• Genre: Non-Fiction, Anthology
• Publisher: Penguin ndia
• Release Date: January 1, 2008
• Pages: 232
• Format: Paperback
• My Rating: 5 stars

Before reading Wise and Otherwise, I had only read a short story by Sudha Murty- How I Taught My Grandmother To Read in my 9th grade English textbook. It was a nice, heartwarming story but I didn’t bother to look up and of her books after reading that.

I thank my lucky stars that I stumbled on this book in my library.

This book is a collection of short stories that are from the author’s own experiences with people all over the country. Even her beautiful dedication “For the ‘shirtless people of India’ who have taught me so much about my country” did not prepare me for what I was about to read.

A lot of the stories are incidents from the lives of the rural and common people of India. Some stories are very inspirational and show their simplicity, honesty and courage. There are also incidents from very remote places that we generally don’t get to read about. The stories consist of topics such as the struggle for education, underprivileged children, humility, jealousy from others, values. Every story shows a different aspect of human nature. Some were heart-breaking and depicted the harsh realities of life.

The writing is very compelling and easy to read. It is one of the best first-person narratives I have ever read.

I found many relatable things in this book. Things we also do in our daily life and things we observe about people in the society.

Every single story in this book is heart-touching, astonishing and brilliantly told. They teach us that we never know what goes on in the minds of other people in our society. We don’t know their principles or their outlook towards life. In many aspects, some are far greater than us and there is a lot we can learn from them.

If there’s one thing I learned from this book, it is that we should help people. We should help those who need it, however we can.

I’m very glad I read this book and came to know more about this remarkable woman. This is the most eye-opening book I have ever read. It is very meaningful and inspiring. I recommend this book to everyone.

Have you read this book or any books by this author? Let me know down below!