The Last Lecture

Its been a year since I signed up for this blog but my first post comes only today. I created this blog to be able to share my opinions about the books I have read that have touched my life and given me a new perspective, sometimes just something to ponder about, and sometimes to disagree, discuss and debate.

I read this particular book 'The Last Lecture' by Randy Pausch under extraordinary circumstances. A few days back, early in the morning, before leaving for work, I got the news of the demise of my beloved grandmother and was utterly shattered. I rushed to the airport to take a flight back to Delhi to be with my family and while at the airport, I bought this book to keep me occupied for the next two hours and to ease the stress that i was under. Turns out, that I unknowingly made a very good decision.

I had heard about this book from a couple of friends and knew that it is about a Professor who is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has only a couple of months to live. He decides to give the last lecture to his students, a medium that he undertakes to acknowledge the wisdom he has accomplished over the years and to say a final goodbye. As it turns out, The Last Lecture is not about virtual reality, a subject he has taught through the years, but on his life and how he achieved his dreams.

Very few people in this world can face death with courage and accept the fate that lies ahead. The grief of not being able to be with your family and cherish moments that everyone plans for in life, can totally devastate an individual. There are two ways to respond to this scenario; one is to resign to your fate and feel sorry for yourself and for your loved ones, the second is to pick up the pieces, be there for your family in the time that is left, plan for them and make sure that they can live comfortably without you in years to come. Randy chose the second way and showed extraordinary courage and determination to make things better for his family.

At the time of his diagnosis, Randy was 40 years old and with three small kids aged sons Dylan and Logan aged 5, 3 and daughter Chloe aged 18 months. When he and his wife realized that he is suffering from terminal cancer and has a couple of months to live, they decided to visit a family psychiatrist to counsel them through these tough times. Randy was heart-broken that he would not be there for his kids through their growing years, there was so much that he had planned to teach them. He decided that he would record his life's learning through 'the last lecture' that he delivers at Carnegie Melon University where he was a Professor.

The book follows the story of his childhood through the years till he completed his Phd. He describes each of the important learning of his life that he gained over the years with the help of his family and on the strength of his determination. In a very light and humorous manner he describes how he was awed when he first visited Disneyland with his family, mother, father and elder sister. He was so impressed with the magnificence of the place that he decided to become a 'Disney Imagineer' so that one day he could be one of the engineers behind the rides at the park. Since then, each step that he took, he had this goal in his subconscious. And one day, he actually got an offer to go to Disneyland on a sabbatical and make his dream come true where he pioneered the non-profit Alice Project. Similarly, while growing up, the World Encyclopedias had been a constant source of information for him and he had always wondered if he could be someone who actually wrote an article for one of the edition. He was so dedicated in his work, that one day, he finally did get a call from their office to write an article on Virtual Reality, a subject that he had studied and mastered.

According to Randy, everyone has childhood dreams, but not everyone cares to fulfill them. He feels that it is important to listen to your heart and not lose focus of what you really want to do in life. If you want something passionately, there will be walls, brick-walls and people-walls, but one must figure out a way past that wall through sheer determination and hard work. Life is unpredictable, you can never say when it comes to an end. It is thus important to live each moment with full dedication and achieve what you desire, whether its a person you love, or its a dream that you want to fulfill.

In simple, humorous and a witty manner, Randy gives a message which often spiritual leaders fail to deliver. Follow your dreams and achieve what you want, do not wait for death to stare in your face and regret things that you could have done but couldn't. Life is short, make the most of it, you will never know when your world comes crashing down.