Monk in a Merc-Ashok Panagariya

Book: Monk in a Merc
Author: Ashok Panagariya
Publisher: Bloomsbury India

Do you think we need to relinquish material comforts in the pursuit of happiness?

Monk in a Merc by Ashok Panagariya is a book in which the author blends his life experiences with modern science and Indic philosophy to tackle the questions and shares some tools to become a better “brain-manager”. He goes deep into the human mind to explore the unique elements about our mind while maintain the role of luck and chance in our lives. The book basically explores the idea of attaining happiness without renouncing the worldly comforts of the material world, and turns the table on the conventional idea of monkhood.

The book is an interesting take on the idea of attaining happiness and Dr. Panagariya tackles some of the toughest questions related to the human mind and the psyche. The book is replete with interesting examples from his own life where the lines became blurred between science, chance, and Indic philosophy. The book touches upon topics such as training the mind, accepting situations, and tacking them and so on. The good thing about the book is that it does not take a preachy stance and advises a person to take a specific path. The author goes into detail to explain the reasons and situations that led to a particular thought, thereby encouraging the reader to take time to think and understand the concept being explained. The second thing that I liked was the idea that he has not limited himself to science or to philosophy, but to blend it and present it like a normal person experiences situations and reacts to them.

The book is easy to read and understand, and the division of the chapters is such that a particular concept is introduced and concluded as they are sub divided. This helps the reader take a break and take stock of what has happened and get some learnings out of it. The book includes sections on stress and how to cope with them, which is quite an eye opener. Taking up the idea of faith, Dr. Panagariya has explained the concept of fate and I was astounded with the details he brings up. The thing that didn’t work for me in the book was excessive detailing in certain sections which could have been avoided to make it a better read.

Overall, a book I would recommend if you like reading non-fiction that is based on facts and you aim to expand your horizon. The book scores a 4.13/5 for me.

Grab a copy of the book here.