Puzzle of Why: Faith, Reason and Mantra of Living

Examining Loss, Life, and How to Make Sense of It All:
A New Book Introduces an Ancient Philosophy As a Way to Cope with Modern Life

Following the death of his wife, Geetha, in January 2017, Ganesh Vaidyanathan was confronted by grief, loss, and the question that humanity has asked since time immemorial: why?

In an attempt to deal with his grief, Ganesh turned to his life-long friend, Nishkam Agarwal. Nishkam has spent his life exploring Advaita Vedanta, the crown jewel of Indian philosophy, a 3,000-year-old approach that exhorts a person to see beyond their individuality to accept the oneness of everything, material or otherwise. The two friends grappled with their loss while diving into depths of this ancient philosophy. Their explorations of “why” and “how” ultimately led them to write Puzzle of Why: Faith, Reason, and Mantra of Living.

In the first part of the book, Ganesh movingly explores those questions in the context of his life with Geetha, while in the second section, Nishkam breaks down the ins and outs of Advaita Vedanta. He does so in a way that makes millennia of complex philosophical theory readily accessible to the reader looking to make sense of a world that can be overwhelming in its joys and griefs, particularly as it struggles to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the final part of the book, Nishkam and Ganesh apply the concepts of Advaita Vedanta to the greater good. Can living with purpose make for a better world? Can it be a light for a world often surrounded in the darkness of human suffering? They turn their experiences and the ancient philosophy to women’s empowerment, climate change, and much more as they try to figure out life’s “Puzzle of Why.”

Ganesh and Nishkam, who have PhDs in physics and economics respectively, bring their expertise, humor, and warmth to this first-time collaboration while tackling the very things that make us human. They share personal experiences and break down complex philosophical thinking so that it is relatable to anyone trying to find meaning in an increasingly tough world; in other words, to anyone trying to figure out the “puzzle of why.”

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Nishkam Sandesh Agarwal, PhD, lives in Columbia, Maryland, with his wife Koki.
Akhileswar Ganesh Vaidyanathan, PhD, makes his home in Landenburg, Pennsylvania.