Fluid by Ashish Jaiswal (Book Review: 3*/5) !!!

When I read about the book “Fluid” which has released in the Mid-October recently, I was very sceptic about what it is all about. The book has testimonials on its cover page from none other than personalities like Amish Tripathi and Sam Pitroda. The book is written by the author, Ashish Jaiswal, and now that I have completed reading the book, I can say that this is a very well researched and worked upon stuff. Author had certain perception in his mind about how people are blocked in thinking and doing stuffs related to their field and specialization only and they can perform brilliantly in other sectors too. Author has kept his agenda clear throughout the book to make his readers understand that despite what people tell you about what you are good in, you can always try in different areas and still excel in both the departments.

The book is very well-written in a simple English language whereas I had assumed that I will need dictionary in every paragraph judging the book from its cover page and title. This is the reason we are asked not to judge a book by its cover. The tag line of the book says, “Be more than what you are taught to be” and it clearly denotes this point in every chapter that it speaks with its audience. The book is divided in different sections such as Anti-fluid, the dangers of entering machine age with an Anti-fluid Mind. Specialization and the last section being, the bigger fluid questions. The title of the book was initially not clear to me about what it is about, but author has explained it well letting us know that it is kept so considering that our approach towards life should be fluid and we should not be adamant about sticking to one field and not exploring the other areas of this universe.

Author’s research and hard work behind this book is visible from the examples and case studies described under each section with perfect orientation of each of them. The examples based on the famous personalities are seriously a surprise for readers as we never knew about the other side of these legends and knowing about their extensive commitment and achievements even in those areas is an experience. Talking about the drawback of the book, there are various typos in the book. I observed that in whichever word, wherever “eh” and “ek” words came together, it got replaced with blank space. Also, I felt that the book is written in a very formal manner. It could have been little more interactive and fun. It also ends up explaining one concept for quite some time which becomes obvious and understandable in the mid-way and post that, it is just a drag to read and nothing else.

Otherwise, this is a book which speaks of this unique topic with great examples. I give this book 3 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

F?@K Knows: Dead or Alive by Shailendra Singh (Book Review:- 4.75*/5) !!!

There are few books where the author chose to go the non-fiction way as they have many random things to talk about but they are unsure about how they are going to put all of them in the confinement of a book. Such books are like a personal diary stuff or a blog where the person talks about any random topic in each post but all of them contribute enough to make you know the person very well and also look at your life and think if whatever you have been doing till date is okay or do you need to make some steps to change yourself. It is very hard to make a reader think like this through a book which is written in such a manner that author is trying time and again that he is not a perfect person and should not be taken seriously. I have just ended up reading one of the best books I have ever read by Shailendra Singh named “F?@k Knows: Dead or Alive”.

This is the second book in the F?@k Knows series. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the first one but after reading this one, I am definitely going to have it soon to read it when I would be depressed sometime in future. After completing the book, I was confused as in which genre the book is in and I was confused between humor and self-help but betted on humor first but when I checked on the back-cover of the book, surprisingly, it is listed under self-help which I believe is correct. Because more than the laughs, giggles and smiles this book gives to the reader, it ensures that it gives lessons of life more than that to keep up the balance which ensures in the end that the reader has definitely received something very impacting which can change life along with light moments of laughter.

Author has opened his heart regarding many topics which are related to his personal life and the concepts that he believes in. The way he talks about his family; specifically, brother and mother are what many authors cannot dare to do in a book. The way he talks about his friends and how they faced ups and downs in their life which impacted even the author’s life tells about how transparent this person who is writing this post is. Similarly, the spiritual and concepts related to God, the way author has experienced himself is shared with us and I can tell you all those chapters are so apt that you will want to read them daily in the morning before starting your day.

Then author has talked on several topics on which he had his own opinion and made sure that he keeps it in front of all of us, either it is about demonetization, politics, country, sex, gender, social media, privacy, drugs, success, failure and what not. But rather than getting preachy about any of the topics, author choses to write it in a funny way which keeps on making you laugh and giggle and know about his perspectives too. None of the topic is just lightly handled but author has ensured that he gives some conclusive moral about each of them. His clarity in thoughts is evident in every sentence. And let me tell you, this is one of the most humorous books I have ever read. The funny chapters are all and out comedy and it can fail many popular stand-up comedians of India. And the way author ends the book with the chapters and basically the last chapter is how a book of this type should be ended. This book is an example on how the non-fiction books should be written. I give this book 4.75* out of 5. Recommended like f?@k as the book is f?@king hilarious.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Life's Amazing Secrets by Gaur Gopal Das (Book Review: 2*/5) !!!

There is so much about spirituality going on in timelines and feeds on our social media that almost everyone is aware of the concept even if they practice it or not. For a person like me who is regularly following and reading about the stuff, keeps knowing new things every day and also getting refreshed with all the previously learnt concepts. Every time, I pick up a spiritual book or a book by a spiritual personality, it is my basic expectation to learn and know something new which can surprise, shock, astonish and mind-boggle me. If nothing of that sort happens, the book is a failure for me which is written not to introduce new concepts to human beings but just for sake of writing a book to accomplish one of the personal goals and yearly resolutions.

Same has been the case after reading “Life’s Amazing Secrets” written by none other than one of the most popular spiritual personality on Youtube- Gaur Gopal Das. I have been following two personalities on Youtube when it comes to spiritual knowledge- No one can beat my following for Sadhguru and 2^nd, this gentleman- Gaur Gopal Das. He has such a polite and well-speaking oratory skills that you can hear him for hours. Also, his concepts, examples and logics that he gives in his videos are so up to the mark that it teaches you something new each time you watch one of his new videos. Though I do not like the way ISKCON endorses spiritualism by circulating the knowledge only from the one dimension that they believe in but still, this man speaks individually by not bonding himself under the premise of the institution’s agenda. Unfortunately, everything that I have spoken about his powerful knowledge sharing capacity in his videos cannot be said for his debut book.

The book gives me a very basic knowledge of how to lead life which you have yourself kept hearing since childhood from your parents and colony’s uncles and aunts. Not a single chapter in the book is as impactful as such self-help and spiritual book are expected of. As Das has himself said in the start of the book that writing the book was not his original thought, but the publisher asked him to, this book also displays the same that author just completed it for the sake of at least start with writing books. Author has gone the Robin Sharma way where he has written the book in the conversational format still dividing it into different chapters but couldn’t deliver the same simple keys that can help us in changing our lifestyle and approach towards living.

The author has spoken about the four basic wheels of life in the book:- Balancing personal life, maintaining relationships, regulating work life and managing social contributions. The only section that I found little different than what I have regularly read is the one talking about managing work life. Except that, there is a section in which the author has described how should one sit in an asana and release the stress off which also sounded solution-proof. Otherwise, at the end of each chapter, author has summarized the whole chapter, and I am sorry to say, but if you only read those 4-5 bulleted points in the summary, you are done with the book as it has nothing more than that. This is a very confused book where author has also ended up giving examples or real-life scenarios which are not even completely relevant to the stuff he is talking about. Overall, I would say a very disappointing debut and I give this book only 2 stars out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!