The Gita: For Children by Roopa Pai

I had read the Bhagvad Gita earlier twice in my mid-twenties. It wasn't any famous or popular version, rather just a simple Sanskrit to Hindi literal translation. I could understand it then but, honestly, there was no retention at all. I am anyway not much into non-fiction books and I just presumed that it was probably the reason why I didn't enjoy it much.

I had a few years later attented the Book Launch of The Gita: For Children with my daughter, who was maybe 6 or 7 years old then. I was mighty impressed by Roopa Pai. Surrounded by kids, she held their attention rapt. She asked quite a few questions related to Mahabharata and my daughter, fresh off various Krishna and Arjuna related animated movies, gave quite a few answers correctly. "Oh dear, I am mighty impressed with this little girl," Roopa said on the mic and my daughter puffed up with happiness. She started pestering me to buy the book. After the session, I went up to Roopa and asked her what would be the right age for my little girl to read this book. She said she was too young but maybe 13 or 14 years would be better because she would be able to understand the thoughts better. Now, when she has reached that age, I decided to buy the book for her and even before she picked it up, I decided to give it a go myself.

I simply loved the book. Written in conversation style and as a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, it is very easy to understand. Not just that, it explains the 18 learnings from the 18 Adhyay with simple real life examples that young adults can relate to and also gives tips on how to imbibe the learnings from the Gita into their day to day life. Honestly, most of us adults can use these tips as well.

So, if you are looking for a translation of each and every shlok / prose, then, this is not the book for you. Neither will it give you spiritual analysis and deep prodding to question yourself or explore your inner self. But if you are looking for a light reading which explains the crux of the most famous ideology of life and gives you simple tips to imbibe these learnings into your everyday life, this is absolutely the book for you.

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