My sister and I were casually looking through the
bookshop at Gyanmandala, which sadly does not exist there anymore. I happened to
notice the book “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom among the shelves. My mind
went back to the moment when during a family gathering, my aunt had told me
about the book. I mainly read fiction books back then; still do now. My aunt
prefers nonfiction books more. I remembered her telling me about this
particular one and how I must give it a read. It was a pleasant surprise to
have come across it in the book shop. I turned the book over to read the synopsis.
It said:
“Maybe it was a
grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who
understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to
help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie
Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.
Maybe, like
Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights
faded. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that
still haunt you?
Needless to say, I was sold. I bought it.
Tuesdays with Morrie was not my first non-fiction
book but it went on to become my favorite. The author Mitch Albom comes to know
about the illness of his professor in college and takes a flight to meet him. They
make an arrangement to meet every Tuesday; hence, the title of the book. They come
up with a list of topics that they would like to talk about. They pick a topic
to talk about during their weekly Tuesday meetups. It’s more interesting than
it sounds. They pick topics like family, love, money, friendship, age and
others. They are the most basic topics but this book creates a lasting impact. Morrie
is a wise man and it is evident from his words. He really makes you think.
It’s hard to pick one favorite line or moment from
the book, because the book is filled with them, to be honest. But my absolute
favorite would have to be this one:
What if you had
one day perfectly healthy, I asked? What would you do?
“Twenty-four hours?”
Twenty-four
hours.
“Let’s see … I’d
get up in the morning, do my exercises, have a lovely breakfast of sweet rolls
and tea, go for a swim, then have my friends come over for a nice lunch. I’d
have them come one or two at a time so we could talk about their families,
their issues, talk about how much we mean to each other.
“Then I’d like
to go for a walk, in a garden with some trees, watch their colors, watch the
birds, take in the nature that I haven’t seen in so long now.
“In the evening, we’d all go together to a
restaurant with some great pasta, maybe some duck—I love duck and then we’d
dance the rest of the night. I’d dance with all the wonderful dance partners
out there, until I was exhausted. And then I’d go home and have a deep,
wonderful sleep.”
That’s it?
“That’s
it.”
It was so
simple. So average. I was actually a little disappointed. I figured he’d fly to
Italy or have lunch with the President or romp on the seashore or try every
exotic thing he could think of. After all these months, lying there, unable to
move a leg or a foot— how could he find perfection in such an average day?
Then I realized this was the whole point.
We are so focused on the bigger picture, a
materialistic living, making things larger than life, making an extravagant
life at that; we sometimes forget that the joy is in simple things. We often
end up taking things for granted, but when we can’t do those simple things,
only then do we realize how much they mean to us.
Morrie was nearing death, imprisoned to his chair,
needing assistance for the most basic of things. And yet, if had a day, he
would do the average things he could do just because he could. This provides a great lesson of time; be appreciative of
the things you can do. Take joy in the simplest of things. Because truth be
told, that is all that matters.
Tuesdays with Morrie is insightful and enlightening
because it is so damn relatable. It tackles subjects that we all are juggling
with.
Thank you so much Mima maiju for mentioning this
book to me. I shall forever remain grateful to you for bringing this book in
form of bliss into my life.
This book is definitely a must read. I’m going to
leave a pdf link here so you can have a look at it yourself.
Comments
Post a Comment