Learn from this cuppa. Review on Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson

~How do you repay your gratitude to someone who nursed you back to health, when they themselves were struggling to survive?

~How do you keep your promise of helping someone(who everyone has forgotten) when all you have is$83?

~How do you do something for a culture so remote that the most frequent visitor they knew was death?

~How can you dream of building something for a people who live 13, 000 miles away when you don’t have a place to live?

~How do you become the pillar of hope when you yourself are the brink of despair?

Greg Mortenson did all of this and more. A climber by profession, who took up nursing as a career to make ends meet, Greg owes his gratitude to the people in the village of Korphe who are Balti’s – a people of Tibetan origin that settled down in what is now Pakistan hundreds of years ago and adopted Islam as their religion. The villagers nursed him back to health when he was close to death in his failed attempt to conquer K2 in the Karakoram range.

After his failed attempt, Greg embarked upon a remarkable journey to keep his promise to the residents of Khorpe. He takes us along into one of the most inhospitable regions of the world where we can visualize the daily life of these folks that live their lives the same way their ancestors did for generations. We get insight into a fiercely proud people, who are illiterate but have generations of wisdom; who do not have much but are happy; who once befriended are loyal and give you everything they have for the common good.

Greg goes through a lot – right from local crooks who steal from him, getting kidnapped to having a fatwa issued against him. Some Mullah’s suspect him of spreading Christianity and western influence. In the process he becomes sort of a messiah for the people in the region for all their problems including those created by the Kargil conflict. We Indians remember the Kargil conflict for the pain and suffering it brought us on our side of the fence. This book exposes us to the devastation that poor innocent people went through on the other side and reminds us of the futility of wars. Not only has he helped the people in this region, he has done the whole world a favor – every kid that has access to a school Greg built, stays out of those radical madarassa’s that indoctrinate them with hatred.

What I liked best about this book is the insight into cultures that I may never get to meet but more so the inspiration that it provides the readers. Mortenson’s work is leaving behind tribes whose children can now read the very Koran their ancestors revered but could never read – who can now make up their own opinions, identify good from bad and dare to have ambitions of their own that rival the mountain peaks that surround them. Greg has several serendipitous events which are so astonishing that confirms the belief that good things happen when you do good. Thru these events he meets people who care enough so Greg can make it happen. There is also the lighter side originating from cultural differences reflected in conversations with locals like Twaha - “How many goat and ram must you give her father?” in response to Mortenson telling him that he got married!

The man who promised to build one school upon his failure to surmount K2 has overcome every hurdle to build more than 50 schools. In this process of giving, Greg has given everything he had and yet has gained so much. I applaud him for his work and hope he does win the Nobel peace prize some day!

Why read this book:

~It makes us aware of our blessings about being educated and how easy it is for most of us compared to some other citizens of our world.

~It humbles and inspires us to be charitable towards good causes.

~It gives us perspective into remote cultures and reminds us to be respectful and not assume that literacy equates with wisdom.

~We need to encourage, applaud and help individuals like Greg to do more.

Thanks to MayuriSharma - after reading her review, I picked this book up.