Genre: ‘Philosophical/Spiritual’ Fiction
We all know life is an enigma that never fails to surprise us! Since time immemorial, there have been many attempts to understand its mystery but simply put ‘Life is a journey which isn’t easy and it comes across differently for each one of us.‘ As we tread along our cheerful, sombre and pensive days, we actually live our life. The title of the book ‘I am Life’ promises profound talk. If you have been thoughtful about life at any phase, this one will attract you.
The cover design is well conceived one. I quite liked the protagonist with the wings at his sides, headed towards the sun. It syncs in and conveys well about the story. Once you read through it, you realize the connection.
The blurb sets the mood but it does not say much about the story. A small letter from the protagonist, Siddharth Khanna appealed to me as a reader. I was anxious to know what happens on the other side of his journey.
THE STORY
‘I am Life’, is a story of a young man who is battered in more than one way. He isn’t keen on his wife, has been an ignorant father and has not been sincere with his actions. On top of it all he is having a tough phase in his career too, its gone with the wife who earned him all. What next? What does he want?
When its all going fine and super cool,we seldom sit down to think about life but as soon as heavy-duty jolt knocks us down, we sit back to notice it. We think about our failures, our expectations, our karma, our needs and more about life.
Siddharth loses heart and dejection comes easily to him. Before he can pick the broken shards of his life, he has an urge to meet God and for this he googles it. And not just it, he has a craving to find answers about his life. From the visit to the voodoo girl to booking a flight to India, it all happens to him soon enough. The journey takes him to Rishikesh and Hardwar, land of saints and hippies. He is restless and he wanders to get enlightenment that no ashram and guru can provide…
One gets what one wants but what if you are clueless about your aim? Not one but many times, we just fail to understand the real meaning of life because we live in the clutter of our thoughts, ego, aspirations etc.
As the story unfolds, the débutante author Shraddha Soni takes the readers on an insightful and beautiful journey. Initially, Siddharth isn’t happy at any place and he quits at one, then another to move on further. During this phase, his past comes visiting him. He remembers his father who had denied him the money, the career he had aimed and lost, the marriage that had been a compulsion and his unwanted child. Through him the author aims to show us the larger picture as well as an aspect of life that baffles us all.
And then the plot ripens. Myrah, a girl comes in his life and solves the complications of his life in the most simplest of forms. The uphill drive, the weeds on the field, the farmers life and the tribal dance teach him all. Knowing about life, spirituality, love, holy connections and the tryst with himself, Siddharth sorts it out, he resolves the complexities of his life.
There were some slow and draggy moments in the story and I felt it did not actually answer everything for Siddharth but overall I loved the theme, the new concept and definitely the whole idea of introspection and thoughtfulness about life.
Lines from the book that stayed with me for long….
‘Life is a divine dance of the soul and till you are concerned with the choreography you will not be able to dance.’
You are the light, veiled by the ego. Whirl, centered within your ‘self’, tap into love and connect with the Spirit. You will see that the light lives in your heart and that you are the truth.
Acceptance brings transformation and transformation evolves to transcendence. Emotions are like water, you have to keep them flowing. Stagnant water stinks.
Happy Reading!!!
The book has won three smileys 🙂 🙂 🙂
A nice review:)
good one!