Skip to main content

Book Review: A Journey in Search of Happiness by Ramya R. Moorthy

A Journey in Search of Happiness by Ramya R. Moorthy is a multi-focused self-help book that aims to inspire millions of people across the world for leading a meaningful life. The USP of the book is that teachings related to leading a meaningful life constantly flow in the backdrop, however, on its façade, we see that it’s wrapped with some fictionalized tale. Unlike the most of the self-help books that keep on bantering with no plot or fixed characters, this book is different. We have gotten to see that the story in the book is roped in with some characters, though from one family only.


The main character of the book is Shivani. She is a mother of two children, and in her personal life a successful IT entrepreneur. As the story commences, we see that their daughter Anila has been infected with hearing loss accidentally. She is upset. On her twelfth birthday, Shivani and her family go to Phuket for a vacation. Shivani takes up the challenge to inspire her daughter. There in Phuket, the duo of mother and daughter get involved into teachings mainly about five life principles for self-development, which includes the following:
  1. Count your blessings
  2. Meaning of success
  3. Happiness secret
  4. Self-realization
  5. Self-discipline
For each principle, there has been given a separate chapter. Also, whatever conversation or exchange of knowledge takes place between them is being recorded in a recorder, which is later listened by Anila’s father.

Other than the story of a family and their vacation, personal stories of Shivani’s struggles, and a few more aspects, and in the core of the book runs these five principles. The author has presented them in a lucid and easy to understandable way. To clarify the doubts, she chose the young girl, who not only had some difficulty in grasping the concepts but also asked relevant questions. The book made perfect logic.

Much focus has been given on ‘Game Changers’. It means the people who become successful and happy in life. They achieve what they think and in return inspire millions of people across the world. In the very first concept ‘Count your Blessings’, we come to know that each individual on the earth has some or other sort of talent. And those who identify that, they become the game changers provided they make use of that with the help of important virtues like self-discipline and self-realization, etc.

To support the concepts, the author has from time to time narrated the references from books, inspiring quotes, life stories of many successful people (businessmen, scientists, sports players, etc.).
Isn’t a dazzling quote related to count your blessings?

“We all need a combination of multiple talents to excel and meet our life’s purpose.”

The book is full of such inspiring quotes, other than exciting references. The core value of the book focuses on chasing happiness over success or any other worldly achievements. The author has been right in saying that many think that success means wealth and fame, with very little to do with the satisfaction or happiness. From the given five concepts, the author tried conveying that do not seek for just success, rather go for happiness, because the later is a kind of complete package.

A lot of information has also given on the concepts related to SELF such as self-discipline, self-belief, self-realization, and so on.

Happiness and success are related but may not be directly proportional. The author has given a lot of emphasis on understanding both happiness and success separately. Many people mix them. Well, in reality it is otherwise.

As a matter of fact, the book has too much to offer via these five principles. Well, it would not be possible to give away all pointers in one review, for the best utilization, we would recommend you to pick up the book from Amazon. Since the book is just around 150 pages, so it is easy to finish it one round.

It’s a meaningful book and it seems that the author has put in a lot of effort while deciding the content of the book, the timely insertion of other’s stories is as good as gold.

The focus on women’s roles and responsibilities is another great aspect of the book. The story of Shivani made us learn to be resilient and rise up like a phoenix. Incredibly a helpful book.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Poem Summary: Where The Mind Is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high Where knowledge is free Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls Where words come out from the depth of truth Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. Short Summary: This poem is written by Rabindranath Tagore during pre-independence days, when India was a colony of the British. The underlying theme of the poem is absolute freedom; the poet wants the citizens of his country to be living in a free state. According to the poem, we see that the poet is expressing his views there should be a country, like where people live without any sort of fear and with pure dignity…they should ...

Book Review: The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond

Among all Ruskin Bond books, The Blue Umbrella has, so far, gathered immense applaud from readers and critics alike.  This is a short novel, but the kind of moral lessons it teaches to us are simply overwhelming. This is a story of Binya, a poor little girl living with her mother and an elder brother, Bijju, in a small hilly village of Garhwal. One day while herding her two cows back home, she stumbles upon some city people enjoying the picnic in the valley. She is enthralled to see them well-groomed and rich. She craves to be one like them and among many other things of their, a blue frilly umbrella catches her attention. She begins craving for it. On the other hand, the city people get attracted by her innocent beauty and the pendant in her neck. The pendant consists of leopard’s claw – which is considered a mascot widely in the hills. Binya trades her pendant off with the blue umbrella. The blue umbrella is so much beautiful that soon it becomes a topic of conversatio...

Character Sketch of Binya from ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond

The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond is a popular children’s story. It features Binya as the main character, though there are other important characters as well, but the story revolves around Binya and her little beautiful umbrella. The story is widely popular among children, thus it has also been included in the schools’ syllabus all across the country. Since it is often taught in the school, thus the character sketch of Binya is often demanded by students from year to year. Character Sketch of Binya from The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond Binya is the main character of the novel ‘The Blue Umbrella’ by Ruskin Bond. Her full name is Binyadevi. As in the hills or anywhere in India it is a kind of trend to call children with their short nicknames. Binya’s elder brother’s name is Bijju, whereas his real name is Vijay. Binya aged eleven is a hilly girl. She lives with her small family in the hills of Garhwal. Her father died when she was two years of age. For sustenance, the...