Whole by Pamela Puja Kirpalani (Book Review: 4.5*/5) !!!

 

2^nd Book of 2021

As a reader, reading a non-fiction book is another charm in itself. This year in my target of 36 books, I have just completed my 1^st non-fiction book named “Whole” written by the first-time author, Pamela Puja Kirpalani. The book also comes with a tagline which says “11 Universal Truths for An Inspired Life” and spreads across 180 pages. It took me around 2 weeks to finish this book as it is very insightful and inspiring. The thing with non-fiction and self-help books is that once you are done reading few of them, every book starts sounding the same hence I am always sceptic picking up one in fear of getting disappointed. Hence, I would like to mention here that Pamela has not disappointed here as she touches upon the topics that generally the self-help authors haven’t discussed in the same light as her.

 

The book is written in very simple language which I believe is the key behind ensuring that the readers grasp as much information as possible rather than getting confused in the terminologies and vocabulary. I liked the way author begun her book by describing about how the concept of Happiness came into her mind thinking on which she further talks about 11 such factors which can lead us towards it. The book then starts discussing each of these 11 universal truths for an inspired life where every chapter describes one of these truths. I liked the structure how author started every chapter with a quote said by some eminent personality which gave a brief about what we are going to learn further. And just after that, in italic font, author elaborates on the subject and what she is going to discuss with us. And I must tell you, these italic paragraphs in italic font are in itself so inspiring and thought-provoking that you would want to stick each one of them in your room.

 

The 11 truths discussed are Willpower, Creativity, Integrity, Humility, Alignment, Self-care, Awareness, Acceptance, Altruism, Courage and Forgiveness. In the chapter of Willpower itself, author talks about positive side of self-control and to my surprise, also about how it can drain us which leads us towards stress and upsetting attitude. Then author takes us further into other chapters and discusses important technical concepts such as procrastination, alpha waves and beta mode and their impact on our brain, how neurons work in our brain, the chemical creation due to the same which can lift our mood or depress us to the core, amygdala, rational thinking, fight or flight mode etc. Another applause-worthy research that author has done is to bring several statements from neuroscientists and psychologists which helps us learn a lot about how our brain functions and how we can control it with our attitude towards external factors which are impacting us.

 

“Integrity” is a very beautiful chapter the concept in which I believe since a very long time. Author helps us understand how to maintain it and what exactly it means. Similarly, the chapter on “Humility” is given a different touch altogether as author discusses about profound self-growth, personal freedom and diverted energies. In “Self-Care”, Pamela explains how just exercising, meditation and prayer/spiritual reading can bring multi-dimensional change in our lives. How waking up early morning and following certain practices can build our whole persona is elaborated reading which can influence many readers.

 

The book serves its purpose candidly as it is able to deliver some very beautiful quotes – some by eminent personalities, famous authors and many of them by the authoress herself. If a self-help book doesn’t provide any new ideas then there’s no point in writing something which is already up there in published works or online articles- and here, as per my reading experience till date, authoress have really introduced many detailed explanations which I haven’t read before. So, there are definitely topics where I believe Pamela has delivered what other authors couldn’t. This has been a very fresh read overall. She even goes a step further and doesn’t shy at all in sharing her personal experiences and her vulnerable states in life.

 

Now talking about some drawbacks, I think few chapters doesn’t do the kind of justice which I was expecting from the authoress considering the way she has managed other chapters. I was also looking forward to some meditation techniques and more details on how one can write journals, manage social connections, family life and other such factors which comes in between us and our goals. Lastly, I felt that the concepts and detailing that the author provided in few chapters were completely different from the title of the chapter which confused me a bit.

 

Overall, this is a very nice read and I recommend it to everyone who love reading self-help books and want to read something different now. This book really provides insights which aren’t discussed much yet. I give this book 4.5* out of 5.

PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE

 

Thanks.

 

WRITING BUDDHA