Hermann Hesse, “Siddhartha”

August 26th, 2008 · 16 Comments · books, me

“When someone is seeking…it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything…because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.” Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

I read this book in Malayalam and I am finding it little difficult to express, what it was like. I feel great, … I feel, I got something that will help me look at life and people from a perspective which is very much different from what it is now.

It’s tough to understand, sometimes, like when he says “There is no past, or future, …. everything is present. ..” It is tough, when he says,

“The river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth…in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past, nor the shadow of the future…Siddhartha the boy, Siddhartha the mature man and Siddhartha the old man [are] only separated by shadows, not through reality…Nothing was, nothing will be, everything has reality and presence.”

But, somewhere in the distance, I see a small light, I feel I have a lot to discover in myself, it’s like … I have it inside me, just need to discover it .. not create it. “Siddhartha”, lighted a candle inside my heart.

If you feel confused, or, you feel you are at wrong place, or thinking if life had a ctrl+z , this is the best time to read this book.

PS: Took 9 days to finish this book with 123 pages. Now on to another Malayalam book, “Tatvamasi” by Dr.Sukumar Azheekode; 334 pages.

16 responses so far ↓

1 vishesh // Aug 26, 2008 at 10:24 pm

hmm…true..everything is the present…i.e. everything converges onto the one point which we look at …the past exists and the future is seen only when you try to find…now when i search what has happened to my skl life..i see the past adn the future…but i were t osee skl and whta idid today,only the present exists
2 dinu // Aug 26, 2008 at 10:27 pm

@ Vishesh

vowww .. you must read the book then buddy
3 arvind // Aug 26, 2008 at 11:20 pm

the effect of the book can be seen in the post..
i have to read both the books u mentioned..is there a englsih version for the former one
4 dinu // Aug 26, 2008 at 11:45 pm

@ arinvd

Yes, there should be , coz this one actually got translated from English ..
5 xylene // Aug 27, 2008 at 4:09 pm

I have never read a malayalam book after my tenth standard . I took second language malayalam.

Feeling guilty now.
6 dinu // Aug 27, 2008 at 4:10 pm

@ xylene

You still have time !!!!!!!!!
7 Alda // Aug 28, 2008 at 3:44 am

Hi Dinu - thanks for your comment on my blog today and for the gentle prod to finally set up a separate page detailing my experience with the Thesis theme. The link is here:

http://icelandweatherreport.com/thesis

Hope this answers your question! If not, feel free to email me.
8 dinu // Aug 28, 2008 at 7:57 am

@ Alda

thanks will check that out
9 Nikhil // Aug 28, 2008 at 9:40 am

Dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How did you do that rotating tag cloud in your sidebar??? Tell me your secret!!
10 dinu // Aug 28, 2008 at 12:02 pm

@ Nikhil

hi hi hi

Its a plugin that means you can’t do that on wordpress.com blogs
11 amit // Aug 29, 2008 at 9:00 pm

Congratulations for completing the book. I hope now you have gained confidence and will keep on reading.
I have always believed that the past shows us the path. Our brain always keep on learning from our previous mistakes and allow us to take more mature decisions.

p.s. I was going to ask the question which Nikhil asked. *Sigh*
12 dinu // Aug 29, 2008 at 9:10 pm

@ Amit

Thanks Yes, I have gained more confidence …
hmm same answer buddy … its possible only if you are on a self hosted blog .. at least for now
13 Nikhil // Sep 1, 2008 at 12:06 pm

Damn!
14 dinu // Sep 1, 2008 at 12:19 pm

@ Nikhil

what happened
15 Anjali // Sep 2, 2008 at 10:16 pm

I loved this book. I read it in English though and that was hard enough to understand. I can’t imagine reading it in Malayalam. The last books I read in Malayalam were Varikuzhi by M.T Vasudevan Nair and Ente Kadha by Madhavikutty. I had to ask my mom for help every five minutes or so.. =P
16 dinu // Sep 2, 2008 at 10:20 pm

@ Anjali

This one will be easier in Malayalam since it talks about Vedas, and a lot of Indian Spirituality etc etc … I am reading another one which is more and more about Vedas and Upanishads