One of India’s most respected and experienced fund managers, Sivasubramanian KN, CIO, Franklin Equity - India, Franklin Templeton Investments reviews ‘To Kill a Mocking Bird’ by Harper Lee and finds that this book has a lot of relevance in today’s world
"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience." Atticus Finch
Some say your memory plays tricks on you as you age. I disagree. I think it is we who trick our memory to refashion the past so that it is congruent with our current idea of the present and the future. At a time when I am more than halfway to meeting my maker, let me try and remember something that had a huge impact on me more than 30 years ago.
The early 80’s were undoubtedly interesting times. The Great Helmsman had finally ridden into the sunset red book in hand. Diminutive Deng was taking baby steps to drag the Middle Kingdom kicking and screaming into the modern world. Indra was back in the saddle after a brief anarchic interlude. There was excitement in the air as India was making giant strides in satellite technology and computers made their first tentative appearance on college campuses. I found myself in Jaipur, a city with a Janus face, complicit with the conqueror and at the same time the primary city of the valiant Rajputs who gave birth to heroes such as Rana Pratap.
Leftist ideology was still ruling the roost though in the early morning one 
could spy khakhi shorts on campus. My refuge during the weekends was a quaint little bookshop on M.I. Road that stocked apart from kitschy tourist fare a small but interesting collection of books….Marquez, Schumacher, Hesse and a whole lot more. That’s where I found the Finch family of ‘To kill a mockingbird’.
The story of an upright lawyer, Atticus Finch, fighting against a system that was inequitous, racist, and inhumane struck an immediate chord. Beautifully written, from the point of view of the precocious 6 year old Scout Finch, “To Kill a Mockingbird” has simplicity, narrative brilliance and a storyline that tugs at your heart. The plight of Afro-Americans in southern USA in the early part of the 20th century has been poignantly brought out. The sin of killing an innocent bird is a metaphor for injustice and cruelty that is pervasive and continues to be relevant to this day.
Today as I sit back and reminisce, a lot of books come to mind…..books with fancy wordplay, complex storylines and great ideas. But Harper Lee’s book burns brighter than the rest in the bonfire of memories.
