The Half Known Life - Pico Iyer

This book has been on my reading list for a year now and finally got to read it  last week. There was so much to take in that it took some time for me to connect the dots or in other words make sense of it. The byline of the title of the book is - In search of paradise. This can be also read as - in search of happiness, utopia, nirvana, perfect life etc.

It’s not a self help book but a travelogue - He interprets life through his experiences in travel. Just to qualify he researches before he travels - so he read all about Iran and it’s history for 4 years before he traveled. Since he is a travel writer I guess he has to do that.

He visits Iran, Jerusalem. Kashmir, Ceylon. Varanasi, Ladakh - most of them have a conflict filled past & present. And tries to understand the reason to believe. There are some beautiful insights / penny drop moments. 

Religion is not something I ever believed in, It was my duty & celebration of togetherness / happiness. And mostly I detested the temples & religious places because of it’s dirt and crowd, unhygienic, lack of sanitation, crowd and the touts who chase you for the puja. These were mostly in north / eastern part - south India is much better. So I was quite surprised when the author celebrates Varanasi as the most sacred / profound and holy place. With ghats were bodies are burning, bodies are floating, the ganges impurity level is 3000 times the safe level - people are happily drinking the water and carrying it back home to purify their home (in fact it is sold). Our thoughts mostly in the lines - how pathetic, blind faith bordering on ridicule. But the fact remains millions congregate ? Why ? I guess that’s the half known truth - which side are you in. For many this faith drives them & is the reason why they are alive, surviving many ailments or disillusionment. This is the paradise for them. It’s the people who make the place holy not the idols or the temple. Similarly when we go for the char dham yatra - it’s the experience of going together and probably time away from home each with our difficulty and supporting which makes the trip more meaningful. The pilgrimage is just the means to an end, 

There are some beautiful lines / insight - Closing with the one I remember - In Jerusalem one of the person / pilgrim says - A problem can be solved but an issue you have to live with - referring to the conflict. 

In summary - Paradise is here & now, not in the past or not in the future or imagination.

Some interesting conversations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=FZ2LfzoAKes 

https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-culture/pico-iyer-opens-up-about-his-new-book-the-half-known-life-in-search-of-paradise-11954232.html