NEW DELHI, Feb. 3 -- When I read about Pope Francis' autobiography "Hope," co-authored with Carlo Musso in Italian and translated into English by Richard Dixon, I decided to get a copy. Amazon said it would be available only from January 30. So, it was a pleasant surprise to find a carton containing the book being opened at the DC Bookstall at the Kerala Literature Festival on the seafront in Kozhikode on January 23. Since they had not entered the book details in their inventory, I had to wait till they did. The icing on the cake was that I became the first buyer of "Hope."

I had many reasons to buy the book. Pope Francis is a person I respect for many of his qualities of heart, if not head. Also, it was the first autobiography written b...