When I learnt about this book titled 'The Story of a Suicide' http://www.storyofasuicide.com/ , I immediately started reading this book. I have always wondered if there is no after-life, then could the morality or immorality associated with the suicide be classified in terms of black and white? Our scriptures say that this life is not the end because it’s just one of the many lifetimes we have been here. Recently, I read Dr. Brian Weiss’s and Dr. Michael Newton’s works and the picture of the afterlife that they have revealed in their books based on the case studies, is strikingly similar to that in our scriptures.
Our life is not as limited as we think it to be. We are all on our own journey, learning our own lessons at our own pace. No two fingers of our hand are alike. Similarly, no two humans can be alike. We all have our own set of strengths and weaknesses. But it does not mean one is lesser than the other. In the end we will all be the same. We are just at different points of the same journey. It is true that we all get deluded and start comparing ourselves with others. Sometimes in this process of judging, we lose our self-esteem while at the other times we as a part of the society as a whole become so consumed with a particular point of view/ way of life that any digressive point of views/ ways of life are ridiculed. The person who is different becomes a victim because the society collectively acts in a way to lower his self-esteem.
“The Story of a Suicide” by “Sriram Ayer” is a novel based on four main characters Sam, Charu, Hari and Mani. The story captures the complexity of circumstances of life which lead one of the characters to suicide. Out of the four characters Sam was downright wicked. Charu was a mysterious character or rather it can be said that she had some kind of identity crisis. It was not very easy to understand her but there was one quality of hers that was appreciable, her strong headedness and her don’t care attitude towards the judgments passed on her. Hari was a timid and sweet natured guy.
The storyline is quite Ok. Although while reading, at certain points, the narration leaves you disappointed at the picture of these youngsters' lives which has been painted so grimly throughout. When I read the title, I had imagined it to be a story which would include problem as well as solution. But there are no words of hope written explicitly. The story is very dark and even the positive traits of characters are overshadowed with their negative impulses.
While Sam is a very good programmer, he is not very good in his interpersonal skills. He is not dignified enough to take rejections with a neutral mind. His revengefulness is what shapes the course of other lives in the story as well. Charu is strong but she is much prone to depression. In her definition of freedom, I find hints of overt use of sexuality as a means of escape. Hari is still suffering from the childhood trauma of being raped by his uncle. But his emotions seem all tangled with him turning gay after the childhood suffering. This turn seemed a little inconsistent as his experience with his uncle should rather have had scared him of men. Mani is a hard working student from low income family. His father had abandoned them and his mother was a labourer. He is dealing with his own problems like learning English. His involvement with Hari was an unexpected turn for me.
All in all, I found the story to be a dark one. Although, there were many problems or rather mental barriers each character was dealing with, what I did not like about the characters was use of too much sexuality and mental violence in dealing with the problems. I would have liked it better if there was focus on solutions rather than problems alone.
On an ending note, life is precious and so are the ones gifted with it. Without sorrow, none would know the value of joy. It's true that sometimes life can be testing us in the ways which seem impossible to cope with. But at the end of tunnel, there is always light. The life may seem unfair sometimes, but life chooses us for a reason; because it knows we are larger than the problems it throws on to us, because we are capable to endure and win even beyond our own expectations. Because we are much more than what we think we are. Don't let your story end on a hopeless note. Be a fighter and remember that you would be pushed to light when darkness becomes too overwhelming for your soul.
For more answers about the book, read the story at
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I
have ended up where I needed to be.”
Paperback: 422 pages
Price: INR 349
Publisher:
Blogadda.com/Leadstart Publishing; First edition (27 October 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9352013891
ISBN-13:
978-9352013890
About the Book:
The
book is written with the collaboration of 30 Indian Bloggers spread across 3
teams resulting into three unique stories filled with a variety of emotions.
As
part of their #CelebrateBlogging initiative, BlogAdda.com, ran the first
edition of Game of Blogs in September 2014 where five characters and their
descriptions were provided to the bloggers. The objective was to write a
fictional story revolving around these characters. Bloggers came together as
teams and after three rounds filled with its own set of twists and turns, three
stories made it to the end.
Well
known Indian Authors like Ashwin Sanghi, Ravi Subramanian, Raksha Bharadia,
Meghna Pant, Natasha Badhwar, and Kiran Manral were in the panel of Judges. The
three stories in this book are a fascinating example of how one set of
characters can have interesting lives with completely different dimensions.
My Review:
The
book contains three stories each revolving around the lives of six different
characters. Shekhar Dutta is a freelance writer and a stay at home husband.
Tara Dutta, wife of Shekhar Dutta, is a successful media professional and Roohi
Dutta is a nine year old daughter of the duo. Cyrus Daruwala, a law student; Jennifer, a
photographer; and Aryan Ahuja, a neighbor of Tara and Shekhar Dutta, are the
other characters of the story.
Story 1 – The Awakening by the Team Bylines
The
story is a sci-fi fiction involving aliens who are living on earth as human
beings. The marital life of Tara and Shekhar is going like a smooth sailing until
Shekhar starts penning his most important project. Around that time Cyrus Daruwala comes to their
house to stay for a few days as a guest. Jennifer, who is a childhood friend of
Shekhar and stays in US, also happens to visit Mumbai at the same time. The
four of them brought under the same roof at the same time- Was it just a
co-incidence or a game of destiny? A strange turn of events takes place in the
Dutta house which leaves everyone bedazzled and confused. But Cyrus is unfazed
despite of an air of confusion around him. Infact, Roohi feels drawn to him the
very moment he enters Dutta house. Is Cyrus the only key to unrevealed secrets
or is there more beneath the unaware brain layers of Duttas?
The
story takes you to the territories of spiritual science, mythology and
telepathy. All in all, it is a good and engaging read.
Story 2 – Entangled lives by the Team
Potliwale Baba
The
story is a murder mystery, which involves the murder of maid of the Dutta
household, Naina. This has been my personal favorite among all stories. When Tara
gets mired in her career aspirations; differences start surfacing in the couple’s
relationship. Cyrus is a law student based in Delhi, who lives with her mother.
Is there any secret his mother is withholding from him? Why, after the death of
his mother, Cyrus shifts to Mumbai? Why Jennifer ends up at the Dutta house at
the time of murder? The story has been brilliantly told with an air of mystery
and suspense, which makes the reader curious enough to flip through the pages
to untangle the entangled lives.
Story 3 – