Books are like human beings. They come to your life for a
purpose. At the most exact time, in the most apt situation and perfectly
perfect way. All the books I have read in my life as I relate to, I had a ‘personal
affair’ with them because they were in my life to teach me what I needed to
learn the most at that moment. And similarly, there are books that you don’t complete.
Books, hence are those tools/ cutters/ hammers/filers that
shape you/ polish you exactly from where you need a mending. Either you have
overgrown yourself in some experiences or you are stagnant because of some.
They just smoothen out the flow of life without adding or deducting anything.
This blog is about that book that has shaped (read
re-shaped) my perceptions and helped me think to re-think.
I distinctively remember that afternoon when I and Navpreet had
been talking about books (our third favorite topic after Astrology and “How
hungry I am”) when she mentioned “Illusions”. The title itself, I must say, disillusioned
me. Even though I had previously read two books by Richard Bach (incidentally
both of them gifted by the same person).
Navpreet tried locating it in her library but found “Messiah’s
Handbook”. And that was enough to arouse my taste bud for “Illusions”. I finished
reading it while on way back home.
Even after reading it, I slept by it, gazed at it and wondered.
I kept asking myself - “Really, is this book published already- an answer to
all the questions I ever had… and that it was published much before I even
started to look for them”.
Consequently, I had more questions. .. Do we all live
a same life? Do we all have same questions? Do we all will be satisfied for the
same light? Are we all searching for same things? Are we all same entities?
And this guy-
Richard. I want to ask him sincerely-
1. How did
you manage to write everything I had been looking for in just 144 pages. Continuously.
Sequentially. Powerfully. Subtly and so Beautifully.
2. How did you manage to handpick the best of everything?
I saw (and felt) the best of everything I have ever seen in
my life while reading the book. Like, the most profound consciousness during my meditation
session, the moment of extreme excitement while waiting for something good, stillness while finding yourself in safest hands after an era of struggle, the pleasure of seeing yourself naked- free from all the impressions you have layered yourself with.
Reading Illusions was like having a personal affair with
Richard. So intense...when you feel that you are with someone who is very close to you- like
yourself!
Best part was- Richard was so kind to be available at every single moment I wanted to see him. He was always ready to jump out of the book shelf I had kept him and reach me. Sometimes when I reached home after work, or, in the
bus/tram, sometimes when I felt lonely and carried the book by the sea,
sometimes on weekends, lying on the bed while while feeling lazy to cook, we’d starve
together laughing, saying “Hunger is an illusion”.
That is why I think writers have
a stronger role than leaders. They affect you more because they are always ‘available’
for you. They help you grow at the pace you choose for yourself, without forcing you or making you feel weak/slow or even worse- guilty. You choose when
to read and how much to read.
Writers are the wonderful
tourist-guides that work on the rule of “I can tell you where to look but I can’t
tell you what to see”.
I had been reading Illusions like eating gulab jamuns. You
want to eat them all, but you don’t want them to finish. I hated myself for
reading it slowly and loved myself for saving every unread chapter of it. Good news is- Illusions is not gulab jamun. You can re- eat it.. oops, you can
re-read it.
My review of Illusions is in one line- This book is about Truth touching the fringes of your imaginations. And even vice-versa.
