A lot is said about good books. Good books are our best friends and can bring a great change in life. I have realised this in my own life. Till the age of thirty, I was not fond of reading books other than the course books. But a time came in my life when I started reading good books and they have enlarged my vision immensely. Not only this, as a result of this expansion, I myself started penning down my experiences and by now they have been published in the form of many books. Since these books are based on real-life experiences, they have been found to be useful and have reached thousands of readers. This in turn has given me great satisfaction and joy.
One of my books is titled ‘Swastha Chintan Ke Path Par’ and its cover price is one hundred rupees. One day, I received a phone call from a stranger in Lucknow who introduced himself as a reader of this book and conveyed his appreciation for it. His appreciation naturally gave me pleasure but this pleasure multiplied when he told me the reason of his appreciation. He said that he had decided to change the flooring of his house before reading the book which was to cost him about one lakh rupees. However, when he read a chapter in the book on ‘simple living’, he started liking his flooring because, essentially, there was nothing wrong with that except that it had become obsolete. As far as utility was concerned, it was perhaps more. Thus an investment of one hundred rupees in the book saved his one lakh rupees. For a moment I also felt that this single call had paid back all my efforts in writing the book. I could think of no better investment than this with such a high dividend.
The same holds true for all our investments in good things whether physical, material, intellectual or spiritual. On the face of it, they may appear to be paying no dividend but their intangible benefit is so high that it surpasses all tangible benefits. Whether it is good health, good mind or positive thinking, all these make a great difference in our life. A good book is perhaps the best investment from this point of view.
