Book Review : If Truth be Told – A Monk’s Memoir

I have read the memoirs written by so many saints and sages but Om Swami’s memoirs ‘If Truth be Told – A Monk’s Memoir’ is one of the best. The flow is simple, lucid and interesting. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

I went to HarperCollins office to attend a meeting organised by Indibloggers. At the end of the meeting, one of the staff members asked all the bloggers to pick any book which they liked the most from the HarperCollins office. As I passed through the passage with cabins on both the sides, I saw an ochre colour book on the shelf above the sitting area. I went closed to it and found it was written by ‘Om Swami’. Wow! I am a regular reader of Om Swami’s blog and have watched some of his videos. His talk about ‘What is God?’ inspires me the most. Earlier, I desperately wanted to visit the function of the release of ‘If Truth Be Told – A Monk’s Memoir’ at Delhi. But I couldn’t as I was busy or ill or both, I couldn’t remember correctly now. I picked up that book and announce that I wanted this book. I was the first blogger to choose.

This book tells about the life of Om Swami before and after taking ‘sanyasa’. He was voracious reader from his childhood days. He learnt astrology and tantric practices at young age. His name was Amit Sharma and lived in Patiala along with his parents, sister and brother. At the age of eighteen he went to Australia for higher studies. He worked hard to earn and to learn simultaneously. He made a good amount of money and started his own business which he later on extended to U.S. and Europe. He took sanyasa from a naga sadhu but left him as sadhu had not yet mastered his emotions like anger. He went to Himalayas to do intense meditation in silence and solitude. He succeeded and realised himself. He felt a sense of dispassion and detachment arising from within without any effort. Just like when we churn milk it turn into butter and that butter can never be converted back into milk, his mind experienced an irreversible peace and immense joy.

Some of the wisdom gems from this book are listed below:-

1.  When you write, I want the writing to be so taut that if anyone is to remove even a comma from your sentence, the entire paragraph will have to be rewritten. When you speak, I want you to struggle, not because you cannot think of words with which to express yourself but because so many rush to your mind that you have to really choose to pick the word that is most apt, that is perfect.
2. Never lose stocks. Never forget that you buy them to make a profit. Once you have reached a profitable position, exit. If they betray you and you are making a loss, exit. Your goal is to make more profits than losses.
3. Why do we earn, and why do we learn?
4. It is wrongly assumed that tantra is about tantric sex, tantric massage, tantric yoga and so on. This is not where tantra starts or ends. Tantra is an inner journey the practitioner undertakes to break the conditioning of the mind and move beyond the conditioned and egoistic self, so that he may see himself as he truly is.
5. Meditation, worship, praying it’s all useless if we are unable to go beyond what holds us back.
6. Self-realization is removing yourself from the support structure. You no longer require the pillars; in fact, you become a pillar of divine love and light.
7. The eternal truth is that you have the right to live your life to the fullest. Every moment.
8. Find what makes you happy and pursue it.
9. You are a master of infinite possibilities.

In the end OM Swami said, “I’ve given you my truth. Go, discover yours.”

Dear readers, I think this is my longest post, may be because I am a great admirer of Om Swami. :)

WORD UP 2015! Gurgaon

I am sitting next to Ashish Chopra in WORD UP, 2015, Gurgaon whose videos go viral on Youtube especially the one in which he paid the toll of the car behind him on Delhi - Gurgaon Toll Plaza. 


Some of his famous videos are as follows 
1. How to travel visa free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmJVs_I-I5w
2. Premium Auto Rickshaw Service https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe6cI5REP-0
3. Travel light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQbJOod7fTM

Earlier his lecture on 'Vlogging how to's' was very interesting and inspiring. 

Book Review : Those Small Lil Things In Life and Love by Rahul Saini

‘Those Small Lil Things In Life and Love’ by Rahul Saini is very interesting, simple and humorous. For light reading, for time pass this novel is a good read or rather should not be missed. It tells about the friendships, relationships and family life of a guy named ‘Raj’. The most interesting point I liked in this book is Rahul gifted soap to his girlfriend, in his school days. The Bollywood songs and scenes give an exciting filmy angles to the incidences happening in Raj’s life. There are no erotic romantic scenes to attract masses but sweet,light romance. 

In this book the story moves alternately in past and present. The font sizes are unlike to differentiate between the present and past. I must say that I like the past more than the present especially the school days memories of Rahul which are very interesting and full of surprises. One can easily relate to the main character and his naughtiness. 

There are some typing mistakes which can be ignored as the language used is casual and not literary. 

Rahul Saini is the author of ‘Just for You’, ‘Paperback Dreams’, ‘The Orange Hangover’ and ‘Just Like in the Movies’. ‘ThoseSmall Lil Things in Life and Love’ is his first book. He resides in Gurgaon. He is architect by profession. He loves to write stories and paint. The collection of photographs on his blog is very beautiful.  

This novel is like a soothing breeze!

Avid reader

"I bought two books a day before yesterday. Today, I finished reading both." I said.
"You read so fast. Do you read in washroom?" Miss. 'I' asked.
"No. I am not that avid reader."
"Actually, I read books in toilet as my sister doesn't allow me to keep the tubelight on after 10 p.m. as she likes to sleep in dark room. So, I have to go to washroom, to sit there and read and read till I feel sleepy."

