For about four months last year (2018) I worked with Devyani Mangaldas on a biography she wanted to write on her mother Nandini Mehta. Nandini Mehta wasn’t a celebrity, she wasn’t famous or well-known, but her story piqued my interest. As did the passion and sensitivity of the 78-year-old Devi who so wanted to tell her mother’s story—one that began over a hundred years ago.

As I read Nandini’s diaries, her letters to her daughter, and extracts of her 40-year-long correspondence with the famous philosopher and spiritual teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti, I realised her story had many life lessons. Her life choices are questions we all are faced with: How do we act in times of adversity; how do we deal with pain; how do we choose to raise our children?

We included many extracts of Nandini’s letters and diary entries in the chapters of the book, so reader’s would hear her voice. Many of Nandini’s profound insights provide valuable life lessons that we can all benefit from. I was particularly stirred by her words encouraging all of us to find a “patch of green” in our lives, and the advice to her daughter on turning 18. But more than anything else, I felt moved by the love with which she raised her children, even when everything seemed to be going against her. Working on the manuscript, I often found myself rethinking how I ought to have dealt with a personal situation, or questioning whether there was a better way to have handled an interaction.

In our world today, so fraught with hate, anger, and dishonesty, this memoir is a small glimpse into a life than can be the opposite. In an age when discussions about a woman’s rights, her place in the family and the world are finally being highlighted, I feel this book has a positive contribution to make. The book is entitled Walking With Krishnamurti: The Life And Letters of Nandini Mehta because of the way in which Nandini walked, really and metaphorically, with Krishnamurti.

A printed copy of this book is available for sale on Amazon, but you can also get a FREE downloadable e-book at www.walkingwithkrishnamurti.com. I encourage anyone who has an interest in living with simplicity and spirituality, to get a hold of it. It’s a short book, a quick and worthwhile read.

Top Photo by Andy Hutchinson on Unsplash