“A Psalm of Life” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.”
These lines are often quoted when speaking about the purpose and power of reading biographies.
The lines echo exactly what biographies and autobiographies do — they remind us that:
- greatness often comes from ordinary beginnings
- courage, resilience, and integrity can be cultivated
- the stories of others can inspire our own
- we too can shape a life that leaves “footprints on the sands of time”
Why Biography and Autobiography Matter
Biographies and autobiographies occupy a special place in literature because they allow us to step directly into another life—its struggles, triumphs, contradictions, and quiet moments of truth. They reveal the human side of history. In reading them, we don’t just witness events; we experience the atmosphere of an era, the moral dilemmas of the time, the personal flaws of icons, and the intimate stories behind public achievements.
Whether hagiographic or brutally honest, they give us mirrors, maps, and sometimes warnings. They are also powerful preservers of culture—of crafts, communities, movements, and memories that might otherwise fade. And at their best, they remind us that the people we admire were human first, heroic next.
A Vibrant Final Meetup of 2025
Our final meetup of the year revolved around biographical literature, and it turned into a rich morning of reflection, spirited conversation, and unexpected insights. Participants shared their relationship with the genre and discussed the biographies and autobiographies that shaped their thinking.
Books and personalities that featured in our discussion included:
‘A Long Walk to Freedom’ (Nelson Mandela), ‘India’s Most Fearless’ (Shiv Aroor & Rahul Singh), ‘The Golden Touch’ (T. S. Kalyanaraman), ‘Born a Crime’ (Trevor Noah), ‘Permanent Record’ (Edward Snowden), ‘Attu Pokatha Ormakal’ (T. J. Joseph), ‘Going Solo’ (Roald Dahl), Walter Isaacson, T. J. S. George, Richard Feynman, Bill Bryson, Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Manu S. Pillai, Winston Churchill, and many more.
The Questions That Shaped the Conversation
A key theme was truth: How much of any life story—autobiographical or biographical—can we really take at face value?
Most felt that biographies often reveal the humanity of celebrated figures. Many also noted that good biographies double as excellent windows into the history and spirit of their times.
Some enjoyed the genre for its candidness (or delightful gossip!), while others pointed out its limitations:
- Biographies: often hagiographic; the darker edges are softened or left out.
- Autobiographies: inspiring in youth, but typically 70–80% true—sometimes exaggerating pain, or glossing over complexity.
Examples surfaced quickly:
Agatha Christie’s autobiography stays almost entirely cheerful, skipping the darker phase leading to her temporary disappearance. Tony Browne, a Limerick historian, once remarked that Angela’s Ashes was “80 per cent true”—a comment that resonated with readers in the room.
And of course, there were lighter moments too:
“I have both Pelé’s and Maradona’s biographies sitting together in my collection… just to pacify both sides!” 😊
A Morning of Books, Ideas, and Tangents
As always, the discussion branched beautifully—from biography as a form, to biography in fiction, and to unusual categories such as:
- Biography of people
- Biography of concepts
- Biography of places and authors
This breadth made the meetup deeply enriching.
Books Shared & Discussed
(All original listings preserved exactly as you provided.)
Set 1
- The School of Life – Dr. K. Vasuki
- Memoir of Jane Austen – James Edward Austen-Leigh (62 of 2025)
- The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
- Em and the Big Hoom
- Mother Mary Comes to Me
- First Forever – Y. J. Yashaswi
- T. N. Manoharan
- Unstoppable – S. D. Bala
- Salman Rushdie – Contemporary World Writers
- Elsewhereans – Jeet Thayil (59 of 25)
Set 2
- Sermon of the Dead – Narendra Murty (Socrates, Jesus, Joan of Arc, Galileo, Gandhi, Mansur al‑Hallaj)
- Mind Master – Viswanathan Anand
- Ratan Tata: A Life – Thomas Mathew
- Spotlight – Janakipadmavathi
- The Motorcycle Diaries – Che Guevara
- Triumph – Jeremy Schaap
- Left to Tell – Immaculée Ilibagiza
- Seven Years in Tibet – Heinrich Harrer
- Krishna Bose on Subhash Chandra Bose
- Mother Teresa
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Swami Vivekananda & Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
- Insatiable – Shobha De
- God’s Fool – Mark Slouka
- Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon
- Bronte Relics: A Collection History
- R. Sivakumar
Set 3
- The Women I Think About at Night – Mia Kankimäki
- A Widow Rebirth from Her Ashes – Mridu
- Aruna Shanbaug – Pinki Virani
- I Too Had a Dream – Verghese Kurien
- Autobiography of a Yogi
- A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes – Rodrigo Garcia
- This Life is a Play – Girish Karnad
- My Life in Full – Indra Nooyi
- Savarkar: A Concise Biography – Dr. Arvind Godbole
- A Princess Remembers – Gayatri Devi
- Nightingale 3 – Choice, Chance & Change – CA Sivakumar & CA Pattabhi Ram
- A Bank for the Buck – Tamal Bandyopadhyay
- Words Have Power – Kamala Harris & Becoming – Michelle Obama
- Dr. V. Shanta – A Living Legend
- Legal Eagles – Indu Bhan
Set 4
- The Scam – Debashis & Sucheta Dalal
- My Journey – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
- Mehdi: Nothing Is Impossible – Roy Alexander
- Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu – Laurence Bergreen
- The Men Who Killed Gandhi – Manohar Malgonkar
- The Story of My Experiments with Truth
- Straight from the Heart – Kapil Dev
- Buried Thoughts – Joseph K. Jose
Set 5 (Shared later)
- Open – Andre Agassi
- A Promised Land – Barack Obama
A Personal Reflection Shared by a Member
One participant wrote in later, expressing her love for the genre. She highlighted Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay’s Inner Recesses, Outer Spaces, calling it a vivid first‑person account of the tumultuous early 20th century.
From persuading Gandhiji to include women in the Salt Satyagraha, to rehabilitating refugees by founding Faridabad, to preserving India’s handicrafts through the All India Handicrafts Board, her life was one of action and integrity.
She rejected ministerial posts, remained fiercely independent, and became a pioneer of the global feminist movement—an extraordinary life indeed.
What is one big lesson from biography that most people miss?
One big lesson from biographies that most people miss is this:
Lives are shaped more by endurance than by brilliance.
Most readers look for dramatic turning points—genius moments, bold decisions, sudden success. But if you read biographies closely, what stands out is not exceptional talent, but long stretches of quiet persistence: years of obscurity, repeated failure, moral compromise, self-doubt, waiting, and course correction.
Biographies rarely move in straight lines. Progress is uneven. People grow sideways before they grow upward. Many celebrated figures were misunderstood, ignored, or even mediocre for long periods. What eventually matters is not that they always knew what to do—but that they stayed in the arena, adapting without abandoning themselves entirely.
Another overlooked truth is that greatness often coexists with ordinariness. Biographies show people managing bills, family tensions, health issues, and insecurity alongside their achievements. This quietly dismantles the myth that meaningful lives are free from confusion.
The deeper lesson is humbling and comforting:
You don’t need constant clarity, confidence, or applause to live a significant life. You need patience with your own becoming.
That insight alone can change how we judge our own unfinished lives—and how kindly we read others’.
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