WORD UP! 2015

I attended Word Up! 2015 organised by Indibloggers at Striker, Gurgaon. It was a nice experience to hear the views of Lakshmipathy Bhat, Nandita Iyer, Ranchit Hirani, Kiran Manral, Vishal Shroff, Arun Nair and Ahish Chopra. Kiran Manral gave a lecture on 'Confessions of a Reformed Blogger'. She is the author of 'Once upon a crush' and 'The Reluctant Detective'. I got the chance to click photos when she was sitting just next to me. :)))

Kiran Manral is busy surfing and I posing for some more pics with her! :))

Overall I was a nice experience to be a part of Indiblogger Meet and I had a great time there. :)

Dear readers, this is 700th post. :)

Book review : There’s Something About You

‘There’s Something About You’ is Yashodhara Lal’s third book. Earlier her two books namely ‘Just Married, Please Excuse’ and ‘Sorting out Sid’ were bestsellers. ‘Just Married, Please Excuse’ was her autobiographical novel in which the character named Yashodhara faces adjustment problems with her hubby Vijay during the first three years of their marriage and ‘Sorting Out Sid’ was from written from a view point of a male.

The most interesting point I liked in ‘There’s Something About You’ is that the female protagonist is not beautiful, slim or attractive like the heroines of other romantic novels. Trish, the main character is in her late twenties, overweight, single and have lots of problems in her family and career life. She is burdened with lots of responsibilities like any ordinary person in the society. She fights with her problems own her own. She keeps trying to find a solution for the problems arising one after another in her life. She is helpful and even tries to save a stranger’s life at the risk of her own life. While reading she doesn’t seem to be a character but appears to me like a real person living my next door.

Sahil, the main character is in his thirties, doesn’t want to join their family business, plays guitar, helps the underprivileged and has some super natural powers of seeing the past or future of the person whom he touched by chance. Although Trish is an exception!

This is an unusual romantic novel in which as the hero touches the heroine, she felt electric current passing through her, something much similar to classic Bollywood movies. The chemistry between the two is interesting and the conversations are mostly enjoying.

The story is set in Mumbai. Trish with her parents lives in a small sized flat with a view of sea. The sunset is described beautifully by the author.

The sun was setting now and Trish watched the shimmering pink and orange rays splaying out over the ocean in silence. She couldn’t quite believe it. Her impetuous act had actually paid off in a totally unexpected way. She knew that Ba would be watching the sunset from his window, and this made her feel a sense of oneness with him. Maybe – just maybe – things were going to be all right.

Generally while watching sunset we think that our problems will end with it and the next day will be a new beginning, new hopes and will be full of new desires. Trish parents, Akansha, Lisa, Nivedita and Zee helps in moving the story further in an interesting way.

Yashodhara Lal’s way of writing is very impressive and very gripping. I liked to read very less female writers or I must say I admired only ‘Pearl S Buck’, ‘Jhumpa Lahiri’ and the third name I add to this list is ‘Yashodhara Lal’.

In the end, I would like to say to my readers that if you love unusual love stories this is the best book for you. If you want to read a light romantic novel then this book should not be missed.

Lose weight

Everybody should do exercises whether the person is young or old, fat or slim, rich or poor, working or non working. Exercises like walking, body weight squat, lunges, cycling, side bends, single leg bends and limb raises are good for healthy living. Everybody should focus on the betterment of health. Those who can’t find the time for rigorous exercises because of work pressure in office and home can do exercises for just five minutes. Five minutes exercise is like a healthy snack. It will rejuvenate and recharge the body as well as the mind. Skipping, climbing stairs, sit ups, wall push ups, chair crunches, stationary jogging, dusting and household chores, seated calf raise, dancing, desk pushups and weight lifting can improve body metabolism and overall health.

Many people do crash diet to lose weight. It is not at all a healthy way to lose weight as it harms the person physically as well as emotionally. Instead of losing weight through crash diet it is always better to lose weight naturally by cutting on the amount of sugar intake. Honey is a better substitute for sugar as one table spoon of honey contains lesser calories than sugar. Moreover, honey is sweeter than sugar so it is added in less amount to get the same level of sweetness. Sugar lacks proteins, enzymes and vitamins where as honey contains proteins, enzymes, vitamins and anti-oxidants that body requires for healthy function. Honey has lower Glycemic Index (GI) than sugar.

Benefits of a teaspoon of honey a day are weight management, sugar substitute, source of energy, aids digestion, helps in cold, cough and throat irritation, gives beautiful skin. Honey Diet is a healthier option for mind, body and soul. Dabur honey is sourced from the forests of Sunderbans and Himalayas. It passes through strict quality checks before processing. The whole process happens in the most hygienic environment, without any human contact to the product or the bottles. Dabur provides pure honey which means fitness and good health. Dabur honey comes in 1Kg bottle and 400g squezee.

One of the healthy recipe in which honey is the ingredient is Honey fruit salad by Chef Vikas Khanna.

Ingredients

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2  teaspoon fresh lemon juice, plus the juice 1 lemon

1 1/2  teaspoons poppy seeds

1/4  teaspoon salt

1/4  teaspoon prepared mustard

1 apple, cored and diced

1 banana, sliced

1 avocado, peeled and sliced

1 (11- ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Method – For the dressing, combine the honey, orange juice, oil, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, poppy seeds, salt and mustard in a jar with a tight lid; cover and shake well. Toss the banana, apple and avocado with juice from one lemon to prevent the fruit from turning brown. Combine the fruits, raisins and nuts in a fruit bowl. Add the dressing and stir gently.

Eat honey to lose weight!