Who Will Cry When You Die?
Robin Sharma
2003 (This impression 2016)
Jaico
pp. 225
This book by Sharma is exactly what the subtitle describes it to be: Life Lessons from the Monk who sold his Ferrari. It is a collection of 101 lessons on life that help you to deal with everyday challenges, bouts of temporary low mood, lack of fulfillment and satisfaction, feeling stressed, worried, etc etc. All the influences of a modern day, industrialised world. Not a fan of self help books, I picked up this book with some skepticism. The suggestions given are not unheard of or unread about. I don’t think you will suddenly come across something new in it unless this is the first self help book that you have picked.
However, there are positives. I realised these positives when I started clicking photos of certain pages and sending them to my friends who I found could do with these. So one thing it helps you in is to help others deal with the challenges that they might be facing. It is not that they, or you, don’t know it. But the capsules of life lessons mentioned serve as reminders. In terms of how well it serves its purpose, the lessons serve as broad guidelines. You will have to fine tune the nitty gritties on your own.
A very helpful thing which I found in this book is that you can develop a reading list just be reading this one book. There are lots of books mentioned in it that I wish to pick up and read. Developing that list is kept for another day but I admit that I like any book that leads me to another book.
It may be the simultaneous farmer’s movement that is making me cynical or pessimistic or both, but the book is definitely for those with “first world problems” for lack of a better description. Those struggling to make ends meet are unlikely to benefit from it. Or so I think. Open to more opinions on this one. There is a tacit, undercurrent of existential crisis that runs across several of his lessons. This is what makes me question the relevance of the book for all. Overall, an okay read.