A bench, a temple, a village, people like you or me and a blind old man-These are some of the set ups in Mrs. Sudha Murty`s compilation of short stories from people across India. The Old Man And His God: Discovering The Spirit of India is a collection of individual accounts gathered by the writer from people who have their own stories to tell. The stories are such that they are very simple to understand and written in a simple way. They describe the incidents that are recorded by Mrs. Murty during her journey, which she subsequently summarized in her easy to read book. Her stories are a part of the very soul of human beings. For instance, there is one about how an old blind man gave her shelter in a storm when there was nowhere else to go. Another story is about how brothers turned away from each other when somewhere else two people, who were not even related became closer than brothers. There are also stories of young people trying to make a career for themselves and also about the oppression of women who struggle for their rights. Many different lives touched the heart of Mrs. Sudha Murty and entitled her to write The Old Man and His God. Mrs. Murty has explored the spirit of India with her set of short stories. The spirit of India is in the people, their lives and their stories which can impact the way of the world. The Old Man and His God: Discovering the Spirit of India was published by Penguin in 2006. It is available in paperback editions.
