Eat, Pray, Love
(“Female desire has a mind of its own”)
Much more than a true story - starting from a broken heart, marriage and spirit, and ending, fairy-tale like in Bali, the mecca of heartbreak healing - this is so much more a tale of a woman so completely open to the moment that it comes as a surprise she is not made of sponge or is not one of those mysterious sea creatures through whom water flows through.
Elizabeth Gilbert is a brilliant writer, and yields a soft touch and a wonky sense of humor. In no time she makes you her best friend - and you willingly let her take you into the labyrinth of her experience. And you realize that you couldn't have hoped for a more generous and - it has to be said - a more garrulous companion.
What I love best about her is her embrace of her hurt soul as if it is a lost injured kitten, and her determination to tend it through its fidgeting, its greed, its uncertainties, its truancy, its struggle, its defeat, its rising and its triumph.
Like so much of what happens in our lives, Gilbert has an epiphany of the best on a bathroom floor where she lies destroyed emotionally, at an apogee which looks like the bottom of a bottomless abyss. But what differentiates her to so many determinants in our lives, is her decision to follow her chimera.
And off she goes into an unstructured journey to Italy, India and Indonesia.
Gilbert's journey is so well documented that it scarcely bears repetition, as also the aftermath of this fable, including her separation, reparation and then interlude with Rayya. But to delve into her struggle with the nuances of her cultural imbibing - her joyous gluttony in Italy, her slow immersion into the tough regimen of spiritual duty and practice in a temple in India and then her readiness to receive love in the pellucidity of her soul - are a travelogue of the heart and soul which brim with the ache of receiving and the joy of giving.
I have heard Elizabeth Gilbert in Jaipur in early 2020 (how far away it seems!!) and when I went to get her autograph on this very book, well, here's the story I had written -
"Elizabeth Gilbert is a child who's wisened up to the world - but refuses to be anything but a child. Amongst all the images I have of her from the Jaipur Lit Fest, the one which stays is when she intently listened to a little girl talk to her about her huge tiny life. She mechanically signed books for all her fans, milling around her, but her eyes and ears were for the little one. She's that beautiful.
I have encountered Elizabeth Gilbert haphazardly - first in her TED talk, then in Big Magic - and then The Signature of All Things and then City of Girls. At long last I'm reading Eat Pray Love, a signed copy, no less. And I'm glad I did the reading the way I did - I first discovered her generosity and wisdom, before getting to know what got her to what she is..."
If you haven't had the absolute privilege of reading this peerless writer, you have missed out on taking what could be one of the best journies you can hope for…
More of the effervescent Elizabeth Gilbert
Oh, yes. Her TED talk is all what you say it is, and very inspiring, too. Every creative should watch it. At least once a year.
Lovely notes on the book, Sunil. Well structured. And much nicer to read than the standard book review.