"I have read several self improvement books about man's relationship with the cosmos and gives Socratic advice on how one can achieve true bliss, but this book is unique in the way that the author has used analogies and proverbs to reinforce values that help individuals attain actualisation." - Javed Akhtar

                                                                                  Author : Raksha Bharadia

Excerpts

Padma Shree, Padma Bhushan Pandit Jasraj had taken up tabla as his vocation from a tender age. Through it he eked out modest earnings to support his family after the death of his father. But in one of the concerts he was aghast at the humiliating treatment given to accompanying artists. He vowed never to be an ‘accompanist’ again. He decided to sing henceforth and signed a covenant with god, at that moment itself. His pact with god was, ‘you give me 25 rupees every month and I will contain all my expenses in it, with not a whimper of complain ever but that 25 rupees I will earn only through my voice, as a singer and not through tabla’.
With this began Pandit Jasraj’s journey as a singer. In the year 1953 Pandit Jasraj visited Calcutta. He was a radio artist then and managing 25 rupees a month was also a daunting task. A big concert was held in Calcutta. Due to delay in the commencement of the programme, the tabla nawaj Mahapurush Mishra ji had to leave the concert mid-way, leaving the organizers without any tabla palyer. They approached Pandit Jasraj and requested him to take seat at the tabla, for which they offered Rs 200, a prodigious and much needed sum for Pandit Ji. But he could not default on his oath. He said “please pardon me for this, pay me 25 rupees but for my songs, I will not earn through tabla”.
I asked Pandit ji on what gave him the strength, he replied, “I can lie to the whole world but how can I lie to my self?
This is a high self-esteem trait.

Reviews

I have read several self improvement books about man's relationship with the cosmos and gives Socratic advice on how one can achieve true bliss, but this book is unique in the way that the author has used analogies and proverbs to reinforce values that help individuals attain actualisation." - Javed Akhtar

"In sinple language and with a wealth of examples from the lives of people we know well and admire Raksha has put together a self-help book that should work for almost every person who reads it." - Sathya Saran

"Very, very interesting. It is a lot of fun to read what people say about the hundreds of perplexing aspects that are a part of our lives. It has great quotes from great thinkers as well as simple lessons learnt by simple people." - Tanuja Chandra

Details