Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - Rachel Joyce


Harold Fry
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry One of the most lucid, touching books I have read. 

In the telling of the Ramayana, it is always said that after the entire recitation, one should again listen to the story of Rama's ascent to the throne, because it is so full of good will for Rama and is an auspicious moment. In the story of Harold Fry also, I felt that in order to rise above the grief experienced by Harold and Maureen on the death of their only son David, they recapture the joy they had felt when they first met - across a dance hall - and fell in love.

Harold Fry resides in all of us as does Maureen. They embody the decisions that one takes which finally define our life for us -either because it impacts us or because it has consequences for those whom we love.

The friendship and gratitude that Harold feels for Queenie is awe inspiring. He is beholden to her for taking responsibility for something he did in a fit of anger and grief, at the work place. The author, Rachel Joyce, has re created in simple words, a very poignant picture of the fragility of human interactions, the way in which we cocoon ourselves into comfortable nooks and crannies - "we hang on by so little, he thought, and felt the full despair of knowing that."

There are any number of people who show immense kindness to Harold Fry along the journey and this is one aspect of the story which I found most uplifting. The Slovakian doctor who cleans his feet and offers him food and a place to rest, while she herself waits in vain for her partner to return to her....while she fills her days by cleaning houses and toilets....a trained doctor!!! This is just the kind of devotion to a guest which is prescribed in Hinduism where it is said that a guest is like a God "athithi devo bhava". The oncologist who shares his table at a tea shop and enlightens him about the different manifestations of cancer, the stray dog which follows him around asking for nothing but only offering its companionship, the occupants of farm houses who offer him food and shelter him in barns........

A beautiful and unforgettable story, which makes you introspect and maybe conclude like the mother of six in the story, who confided that she never knew life could be so solitary." "The superhuman effort it sometimes took to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The normalness of that."

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