books
In Love With Death – Book Review
Satish Modi, industrialist, businessman, art patron and collector, is the unexpected author of a moving piece of writing that touches the soul and calls for us to revaluate our perceptions of death, and in the process, life.
His first and only book, In Love With Death, is not so much about dying, but more about how accepting death can better aid our ability to live.
Part-autobiography and part-moral philosophy, this book positions itself as a key player in the debate surrounding the true meaning of happiness.
After founding India’s first airline in 1993, Satish Modi went on to kick-start India’s first offshore mutual fund, thereafter setting up the Real Estate Company, Regent Realty Limited, in London. But there is much more to Modi than just a suit and a brain for business.
Following in the footsteps of his parents, he has devoted his life to philanthropic work, founding the International Institute of Fine Arts and Arts for India. During his rich and diverse life, Modi met people from different walks of life, many of whom are mentioned in the book.
In its one hundred and sixty-three pages, the book explores many themes relating to heaven, hell, redemption and resurrection. Indeed the format of the book even has biblical connotations; twenty-three moral teachings told by fourteen ordinary people. Although there were only twelve apostles, these stories act as humbling fables, reminding us; love thy neighbour; money does not buy us happiness; death comes to all.
At this point the atheists among you may be losing interest, but do not be disheartened, the book is not just a series of Christian teachings; it also touches on the ideologies underpinning many of the world’s other religions, as well as more ‘scientific’ philosophies, such as materialism. What theme unites them? Death, the human universal most of us try to avoid thinking about.
Specifically, the book’s underlying message calls for an enlightened way of being that can only be informed by truly understanding death. Although the Buddhist concept of reincarnation is also discussed, this is only mentioned in passing and does not dictate the book’s departing message. Yet what does it actually mean to truly understand death?
Modi’s passage on disease, where he quotes writer J. Krishnamurti, succinctly sums up this departing lesson:
“To find out actually what takes place when you die… not physically but psychologically, inwardly, die to the things you are bitter about…
To die is to have a mind that is completely empty of itself, empty of its daily longing, pleasure and agonies.
Death is a renewal, a mutation, in which thought does not function at all because thought is old.
When there is death, there is something totally new. Freedom from the known is death, and then you are living.”
By meditating on death, we can reach enlightenment. Make no mistakes; this is not Buddhist enlightenment, but an awareness that can be achieved by all people from different walks of life. This passage also teaches us to recast death in a positive light, to grow as a result of it and to not let it overwhelm us.
For Modi, to truly accept death, we must slow down and realise that time transcends us; we do not make time, time makes us. If you can take any lesson from this book, take on board Modi’s plea to slow down, to switch off the television, to leave your cell phone at home, to spend more time with your family and to live in the now.
The book also reminds us that we need to let go of self-importance. In the process of slowing down, we are encouraged to open our eyes to our surroundings and to look beyond our own immediate problems. In doing so, we can learn to let go of our fears.
For Modi, the book forces him to rethink his own sense of self-importance as an author; his dominant narrative voice is continually offset with tales told by thirteen other people.
In a literary world flooded with self-glorifying autobiographies, Satish Modi’s ‘In Love With Death’ sits modestly beside them, yet has a sincere message that will stand the test of time.
Part of what helps the book achieve this sincerity is its message that money cannot buy happiness. One particularly poignant section tells the story of Frank, an ex-banker with two grown-up children. After losing all of his wealth, possessions and sense of worth, what actually saves him from a downward spiral is his love for his children. In essence, the book is about returning to basic morals.
Where many other semi-autobiographical works talk about the race for fame and fortune, In Love With Death succeeds by looking past these superficial fancies.
This short and deeply philosophical book can be used to encourage us to repossess our lives, to stir us into action when we feel out of control. Some of you may ask, if this book is a guide for living, then why is it called In Love With Death?
Only by understanding our impermanence, are we able to see beyond life’s distractions; money, possessions, work.
Instead of continually trying to recapture our youth, we can embrace the inevitable.
In this book we are told real stories that can inspire us. These are tales told by people who have been able to find peace by living in the present. In our ‘time is money’ society where everyone is constantly on the move, surely the search for inner peace is something that all of us can benefit from.
An easy and interesting read, ‘In Love with Death’ offers peace of mind for the now.
* Signed copies of the book are available at Shalini Ganendra Fine Art @ Gallery Residence.
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