I have always believed that autobiographies are written by famous persons – achievers who would like to share the secrets of their success. Memoirs are strictly not for simple people like me, I thought, and kept shooting down requests from students and other well-wishers who wanted me to publish my reminiscences.

 

When they persisted, I realized that there were learnings from the small and big things I have been able to do, which could provoke thought and possibly action in others. I’m an educator at heart, and I saw that it was my duty to spread knowledge that could be applied. This book is the result of the same yen that made me reach out to everyone on practical aspects of our Sanatana Dharma.

 

My life of seventy-plus years has been a roller-coaster ride alternating between despair and exhilaration many times, but I have always been driven by the will to live every moment fully. This book has tried to capture the highs, the lows, the bumps and the hurts, but above all the will that has made every one of my experiences enjoyable.

 

Social fervour and an abiding commitment to the community have been the paramount driving forces in everything I have done. In rendering service to the nation and to the society, three attributes have constantly anchored and guided me: a sense of purpose, unflinching values and the courage of conviction. I will consider it God’s grace if I am able to pass on to the reader these three values of life through the book.

 

I know I can convey my views with conviction when I am talking, but writing is different ball game altogether and I have no pretensions of being a writer. So literally “told my story” to a band of enthusiasts who took great pains to write it up and get it into print. It would be impossible for me to thank these friends who have done all the hard work out of sheer love and affection for me.