If I were to use the title of book — ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ — that’s exactly what we seemed to be doing in 2020 — searching for meaning.
I infer this from Amazon India’s declaration of the number one bestseller in the country this year. It is ‘Ikigai’. Ikigai, as you may be familiar with, is a Japanese concept as ‘reason of living or waking up every morning’. It is also number one bestseller in the non-fiction category. The number two bestseller in the same category is ‘The Power of your Subconscious Mind’.
If I look at the fiction category, the top seller is our Chetan Bhagat’s ‘One Arranged Muder’. But the books that follow have story plots with a familiar tilt to those in the non-fiction category. They’re about man’s quest and discovery of the inner self. ‘The Alchemist’ and ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’ are at number two and three. At number five, there is ‘Life is What You Make It’ by Preeti Shenoy.
Also, since I mention about ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’, I’ll add a nuget about another book with ‘monk’ in its title. Ellen DeGenres says, ‘Who better to help you find meaning in your life than a monk?’ in it’s review. The book is ‘Think Like a Monk’ by Jay Shetty. Both DeGenres and Shetty were in controversy of sorts some while ago yet the book is Top New Release of the Year.
It’s evident that the readers don’t seem to mind that. All that mattered is some serious soul-searching of sorts this year. The reading choices say so.
And why not? 2020 has been a ‘page-turner’ so to say.
If I were to rely on the same list, I would say that people seemed to be more empathetic and concerned. They seemed to reach out more for each other’s well-being. How? ‘Ikigai’ and ‘The Alchemist’ were the most gifted books in the country.
One may ditch the above round-ups as frivolous or shallow. But it’s interesting to see these kinds of end-of-year statistics. If nothing else, at least they expose us to some good reads. This year’s titles can lead us to some healthy introspection. We can assess how we’ve been living thus so far and, if we’d like some change for the better.
In fact, if I were to use the title of a popular series, I’d say the books – good books – can serve as ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’.
That reminds me chicken soup has actually nourished my soul this year. It’s from another end-of-the-year statistic – my Swiggy Stat’EAT’stics2020. It says I ordered shredded chicken soup the most this year. Hey, hey, please don’t ‘shred’ me. I am wanting to say how good food too can nourish the soul. In fact, how about ‘Biryani for the Soul’ – India’s most consumed food? Especially, for those who prefer foods over books? Ok. Ok. No more statistics. No more analysis. I am off. Adios. 🙂
Maulik Chandarana 