The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari - Robin Sharma

I just finished reading this book. The first book I completed this new year.

I like this book for one reason for sure. No plagiarism. He gives all credit to the sages of Himalayas who in my opinion deserve credit for any wisdom anywhere on the surface of this earth.

The author presents to the reader several simple techniques and principles which if applied to real life have the potential to change one’s life.

It is the same ancient wisdom that has been passed on from one generation to another in all Indian households but presented in such a way that a reader would buy it.

The discipline of waking up early with sunrise, a satvik vegetarian diet, daily rituals like chanting mantras, the importance of concentration, being kind, serving others, yoga, a life of simplicity, self control etc are not new to us Indians.

Robin Sharma has blended this with the modern day mantras of planning, time management, goal setting, priorities, kaizen(the Japanese concept) etc.

But most of the principles come from the huge pot of ancient Indian wisdom.

I like this book because it endorses my belief in the flawlessness of our traditions and culture, removing the last iota of doubt that hovers over my mind sometimes owing to some “scientific thinking” that was implanted in me during school and college.

The book is replete with quotations and sayings which are worth adding to my collection. The writing is sometimes crisp and brisk, sometimes soggy and slack.
The author in an attempt to reiterate certain points repeats them over and over. After every ten pages, you read something that you have read before. Owing to the fact of this redundancy, the book could have been lesser by10-15 pages.

The style of writing is crisp, simple and straightforward but certain similes and other figures of speech could have been replaced with better ones. Like the line in page 157 “first rays of the sun peeking into the room, pushing away darkness like a child pushes away an unwanted bedcover”. Not very tasteful!

My verdict : This book is worth reading.

Post Script: The author advocates vegetarianism and explains how it can improve one’s life. All the meat eaters out there, even if you don’t care about the way animals are treated, even if you don’t care about religion etc, for your own sake you may want to start thinking…….