Srinagar, May 15 -- When life gets loud and messy-emails piling up, messages left unread, emotions shelved-some people turn to meditation, others to music. But a surprising number return to an old friend tucked away on a bookshelf: Tuesdays with Morrie.

It's a slim memoir with a simple cover and an even simpler promise: to sit with you, not fix you.

Written by sports journalist Mitch Albom and first published in 1997, the book has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide. But numbers don't quite explain its staying power. What gives the story its unique grip is not fame or formula, but feeling.

At its heart, Tuesdays with Morrie is about a former student who visits his dying professor every Tuesday. What starts as a casual reunion be...