Chaprash

Chaprash by Budhodeb Guha is one of my favourite books. I have read it countless times and like going back to it every now and then. Charan Chaterjee, a successful lawyer from Calcutta embarks on a pilgrimage in the Himalayas to search for the meaning of life and to find an answer to his growing restlessness with the worldly life. A religious skeptic at the beginning, Charan's views towards Hinduism is transformed as he comes into contact with wise sages in the Himalayas, touched by the depth of their knowledge and wisdom. The book is deeply philosophical and questions the value of devoting our lives to worldly pleasures like accumulating wealth, running after careers etc.

Why you should read the book

• For the romantic, idealized portrayal of the beauty of nature and people in the Himalayas
• For the philosophical treasure trove hidden inside the prose. E.g. "Money is just a piece of paper.Money does not mean anything in itself. It's what you do with the money that is important". "We live by the calendar, we die by the calendar. When will we be free from this habit of living by the calendar and alarm clocks?"
• For the characters who you would want to believe in and would want to meet

What disturbs me about the book
The book portrays sages who can perform miracles, read minds and vanish in thin air. Their knowledge knows no bounds, they are highly educated and can speak in more than one language including German and English. This can be a dangerous propaganda in the hands of a blind religious supporter and reinforce religious superstitions. The idealized portrayal of sages is disturbing to me when we are faced with controversies related to religious figures like priests, gurus and moulanas. I was reading an interview of Dalai Lama where he says that he has undergone an gallstone operation and this should prove that "The Dalai Lama cannot perform any miracle". "I am a simple Buddhist monk" the Dalai Lama would often quote. Chaprash is an anti-thesis to this pragmatic religious view, portraying the magical world of sages and their super powers.