Twenty nine-year-old Takelum, from Arunachal Pradesh confesses to being a ‘badmaash’ a decade ago, until he came across a book of Swami Vivekananda’s sayings. “Main achha aadmi nahi tha, badmaashi karta tha, politics mein bhi tha,” he says, adding, “Magar wo kitaab padhne ke baad mere andar kuch change hua.” The change is evident. Apart from voluntarily working for the past seven years at the Vivekananda Kendra, he’s now in the final year of pursuing law degree from Yashwantrao Chavan Law College. The distance between the ‘badmaash’ and the ‘changed’ Takelum was bridged by a series of spiritual books on Vivekananda’s philosophy and teachings.
While his name might sound unfamiliar, Takelum’s story is common to many of us. Sometimes it’s Vivekananda, sometimes Osho, and sometimes the words of Guru Granth Sahib, which are increasingly becoming the guiding light to many of us. And the demand is aptly met by quaint little stores and institutes tucked away in busy market areas, which supply books helping us deal with life.
Vivekananda Kendra, for instance, is easy to miss, except that it is located diagonally opposite Poona Hospital in Sadashiv Peth. Yet, informs Suresh Behere, who volunteers to work for the Kendra, says that the centre sees a footfall of 15-20 people daily. “At least 20-30 books are sold every day. The most popular ones are Vivekananda’s letters, short stories from his life and more,” tells Behere.
The need for spiritual literature
To counter one of the most significant by-products of our jest-set lives — stress — spiritual books have turned out to be the one of the most bankable resorts. “Books are more personal, and they give you instant motivation. Sometimes when you’re down, a single sentence can give you the answer to your problem. And after you bounce back from the low phase, books never remark — I told you this will help,” says Binodini Sengupta, an IT professional, who reads Kabir when out of spirits.
Joyce, a customer who was browsing through books at St Paul Book Centre, Camp, says, “Everyone is into spirituality these days. They want to be healed and cleansed. That explains the need for such books.” However, she cautions that the books are no magic wand to alter your life suddenly. “They provide meaning, but only if you absorb what they teach,” she adds and also recommends the book Seth Speaks by Jane Roberts. Father Wilson Thekkanath, director of the Pune arm of St Paul Book Centre says he has many customers who come back with happy endings to their woes, after reading books like The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale.
Interestingly, some books are bought for their fad value. For books like Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret, it was the word of mouth publicity by celebs which helped it become an international bestseller. But Pune has its own spiritual hero in Osho whose books are ruling the roost in the market. From The Book of Secrets: 112 Meditations to Discover the Mystery Within, to The Book of Wisdom: The Heart of Tibetan Buddhism, and dozens of different titles, Osho books are widely popular among the sanyasis and non-sanyasis alike.
Religious-Spiritual
For a country which is sought after by the firangs for its ‘spiritual air’, it is strange to see the urban masses take to Western spiritual books like The Secret, and the Brian Weiss series to help motivate them. But that’s just one side of the story. India is home to many religions and their followers. And that reflects in the way spiritual literature has shaped-up in this country. Anees Chishti, an Islamic scholar, explains, “Religion and spirituality go hand in hand. As peace is disappearing in the West, suddenly spirituality has come into fashion. There is a sudden demand for Sufism and spiritual faiths like that.”
Rajwant Singh, owner of 13 Naam, Guru’s Word, store in Camp, tells us that he has people asking for Guru Nanak’s tales in the form of bedtime stories for children. “They are popular, and so are the books on Sikh concepts, philosophy, the Gurus and more,” says Singh, who set up the store this year to meet with the growing demand for such books. He attributes the reason for the popularity to the universal appeal of Sikhism. “It focuses on humanity. It doesn’t segregate between individuals on the basis of their backgrounds,” says the owner who started the store to spread the message of ‘sikhi’.
While the debate is on religion and spirituality, many are ‘booking’ their date with what the two have in common, the virtues.
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