Padmavat by Purushottam Agrawal (Book Review: 4*/5) !!!

Almost all of us have seen the movie “Padmavat” starring Deepika Padukone playing the character of Queen Padmavati. The debate has always been about the existence of any such queen in the past and regarding her association with Alauddin Khilji. Many people believe even the existence of queen as a myth as multiple authors/poets have written about this story in their own version and each one of them have their perspective defining the characters of the story. I never knew that I would end up reading a book on the same after watching such a grandeur movie on the subject and knowing everything in detailing. I am just done reading the book named “Padmavat” which calls the story as “An Epic Love Story” on its cover page. It is written by an already renowned author, Purushottam Agrawal. The book is introduced and illustrated by none other than the legendary, Devdutt Pattanaik.

The author talks about the poet, Jayasi’s version of Padmavat written in the 16th century. I have for the first time in my life read such a book where an author is describing a story from another author’s point of view. Rather than just narrating the story, author also keeps discussing about the author’s point of view of the story. This is very incredibly handled by the author, Purushottam, where he never bores you with the history or myth or quotations but keeps you engrossed so wonderfully throughout the book that you want to understand Jayasi’s point of view on every scene of the love story. The introduction of the characters is nicely crafted which gives a good momentum to the story later on where the author gets a mileage to complete the whole love story in few pages itself. 

The good thing is that author has not tried to portray any character as good or bad but only talks about the nature of each one of them which defines what kind of choices and decisions they take later on which changes the whole course of their life. Author has also shared the original stanzas from Jayasi’s poem which also gives soul to the book as reading those original lines gives us more perspective in the language itself. The best about the author’s style of writing is that he does not stretches any part of the story and keeps everything short and crisp. Hence a book on historical, mythological and spiritual context- all embedded in one, gets over within 200 pages itself. I give this read 4* out of 5. This book is definitely recommended and has re-reading value. Kudos to the author for handling this form of writing so nuancedly. 

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Freedom from the I by Shashank Kasliwal (Book Review- 4.75*/5) !!!

There are some books which hold you like a traveler who does not have any destination to go and is here only to enjoy the journey and the newness he finds in every new second at a new spot of this world. You feel like experiencing some book rather than finishing them off and picking up the next one. It took me complete one month to finish reading a 218-pages book written by a debutante, Shashank Kasliwal, named “Freedom from the I”. The book also has the tagline “Ultimate Path to a Free Mind and Real Success”. This is yet another gem from Jaico Publication. This is one such book if you read in peace and silence can bring out several transforming changes in you and the way you think and see things. I can feel the change in my whole outlook within this one month itself.

I have been a great fan of Sadhguru’s books and videos where he explains about this factor of diminishing the ego and identification that we have and lead a life which is as it is. I never believed that someone could write or explain this concept in a better manner and so vastly and yet in a simple way. Shashank Kasliwal’s first attempt at writing this self-help book is a winning start. Initially, when I started reading, the first two chapters did not sound me any different than all these self-help books which keeps releasing. But since third chapter, as soon as the author gets into his zone of explaining the effect of ego and how we have lost ourselves in this dominance of ego over us just keeps surprising the readers. I felt the book remained at its best up till 8^th chapter. I did not personally feel any kind of motivation reading the last 4 chapters from 9^th to 12^th but they are a fine closer to the book where author explains about our dull mind, affect of emotions, our relationships etc.

Shashank has very finely divided the book in different chapters and even within that into different sections with each concept not going over two pages. This keeps your interest intact as you do not get strangled in too many concepts thrown at you within a paragraph. The book is not at all research-based but purely out of experience of the author which makes it more relevant while reading as you can feel the honesty and truthfulness. This book is best for professional people out there as author has given many examples on how to handle professional and corporate stress and pressure. I have also implemented many of his ideas which has begun enhancing my experience of meditation that I had started before reading this book. The book is written in a spiritual context rather than motivational context hence it needs little more attention while reading to grasp the concepts rather than mugging the points. Overall, this is one of the best books I have read in last decade for sure. I give this book 4.75 star out of 5. Recommended for every living soul out here.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!! 

Wedding Pickle by Neha Sharma (Book Review- 3.5*/5) !!!

I have read books based on confusion regarding the topic of marriage that keeps moving in the mind of the protagonist even before but never ever could I relate with the topic because I was a student then. Now that I am already running in my late-20s and this is the only thing that is running as a question around me wherever I go and the kind of dilemma it is, I have been able to relate quite much with the latest book I have completed reading today named “Wedding Pickle” written by the debutante, Neha Sharma. The book is published by Grapevine publications and I am quite delighted to get back with the publisher’s book again as it is being managed by youth and their stories are quite relating.

The writing style of Neha Sharma is wonderful where she knows how to engage the readers as the story that she has chosen to write does not have multiple dimension and is specific only to a phase of the protagonist so there are many chances that the book could get boring or monotonous. But the way she has kept shuffling the conditions and the dilemma in the mind of the protagonist is nicely handled. The characterizations are also nicely handled where you can identify how each of the characters are like. As the story does not have much twists and turns or suspense kind of thrilling plot, the book needed to have simplicity that expressed whatsoever is going in the mind of the characters which author has been able to manage quite candidly and effortlessly.

The story starts directly on the point where this specific character enters in the protagonist’s life as a prospect for marriage and all the confusion starts for her. Her argument with her parents are realistic. Her discussion with friends are also funny where they get irritated with her mood swings regarding the person she is talking with for marriage. The way climax is handled in last 40-50 pages keeping the whole marriage scenes describable and explanatory is also a nice end to the book. Talking about the drawbacks, it would have been great if the book had certain twists and turns and few moments where the readers must have got frustrated reading the decision of the protagonist. Also, there are few typos in the book which could have been corrected with some care. I believe the book is little stretched. It could have been easily 30-40 pages less than what it is. Overall, if you are going through the same phase, you are going to enjoy this story. I am giving this one 3.5* out of 5.

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA!!!