28. An Examination at the Library

Gunaseelan is a publisher. I got his acquaintance through a friend of mine. He invited me to visit his office sometime.

I went to his office after fixing up the time with him. All the books published by him were neatly stacked in a shelf in chronological order. He told me that he had published 247 books so far.

"Oh, you have published 247 books to match the 247 alphabets in the Tamil language" I said.

"I have not stopped publishing. So the number of books may exceed 247!" he said, smiling.

"Okay. Here is the list of books I have published. Quickly go through the names of all the 247 books and their authors. There is a test for you" he continued, handing me a printed sheet.

"If I had known that I would have to face an examination, I wouldn't have come here!" I said, in a lighter vein.

As asked by him, I quickly went through the list, wondering what kind of a quiz I was going to face.

After going through the list, I nodded my head signaling my readiness to take the test.

"Okay. The test is simple. Randomly recall as many names of the books and names of the writers from the list as you can" said Gunaseelan.

Feeling relieved that the test was not as tough I feared it would be, I tried to recall the names from the list I had browsed through. I was able to recall the names of ten books and three writers. 

"Fine! I will tell you something I found surprising. Many people visiting my office have taken this test. The names recalled by all of them are nearly the same. What can you infer from this?" asked Gunaseelan.

I would have liked to say, 'Well, they should also have been dullheads like me!' but wisely chose not to answer his question, awaiting what Gunaseelan was going to say.

"What I found interesting was that though the names of books and authors recalled by people were random, these ten books were written by these three authors!"

"Oh, it is surprising!"

"It may appear surprising but it is really not so. Many people write many books. Some of the books become best sellers. Some receive acclamation from the scholars and connoisseurs. Some books fall under both the categories. But only a few books stand the test of time. These books live for ever radiating the wisdom of the scholars who wrote them for generations of people and perpetuating the glory of the authors.

Fortunately, Gunaseelan didn't ask me, 'What do you infer from this?' If he had asked, I would have said, 'The inference I draw is that people like me shouldn't attempt to write books!"

Thirukkural
Section 1: The Path of Virtue

Chapter 3
The Greatness of the Ascetics

Verse 28 (In Tamil)
niRaimozhi mAndhar perumai nilaththu
maRaimozhi kAtti vidum.

Meaning:

The glory of people who have spread their wisdom through their words will be revealed to the world through the books they have left behind.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'nUlagaththil oru parItchai' by the same author)

Verse 29 

Verse 27