. From love in an elderly couple to crime in a village, it is all there.

The book is not available in print, afaik.
Friends can borrow my copy though, or you could try the publishers - Sahityagaar (Jaipur).

Happy Fathers' Day

लोगों को जीवन में 

पहले 

पिता मिलते हैं 

और फिर वे  पिता बनते हैं 

कुछ लोगों को 

नहीं मिलते पिता 

वे सीधा 

पिता बनते हैं 

ज़्यादातर लोगों को 

जो पिता मिलते हैं 

वो पिता 

वे बन नहीं सकते 

पिता बन जाने 

का  

लंबा रास्ता है 

कोई नक्शा नहीं होता। 

Most people

first get a father 

before becoming one. 

Sometimes 

you don't get a father

You just have to 

become one 

when the time comes. 

Usually 

the father we get 

is not the father 

we are allowed (or want) to become.

Fatherhood 

is a long road 

No maps available. 

Happy Fathers' Day 

Today's notes from meditation

You came into the world to create love as a base for all human interactions. To make the experience of this love more broad based, not just as a part of a spiritual experience. That is why, in this birth, you will not go into teaching of any kind. That is the anti path to the one you chose. 

The reason it did not succeed is this: Just as the Earth's environment is not one gas, but a mixture of many gases, the spiritual environment also is a mixture of multiple human emotions. In Kaliyuga, the negative emotions dominate, just like nitrogen dominates the Earth's atmosphere. It is through the अति of negative emotions that an appreciation for Satya Yuga emerges. The appreciation and clamour for Satya Yuga has to precede the coming of the Yuga itself. 

What you did was not ineffective. The 3% gas of love has to come from some sources, and you were one of the sources. Your hypothesis was bound to fail, but the spirit - of wanting to change the world - that will not fair. None of us is powerful enough to change the whole world. But we are all powerful enough to change the parts around us. 

******** 

A age gap is the earthly version of the spiritual distance between two people. It is the most stark earthly reminder that there is a gap and it needs to be patched. Whether to patch it or let it go, is an individual decision. The spiritual path is not an escalator. One can always come back to meet a friend who is left behind. But that turning back does not always have a positive outcome and in this case, it very likely wont, bcs the importance of the gap needs to be acknowledged AND the decision to patch it must be made. In other words, the said friend must call us to turn back and help. 

*********** 

The word of the day is उत्थान। Not for you to think of someone's salvation, but for you to think of the concept of उत्थान. Like several thinkers have already pointed out, there is no Utopia. But the idea of Utopia is as necessary for human existence as its absolute physical absence. 

******** 

 

Today clarified a lot of concepts that i was struggling with. 

Bachpan - II

बचपन में 

हर बच्चा बनाता तो है

उगता सूरज 

एक नदी, दो पहाड़, एक रास्ता 

एक पेड़ 

एक घर 

पर बचपन में 

हर बच्चा पाता नहीं है

उगता सूरज, 

नदी, पहाड़, रास्ता, 

पेड़ 

और कभी-कभी 

घर 

Reference to Context: 

The first painting of every child 

include 

a rising sun 

mountains 

a river 

a path 

a tree 

and a house 

But the first years of every child 

do not always include 

a rising sun 

mountains 

a river 

a path 

a tree 

or sometimes 

even a house. 

Book Review: A Song of Comfortable Chairs by Alexander McCall Smith

 

We always pick up an Alexander McCall Smith book. Because he writes great stories, he creates well-etched characters, and he states deep truths - simply. 

I think of him more as an author that belongs in the simplicity of my childhood - upholding the value of human connection and kindness - things we valued as children but lost as adults. 

BUT... Alexander McCall Smith writes short stories far better than he writes novels. Maybe it is my reduced attention span. But i prefer the format where each story solved a mystery and Mma Ramotswe and Mma Makutsi solved them together, with help from Charlie. This time, the mystery is loooong drawn out, intertwined with another, rather unrelated mystery, and honestly, they are more family/business problems than mysteries. 

At 230 pages (and large print) the book is a languid, easy read. If you are looking for an action packed adventure, this is not it. This book is a soap opera on paper - where the lives of the characters walk in and out of the frame, and things happen to and through them. If you want to lose yourself in the lives of other people for a while, this one is perfect.

Chaand

मुझे रख लो काम पर 

तुम्हें लतीफ़े सुना कर 

खूब हँसाया करूंगा 

और तुम बदले में मुझे 

अपनी छत से 

चाँद ताकने देना 

Let me come work for you 

My job 

will be to make you laugh

till your sides hurt 

And your payment 

is to let me see the moon 

from your rooftop.