CHENNAI: If you are someone in a quest to find patterns and answers to life’s riddles, here’s a book that will bring you closer to getting some — Seppadu Viddai. “We need to learn to strike a balance between different values in life. This book will be a guide to that,” says Manekshaw, author and founder, The Amiable Aid Foundation, about his book which was exhibited in the notion press stall in the recently concluded Chennai Book Fair.
Named after one of the country’s greatest soldier, Sam Manekshaw, the author who is physically disabled with a visual impairment, narrates his journey of publishing the book, which has had over 100 buyers so far. “In the last two years, I often used to write short posts on Facebook about a plethora of things. While I enjoyed writing these snippets, after my meditation session, little did I know that there were people who read it with such interest! After reading it regularly, a few of my friends expressed their willingness to compile it in the form of a book. I was overwhelmed,” declares Manekshaw who is also a bank official.
Coming from a family of Siddha practitioners who offer astrology and medical services, including free medicine for the needy, it was natural for him to write about different facets of his life and experiences. “The title of the book means conjuring tricks. The intention was to learn the basic principles and ideas of magic, the magic of life in this case and execute it,” explains the author who in 2005 organised a Guinness World Record attempt of planting over 2.54 lakh sapling in 24 hours. “I coordinated the Guinness attempt in memory of Tsunami victims. I am also planning a similar tree plantation in connection with this book... it’s called ‘Saamaram’,” says the Nation Youth Award recipient. “I received it from APJ Abdul Kalam and it’s one of the most memorable moments.”
According to Manekshaw, each converted book counts for a tree. So, the author plans to plant a sapling for every book that is bought. “Reading books is an amazing practice but, it cannot be called environment friendly as such, right?. We will be planting saplings at a land in Thevur for every Seppadu Viddhai book that is sold,” he elucidates.
As a follower of Patanjali Maharishi, who also got the spiritual initiation on Vaashi Yoga from Sivananda Ashram, he clarifies that the book doesn’t focus on spirituality. “Books are reflections of what you think, feel and perceive. I let this book be an abstract and a canvas for which people can give any name and from which they can take away any good thing they want. My primary aim is for it to reach more people. This way it will also help the special children in our foundation,” he says.
The money collected from the book sales will be given to Amiable Aid Foundation, to help persons with disabilities (PwD). “Under our umbrella, we have children with different disabilities and needs. We are looking to uplift their lives,” he shares.
The author is working on his next, a sequel to Seppadu Viddhai. “The second part will focus on the cosmic-body nexus, detoxification of the body and how to set the body as a vehicle for attaining higher level of consciousness,” he adds.
Seppadu Viddhai is available on Amazon. For details, visit: www.seppaduviddhai.com