Variyar Vaalkai Varalaru

It looks like the autographed copy that I have is either a limited edition or that it has gone out of print. I bought it from the author just a year before He ended His 87-year spiritual sojourn on earth, which He has described as a place of misery and suffering.

He has been very candid about His experiences, and has in great details described the incidents and the personalities He met with remarkable candour, something which is normally not found in the autobiographies of people who would want to dastardly hide behind the diaphanous reviews of their lives. In that respect, Sri Kripanandavariyar has set Himself apart from the common tribes of banal celebrities and people who seek glories even after their forlorn demise.

The autobiography delineates the events and people who shaped the author's mind, philosophy, belief systems and even dogmas. Quite interestingly, Leo Tolstoy occupies an important landmark in the life of the saint who has been instrumental in changing the lives of scores of people in the Tamil community.

The 280-page book contains a number of black-and-white plates with extended captions. Besides the little autobiographical information about the author's siblings and parents, what is really most endearing about the book is the saint's characteristic impeccable Tamil that is so poetical, lyrical and mystically musical.