Another Sort of Freedom
Another Sort of Freedom is a funny, moving and honest memoir of a man's struggle to break free from expectations. Gurcharan Das was born in Lyallpur, Punjab, during World War II, when Hitler, Churchill and Hirohito were bashing everyone around. His mother noted in her diary, 'This is a restless baby.' By age two he had become 'a difficult child', and by three she was calling him a 'troublemaker'. He discovered one day that he could run, and he has been running ever since.
There are strange twists in his journey, from Partition's chaos to misguided attempts at winning over first loves. Setting out to become an engineer, he ends up with a philosophy degree from Harvard University. He then abandons a promising academic career in ivy-covered halls to become a salesman for Vicks VapoRub in India's dusty bazaars. This leads him to the CEO's position of Procter & Gamble India. One day, at the peak of his professional life, his high-powered corporate mask crumbles, and he walks away to become a celebrated writer and public intellectual.
Candid, witty and wry, the memoir is filled with moments of deep introspection at every turn alongside wise observations on the author's encounters with history on four continents. This is Gurcharan Das as you have never seen him before.
Reviews
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1) "Gurcharan Das embarked on his life’s journey equipped with a degree in philosophy from Harvard University, but chose a career in corporate India, where he rose to be CEO of Procter & Gamble India. Two decades and more since his first book, India Unbound was published, he tells his own story. A review of his memoir by Balakrishna S. Kesavan." read more
-- Business World 2nd Mar 2024 -
2) "Gurcharan Das's memoir 'Another Sort of Freedom' brings to a close his search for a flourishing life based on the classical ideal of four goals of life – the purusharthas - artha, dharma, kama and moksha." read more
-- Money Control 18th Nov 2023 -
3) "‘Another Sort of Freedom’ by Gurcharan Das is the rarest of the rare gems. It is about the fourth aim of moksha, offering an all-natural, non-religious, non-transcendental view of freedom." read more
-- News18 10th Nov 2023 -
4) "Former head of Procter & Gamble takes us through the 1960s and the 1970s in Boston and Oxford and describes uniquely how his feet remain rooted in Indian soil." read more
-- Telegraph India 15th Dec 2023 -
5) "An Authentic, Conscientious, Riveting, Introspective And Reflective Memoir -Another Sort Of Freedom’ Reflects Gurcharan Das’s Journey To His Type Of Moksha. In this enthralling excerpt from "Another Sort of Freedom-A Memoir” by famed Indian author Gurcharan Das, Akhileshwar Sahay traces the life and pursuit of moksha of Gurcharan, from his birth to 75 years of age." read more
-- Times Now 26th Dec 2023 -
6) "Whether he writes a novel, a play, a newspaper column or a memoir, the core of Gurcharan Das’ work is the self and his own life experiences. From his earliest memories of Lyallpur in Pakistan, where he lived in a large joint family, to the trauma of Partition and the family’s move to India, leaving behind a prosperous life to start all over again, Das captures the outer world through a deep dive into his past and inner self. His parents — a mystic engineer father who was a devout acolyte of the Beas Radha Soami sect and his mother, a true- blue Punjabi survivor who wants success and thrusts her ambitions on Das — appear in both his fiction and his memoirs as very vivid characters." read more
-- Tribune India
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