My Holy Books

What are holy books?
The simple answer would be books on religion and God which are revered by many and which it’s believed hold the word and direction of God.
People are ready to die for the books they believe as holy. From the Koran to Bible to the Torah and the Bhagvad Gita there have been instances where people have laid down their life to rescue these books from fire, flood or attackers.

I was born to Hindu parents so logically all the books held as holy by the Hindus should be the ones that be holy to me. From the Gita to the Ramayan to the Mahabharta and of course the Veds and Upanishads all were to be revered.

I studied in a convent for twelve years of my life which of course were also the most impressionable therefore the Bible was expected to be the Book I would respect.

Frequenting the Gurdwaras in the neighbourhood made bowing down infront of the Guru Granth Sahib a practice.

Similarly friends who treated me to lovely biryani and sewaiyian at their homes helped me understand the importance of the Koran and how though the Jews, Christians and Muslims keep fighting all over the world they share the same theological genes.

But none of these have been able to become My Holy Book. Not that I don’t respect them, I do. But somewhere they seem too ancient for me to feel that deep connect within.

To me, my Holy Books are those which have changed or influenced my life and given me a completely new perspective.

The first of these is a book called Exodus by Leon Uris – this was the first grown-ups novel I read when I was around ten or eleven. It initially shattered me for I had not heard of Hitler till then other than in passing and the atrocities that the book spoke about were too much for a young mind.
However as I went through the book my first heroes were born with Ari Ben Cannan leading them. I was so completely influenced by this book that I assumed that I was actually a Jewess who by accident had been interchanged at birth with my mother’s real child.
I knew all the numbers related to the second world war by heart, how many died at which camp to how many soldiers landed on the shores of Normandy and turned the tide of the war. All this because of Exodus. I can tell you I was the favourite student of my history teacher Sister Joyce.
Now that I have grown up the book still teaches me the lesson that hard work and determination can do wonders and it urges me to make that one last attempt, yet again.

Another book which altered my mindset is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. The deep message the book sought to convey through the parable of the simple story of a shepherd got etched in my mind. Following my dreams and creating my own destiny are my religion thanks to Coelho whose subsequent books continue to influence me greatly.

While I was going through separation and a very nasty divorce I read a book called Jean Christophe by Romain Rolland, apart from a story well told the last page of the novel which I read in the light of a rising sun helped me traverse the sad times stoically.

Atlas Shrugged apart from all its socially relevant messages taught me that being a girl cant be the reason to bow down to sad politicking of men who unable to compete or excel would fall back on maligning as the only weapon. Ayn Rand is an inspiration in the true sense of the word.

There now I have told you about my Holy books. Which ones are yours?