Tuesdays with Morrie

Long back, when IJD told me about this book for the first time, I felt I had heard the name before. I immediately logged onto Amazon to check out the book description. It did not reveal much. Maybe there was not much to be revealed in the first place. The cover of the book reads 'an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson'. Simple. Succinct. Likeable.

Then one day when I was talking to my sis, she asked me to suggest her some good book. I remembered Tuesdays with Morrie and told her about the plot. She bought it and liked the book. I asked her to get it for me when she visits me in June. I finally got a chance to pick it up only last week, after I came back from India.

On reading the first 10-15 pages, I felt I had committed the sacrilege of touching a self-help book. But as I kept reading, I realized that the first impression is not always the last. The book depresses you at places, makes you smile at some others and makes you cry for the most of it. The best part is that it can easily be completed in one day and does not go on and on endlessly.

The storyline is simple. Morrie (the old professor) was Mitch Albom's (the author's) favourite professor in college days. Years after passing out and losing touch, Mitch one day learns that Morrie is terminally ill. Guilt takes over him, and he visits Morrie at his house. What follows is a series of trips. The author starts visiting his old dying professor every Tuesday, and every Tuesday, Morrie talks on one theme - life. It is the final 'course' that Mitch attends. They talk about money, happiness, the fear of aging, foregiveness, marriage, death, and a whole lot of other things.

What I like about the book is that not only is it not preachy, but there are also so many levels at which, not just me, but anyone can relate to this book. We live our lives as if we are immortal, but the truth is that each one of us has to die. Would you do something different if you knew that today was your last day on the planet? Would you lead your life differently if, god forbid, you became terminally ill? When we are on our last breath, would we look back at our life with regret? Would we feel that all those years, we were chasing things which were essentially of no consequence, and ignoring things which mattered the most?

Trust me, after reading this book, one realizes that its not all about money, honey....but its all about love and compassion. I just cannot get over these two lines from the book -

"Learn how to die, and you learn how to live"

"Love is how you stay alive even after you are gone"

On the face of it, it sounds like a very sentimental and impractical book. Give it a serious thought and a good read, and you would realize it is just the opposite.