Once you Learn how to Die, you Learn how to Live. Review on Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom

“I have picked a place to be buried.”

“Where is that?”

“Not far from here. On a hill, beneath a tree, overlooking a pond. Very serene. A good place to think.”

“Are you planning on thinking there?”

“I’m planning on being dead there. Will you visit?”

“Visit?”

“Just come and talk. Make it a Tuesday. You always come on Tuesdays.”

“We are Tuesdays people.”

“Right. Tuesdays people. Come to talk, then”

Its the final conversation that Mitch has with Morrie and it touched and moved me so much that they succeed in bringing tears to my eyes. They reminded me of someone I have lost sometime back, with whom I’d have loved to be with in his last days. But, there were no such last days for us.

ABOUT MORRIE :

Morrie Schwartz was a real hero. Most of the people suffering from deadly diseases and having left only few days or weeks or months, when come face to face with this truth, their whole viewpoint about the life changes. They lose the battle before it really begin and become so absorbed with the thought and fear of death that they, out of shame and many such reasons disappear from the world, reject their normal way of life and wither away in silence and darkness, crying and waiting for the day to come. But Morrie chose the other way that’s to make the best of the time, he was left with. In his words “I will make death my final project. Since everyone is going to die, I can be of great value. I could be research, a human textbook. Study me in my slow and patient demise. Watch what happens to me. Learn with me.”

He was the teacher that every student should have to learn the great lessons of life. He was a man of simple living and high thinking, and now that he is no more, we should be thankful to Mitch for writing this book.

ABOUT MITCH :

Mitch Albom writer of “Tuesdays with Morrie” (TWM) was one of America’s best Sports Columnist (maybe he still is) and a professional musician and had written few sports books before he really got into writing real stuff and it began with TWM. He wrote two more books after TWM, “Five people you meet in Heaven” and “For one more day.” But this book that I am reviewing here is best, I better say, their best, Mitch and Morrie.

HOW IT HAPPENED :

Morrie Schwartz was Mitch’s favorite professor during his graduation years. So after 16 years, busy in his mechanical life, when he came to know, coincidently through a TV show, about Morrie’s illness, and that he is going to die within few months, slowly and painfully, due to it(ALS). According to Morrie, his illness was like a lit candle which melt your nerves and leave your body a pile of wax and it begins with legs and works its way up. Mitch went all the way to meet him. Before dying Morrie wanted to put his experience of life and also the experience of facing death in steps in some book so that people could learn and live life in a better way. So that’s how the idea of book came and since they chose to meet on Tuesdays, bcoz’ Mitch used to have his classes from Morrie always on Tuesdays, 16 years back, that’s how the idea of name “Tuesdays with Morrie” came.

ABOUT THE BOOK :

TWH is a very short book, less than 200 pages and within these pages Mitch has done a great job to fulfill Morrie’s wishes. They met for 14 Tuesdays before Morrie’s death and discussed about various important aspects of life like Love, Death, Money, Culture, Marriage, Forgiveness etc all according to a list made by Mitch and that’s how the chapters are divided and named. In between these chapters Mitch has put some of his experiences with Morrie during graduation years and they truly make the book even more impressive and complete.

SOMETHING FROM THE BOOK:

In my opinion the best way to review this book would be to write a little about each subject they took, though it will make it more of a summary than review, but only that can complete this review. So here is my learning from some of them.

Death :

Everybody knows they are going to die, but no one believes it, better approach is to know you are going to die and to be prepared for it any time. That way U can actually be more involved in your life while you are living. Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

Regret :

Culture doesn’t allow to think about things like death, we wait till we are about to die. We are so wrapped up with our egoistical things like career, family, money, we keep ourselves involved in millions of little things just to keep going. So we don’t get into the habit of standing and looking back at our lives and saying ”Is it all? Is it allI want? Is something missing.”

Aging :

All young people should know something. If you are always battling against getting older. You are always going to be unhappy, because it’ll happen anyhow.

Family :

There is no experience like having children. There is no substitutes for it. You can’t do it with your friend or lover. The complete responsibility for another human being, and to learn how to love and to bond in the deepest way. You can only have it with your children.

Marriage :

There are few rules to be followed.

If you don’t respect the other person, you are gonna have a lot of trouble.

If you don’t know how to compromise, you are gonna have a lot of trouble.

If you can’t talk openly about what goes on between you, you are gonna have a lot of trouble.

And if you don’t have common set of values in life, you are gonna have a lot more of trouble.

But the biggest one of these rules is your belief in the importance of marriage.

Money:

Money and power is no substitute for tenderness. I can tell you , as I’m sitting here dying, when you most need it neither money nor power will give you the feeling you are looking for, no matter how much of them you have.

CONCLUSION:

Those days with Morrie changed Mitch’s life completely, and this book has the power and content to change ours too. It’s not only a must read, it’s a must have book, though most people have looked at it from the perspective of a student-teacher relationship, but I think it’s more than that, it’s about the undying spirit of a man who knew that he’s going to die soon, but still he lived his last days very positively and made the most of it, more than most of us make in our whole life time.

From me, a very strong recommendation and 10 out of 5 stars to this book, for Morrie and for the way Mitch has covered it all.

Thanks for Reading till the end, Comments are most welcomed.

Take Care and keep Reading and Writing

Vikky Gural

PYAR HUMEIN PHIR MILAAEGA....