Books that have changed my life - Sahitya academy talk!

Namaskar!

I am thankful to Sahitya Akademi for inviting me to share my views on World Book Day in this illustrious gathering.

I remember, few years back, I was asked that which books do I read and I jocularly replied, "I don't read, I write!"  Obviously, that's not true. Books, knowingly or unknowingly,  influence our day to day lives and cause small differences, and these small differences gradually accumulate to change the course of our lives. While the books that we read for our education have a direct impact on our learning and career, other books influence us in no lesser way.

The first book that I shall talk about today is 'Emelya and the Pike'. This book was presented to me by my Mathematics teacher in second standard. This was an English translation of a classic Russian folk tale. It is a story by A.N. Tolstoy about a lazy boy who gets magical power in lieu of releasing a pike that he had caught while fishing. He just says that "By the pike's wish and my command let this job be done" and the job gets done. He ends up getting a palace and the beautiful princess that represents all the prosperity. I wonder, why is it that the lazy boy gets endowed with magical powers while his two hard working elder brothers have to slog it out in life? What are its metaphoric parallels in my life? When I see my classmates who could barely manage to pass in school, now having an opulent lifestyle, I gawk at them in disbelief! Are they Emelya and me the elder brothers? What is their Pike then? Like Emelya, were they pushed to make an effort, which gave them the magic wish while I had gone to work in my fields?? Is taking risk in life their equivalent of Emelya's fishing?? I do not have answers to them! These are the thoughts that cross my mind today but as a child the book caught my imagination.
It was presented in the form of a pop-up book, where cut outs projected out of the pages or made a movement on opening and closing the pages that were made of card board. It was a delight to watch a saw cut a log of wood or a palace pop-up as soon as one opened the page. I had not seen anything like that earlier. I was amazed by the fact that how by innovation, a book could be animated. Then I came to know that my teacher had bought the book out of her own pocket, as the school had no such policy. That increased the value of the prize many folds for me. My self-esteem also improved as I thought that I must be good to deserve that book. My parents told me that not only was I good but it was the teacher who was so benignant. That catapulted my interest in Maths so much that I always enjoyed the subject and yearned to excel as long as I studied it. I became possessive not only about the book but the subject as a whole. As long as that book was with me it kept reminding me of my worthiness and beckoning me to work harder. Many years later I gifted that book to the library of a small school for primary kids that used to run in a household, however, it was not easy to part with it. This book had taught me innovation and importance of going that extra mile for appreciating good effort that as a one time act has the potential to change the course of some one's life. It is not necessarily the matter of the book that matters!

Second book that I talk about is familiar to everybody. In sixth standard, during summer vacations, I found an abridged hindi school edition of 'Mahabharata'. I was initially attracted as the book was presented in landscape orientation rather than usual portrait one. The book was absorbing, I was introduced to what an epic means. Elements of human nature were illustrated. Within few years, I was studying in a hostel. To watch television whole of the hostel had to gather in a common room, where benches were stacked to make a theatre like arrangement. I was new and bantam to have any impact amongst my mates.That was when B R Chopra's Mahabharat was being telecast. It was a new and complex story for all, however it was all too familiar to me. Besides 'Samay: the narrator', I became the super-anchor amidst the audience, filling in gaps in understanding as and when needed. I got recognition. Gradually, I acquired an image of a well read and knowledgeable person in my peer  group. But that was a challenge also! To keep up with my image, I started spending time in Library on weekends. 

In library, I came across a number of books. I was awestruck by the story of Jane Goodall in National Geographic. I wondered how could a person spend her lifetime working on Chimpanzees. It was a revelation. I was introduced to 'passion'.

In the library, I also came across something, that was almost a magic. There was information on anything under the sun organized in 26 volumes of a single book that was enthroned in a seperate section. That was Encyclopedia Brittanica. I was instantly infatuated! I wanted to possess a personal copy so that I was not restricted by the library timings. I enquired the cost, it was a whopping 15000 rs. I understood that it was a bad idea, considering the income bracket that I belonged to. I shared it with my mother and to my pleasure she immediately offered to sponsor it. However, I decided to make it a dream for my future. I learnt to have dreams for future and something to aspire for. It is another story that with information revolution making the world available to us on a click, the dream became redundant.

Now, I would talk about another book that I was involved in. It is titled, 'Lessons a dog can teach your child better than you'! One of my friends said that dogs had been an important part of her life and she wanted to write a book on them. Though, I was never an avid pet lover but I loved the idea and persuaded her to carry out the task. Being involved, along with other friends, from the idea to its materializing in the form of a paperback, was a learning experience. At each stage there were great lessons to be learnt about doing creative work in partnership, about pets, about bringing out a book and about how important it is to complete a work rather than an unremitting effort to achieve perfection.

It is not possible to complete my talk without talking about certain technical books that shaped my career. I had decided to become a doctor at a very young age but somehow was never interested in Biology that was a pre-requisite to enter a  medical college. I found that by mastering two books namely Zoology by Jordan and Nigam and Botany by A.C. Dutta, I could handle most of the questions of biology in any entrance exam. I worked hard on them and neglected other subjects. One day I was evaluating the marks of people who had appeared in the medical entrance exams. I was horrified to see that there was not much difference in the marks in Botany & Zoology between people who were selected and those who were not. The difference was in the marks obtained in Physics. I came to know of a book by Nelkon & Parker that met the need of the hour. But that book was not easily available. After some effort, I managed to get my hands on that. I am eternally indebted to these books as they helped me in getting admission in the medical college of my choice. There are a number of other technical books that hold my hand while I examine pulse of a patient, they continue to change my present everyday and thus change not only my life but that of the patients who repose their faith in me. Books! Many of them have indeed changed my life.

Thank you for your kind attention!

Dhanyawad!!


Pictures from the event:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/CIXttfcGyrBIPSHz2