The Old Man & His God - Book Review (So far)

Have you ever heard of this maxim - ‘you don’t choose the book, the book chooses you’ that what happened exactly with me last weekend when I went outside for a book hoping activity in my nearby library store.  

I stumbled across the book name ‘The old man & his god’ by Sudha Murty. Appeared like a captivating title but I was not sure what could be the possible content I need to deal & digest with if I purchase this one, again I’ve never been a big fan of fables and stories but though, I decided to give it a shot considering the book price was not exorbitant & at the same time i was looking to shift my reading gears as well to stories and fables for a change.We all need change, isn’t it?

Well, while I’m reading this book now I really remind myself of the earlier maxim ‘you don’t choose the book, the book chooses you’ and it's so true in my case. I cannot resist myself to share how this book has got the heart & attention out of me on first few chapters only which I really believe needs to be shared with you guys today (Pardon my excitement & dopamine rush!)

I would really like to leave you with few insights about how I envision those chapters and learnings we can incorporate in our daily lives from the common people. We are used to taking inspirations from successful people, athletes, businessman but what really gets me though is how we can keep yourself inspired by the common people around us in a day to day life. I’ll try to be as brief as possible to don't let you yawn while you are reading this :)

Chapter -1 The Old Man & His God.

I would not like to share you the entire narrative of this chapter or else it would not be an appropriate activity to share everything here and make this blog a kindle version of this book. This story revolves around a poor old couple who stays in the temple of one of the remote village area of India without much luxuries, materials and so-called prerequisites which we cannot live without these days!

It teaches you an art about how being content & satisfied with what you have is required after a few years. Happiness doesn’t always come from a materialistic mindset which we are trapped into somehow by the distraction & cajoling happening around us every minute in our small vortex screens of so-called ‘Smart Phones’.

I would like to quote a paragraph from the book about what the author has to say on this learning from these old couples:

“But it was clear to me that his contentment had brought him peace. Such an attitude may not let you progress fast, but after a certain period in life, it is required. Perhaps this world with its many stresses and strains has much to learn from an old couple in a forgettable corner of India”  

Moral of this chapter - ‘Happiness comes from being peaceful and pure contentment with what you have’

Chapter-2 Freedom of Speech.

This chapter is more about how we fester few things inside us in our today's society and not allowing the real you to come out sometimes and make that important move or talk with the ones that are needed. How we forgot the inner child inside us these days who want to come out and be the real version of yourself  & how the lights of adulthood have quenched us from inside which is morphing us day by day into a person we are not!

This story is a light contrast between a Women who is the head of the sociology department & her maid Tulsi. The author has also added few small smoother taunt here and there during her conversation with her friend (The women) about how in our metro cities we are getting dependable on our maids which keeps us lethargic & handicapped sometimes. Thanks to online e-commerce stores for making us lethargic today and delivering us everything at our doorstep.  Vow! isn't that a baby spooning of adult version? lol

To cut the story short the story revolves about ‘Freedom of speech’, How her maid Tulsi has all the freedom to talk, open up in her house or the challenges she faces in her life (Read the book to understand what challenges Tulsi goes through and how boldy she faces it with utmost freedom) where else a lady who is the head of the sociology department who use to share sermons to bunch of people as her daily work doesn’t have the right to speak out in a way Tulsi, a maid has.

In our civilization, we are so shelled and peer-centered that we often refrain to open out yourself with the utmost freedom and put that voice on the table and be really the authentic version of yourself. The pressure of society has buckled up the small, bold voice inside us who is willing to come out and roar.

Moral of the chapter - ‘Be willing to put your voice on the table, Be willing to give your speech of freedom & don’t stop yourself or that small inner authentic voice from the unconditional facade & pressure of society.’

Chapter - 3 ‘HoreGallu’

So what is Horegallu first of all. It is a stone that can bear some weight.It is a large flat stone placed horizontally over two vertical ones thus making that stone a bench which anybody can sit on. You might find a typical type of setting in villages where workers tend to relax a bit on the Horegallu or chit chat with other strangers while taking a halt from their daily work commute.

This story is about two teachings a) How we should be a ‘Horegallu’ in life sometimes b) Importance of Horegallu. Let's start with the first teaching. Here the author dedicated this metaphor to her grandfather & one of her office colleague, who always use to listen other peoples problem rather then being judgemental and giving solutions, It is not always important to give solutions on every problem people come up with, sometime they want you to listen attentively and calmly and that’s what author admires the most about Horegallu. Author quotes this very nicely

“When a person in trouble or under a lot of strain finds an outlet for his worries, it relieves half his burden”

The second teaching is about how we all need to take some rest on our own Horegallu and discuss about what we are going through or at least analyze internally about what is most important to us in life, where i’m heading towards, am i really happy. We are living in a society which promotes fast pace culture, hustle but sometime we need to take that most important time to recycle our energies, to gain right perspective and direction in live rather then running fiercely behind something which is never ending which they call in west ‘Rat race’

Moral of the chapter ‘Find your Horegallu once a while’

I hope this blog has helped you and me to put honest perspective on the table. I’m still half way in the book and now i’ve decided to share my personal learnings from each chapter that i can share with vast audience next on every weekends.

Thank you very much for bearing me & my blog, enjoy the weekends :)