Life is an Open Book
The first time I was introduced to the word Autobiography was when I was in third grade and was asked to write a pen’s autobiography. I read essay books then and I loved reading this very genre. Today I’m no more a toddler and I still love reading books based on this genre. The very essence of the fact that someone opens up his life to you is enticing. Getting to know how that someone grew up, struggled, succeeded, aspired is inspirational. Be it an entrepreneur or a celebrity, a sportsperson or a writer, autobiographies and biographies are always appealing to the literary audience.
The first book I read in this genre was the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I was an ardent admirer of the Apple founder and equally inquisitive to find out how he marched his way to the top. The book was long, it took me days to complete it but I was inspired, mesmerized and at the same time thrilled to hear his story from his mouth. The narration was so lucid, right from his childhood, to his family, to his early years at Palo Alto then at Pixar. Who knew the Apple guy actually worked on animated movies? This is the very reason I love biographies. They tell you so much more about a person than you can ever learn from news or media. They give you an insight in the real journey of the person whether through hardships or success. There is no fabrication. There is no glamour. It is a plain comprehensive description of their life.
The next one I read was Rafa: My Story. This book is a must read not just for any Nadal fan but also for all the tennis geeks out there. In fact for anyone who likes sports, this book is more than motivating. For that moment while you are engrossed reading the book, you tend to forget about all the Rafa v/s Roger discussions, you forget about the media taunts he has received. All you see is a passionate player who wants to be the best and who has had to work hard, very hard to be one of the best.
Ever wondered why someone else’s story seems so captivating and inspiring? Why we are curious to know about the events in someone else’s life? The most simple and straight forward answer to this is that we are humans. Each one of us has the tendency to grow by inculcating values from others. We group up as kids learning from our parents and now we want to learn through books, media and the internet. Amidst all this, all our thoughts have to be supported by real time evidences. And what better evidences than the life stories of the people we look up to. We don’t get to see these people in real life, neither will we ever get to meet them in most circumstances but books always come to our rescue. From Einstein to Mahatma Gandhi, from Franklin to Lincoln, all have their biographies to convey their lives to us.
It’s not the greatness of people that is showcased in these books, it is their simplicity.
