Letters ! Oops , snail mails...They bring back memories of yester days......... Soon letter writing would be listed as an antique art form but not yet. It doesn't matter whether we use email , snail mail or female as long as we communicate cogently.
Coming back to letters, we cherish letters out of personal acumen and sometimes preserve them because of their historical importance. Nehru's letters to his daughter fall in the latter category. Nehru wrote these 30 letters, to his 10 year old daughter Indira , while he was in the British Raj jail. They are unique and different in subject matter and outlook. Through the letters , he strives to fill his absence and tries to arouse his daughter's curiosity on various subjects. The letters in the book form can be read as a history textbook- very simple and interesting. It talks about the origin of the earth , nature, history , civilizations , kings and the beginning of religion. Though personal and atheistic , these letters stir up the children to learn more about our past. Perhaps the book form should be included in the middle school curriculum.
My kids aged 10&12 , started the book with much excitement, stopped after the first letter. Can't blame them. Unlike Goosebumps , Famous Five , Hardy Boys , Secret Seven and Nancy Drew , Nehru's letters urge the kids to think and use their brain. Kids , this book is much more interesting than your history textbooks. This is the right time to read it , not at my age.
Mitch Albom rediscovers his Sociology professor Morrie Schwartz ,when the latter is diagnosed with terminal illness - ALS. He visits his teacher every Tuesdays and takes lessons on - the world, feeling sorry for yourself, regrets, death, family, emotions, the fear of aging, money, love, marriage, culture and forgiveness - simple life lessons we always forget. Mitch tapes their conversations and compiles them - the 'final thesis' and thus this book.
The book is a very quick read. One Tuesday is more than enough to learn all the life lessons. What makes this memoir different from any other self-help book is that it's the true story of Morrie Schwartz who celebrates his illness and death chivalrously. Awesome. Since Morrie is on his death bed, he can't talk much and go deep into the life lessons and so spills out his pearls of wisdom in anecdotes and aphorisms. Short, sweet but slight. If only life is as simple as that....
''Accept and enjoy aging.''
Oh , yeah? Don't tell me...
So, be prepared always and fill up love and bank accounts to have lots of loving ones around you to wipe your bottom on your d-bed.
'Life is difficult.' True. Not only the opening sentence , but the whole book deals with the bitter truths about life , love , reality , religion , relationship , parenting , miracles and grace. The road lighted by Dr. Scott Penn is a less travelled one. This self-help road is dedicated to discipline and love. According to him , discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve problems and love provides the motive and energy for discipline. He defines love as 'the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth'. The book offers a very rare and open discussion on the mystery-love.
The root cause of most of our problems lie in our childhood. A psychologist's job seems to rub off those stains and scars. The past is reparable. What about preventive measures? Give your children a stainless and happy childhood. And the best way to spend quality time with your children is to play with them. Hmmm...
Dr.Peck attributes original sin as entropy , caused by fear and laziness , which prevent us from attaining godhood. So , scared and lazy to question or converse with God , Eve & Adam take the short cut and land on the Earth. This theory looks good. The bad news is that we still follow their footsteps and walk farther away from the Garden of Eden and God. Ha !
This is the most simple , useful and motivational book I've ever read written by a psychiatrist. The chapter on miracles and grace is an eye-opener. It inspires me to read Carl Jung and the new developments in Psychology. To the shock of my life , I discovered that I suffer from schizophrenia , addictive personality and passive dependent personality disorder !! Hey , who is the best shrink in town?
