Weekday Musings: The Book Of Life

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Last month, while I was in the Fort area waiting for someone, I stepped into the Kitab Mahal bookstore to pass the time. I never miss a chance to visit it. It stands close to where the old Strand Book Stall once operated under T. N. Shanbhag, a place I used to frequent almost every week until it closed down in 2018. Shanbhag was one of those rare booksellers who understood his readers so well that his recommendations often felt personal.

While browsing through the shelves at Kitab Mahal, I noticed a poster announcing a book launch that evening  The Brahmastra Unleashed by IPS (Retd.) D. Sivanandhan. It’s a first-person account of how the Mumbai Police used the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to combat the underworld in the 1990s and 2000s. The discussion was to feature the author along with senior advocate Amit Desai and writer Radhakrishnan Pillai.

During the conversation, Sivanandhan said something that stayed with me: “You have to live a life that is worth writing a book about.”

It’s been almost a month, and I am still trying to understand what that means. For him, the statement fits perfectly. His life, as the stories revealed, was one of courage, resolve, and direct action. But what about the rest of us, who lead simple, unremarkable lives? By his standards, could most of us even fill a single page worth reading?

That question led me to another: if one’s life does not seem “book-worthy,” does it then lose its worth? In today’s world, where honesty, integrity, faith, and trust are rare, perhaps a life built upon these very values is indeed extraordinary. To uphold these values day after day, without applause or recognition, is a struggle no less valorous than any fought in uniform. And in that struggle lies quiet greatness. A life lived with integrity may not make headlines - but it can make a difference. For those who believe in the same path, it can kindle hope. Would that not, then, make it a story worth telling?

Such stories matter because, in the noise of the world, there are few visible examples left. To read about someone who remained good and steadfast, despite all odds, can be deeply reassuring. It tells us that decency still has a place. That goodness still survives - not as an idea, but as a lived reality.

Gandhi titled his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth - a narrative both simple and profound. If his story could inspire through moral honesty rather than grandeur, why not ours? In a world far more complex and competitive, the simple act of staying true, of choosing the right over the easy, may itself become a form of heroism. Our stories, if ever told, could serve as quiet lamps for others walking the same road.

To remain simple as a matter of choice and conviction is to stand against the tide — and that is never easy. Who says such a life cannot fill a page? Tolstoy’s War and Peace ran into 1,200 pages, yet he believed writing was justified only if it served truth and moral awakening. He called it  spiritual utility - writing that uplifts, heals, and reveals the human essence.

Perhaps each of us is already writing such a book - not with ink, but through the way we live each day. Some books are printed; others are lived. And sometimes, the ones that remain unwritten are the most beautiful of all - because they are read not with the eyes, but with the heart.


You may also want to read my piece on:  Please, Sir, I Want Some More...

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