The Quest of the Sparrows - Spiritual Fiction of Sorts

This book came to me just as I was finishing typing out my father's novel, The Being and the Becoming. 

In that book, a man sets off in search of self and meets many people - other selfs - and adventures in this journey of self-discovery. I was a little girl when my father was writing it and he would read aloud to us each night from whatever he had output that day. As he was my father, the book has sentimental value to me as I discover bits and pieces of what might even be some of my father's own personal experiences.

As the daughter of a man who had undertaken a spiritual journey, the book leaves me pointers for my own journey. 

Thus, Ravi and Kartik Sharma's The Quest of the Sparrows did not come as any eye opener in the spiritual sense. You can read excerpts at the website.

Yet it enchanted with its dramatic opening and, in places, matched milestones in my father's book - tales of a man of spiritual worth inspiring a crowd to action. Action which is useful and benign.

In terms of books about spiritual journeys also it stands nowhere near the works of Hermann Hesse 

or Richard Bach 

or even Lloyd C Douglas. 

The blurb says:

A seemingly ordinary young man forced to become a guru takes a leap of faith and sets off with his followers on a taxing journey that changes their mindsets and lives forever.

Inspired by the carefree life of a sparrow, reluctant guru Partibhan takes off on a 600-kilometre expedition on foot to test his theory of practical spirituality. He believes that human beings can become powerful creators, but the desire to secure the future makes them mere survivors. However, survival isn't the only goal of life. A much bigger role, a higher calling awaits us. 

Will Guru Partibhan and his disciples complete the journey? Will they discover their true potential and find everlasting joy? 

The authors have also uploaded a short inspirational video for the book: 

While not quite in the league of the other authors I have mentioned above, this book is a charming tale, laced with human experience and draws the reader to questions which need examination.

In any case, this is another offering from a growing breed of Indians writing in English and, for me, it represented a cross between a Chetan Bhagat 

and a Shubha Vilas.   

Which is to say that it's eminently readable and quite enjoyable and likely to bestow enlightenment.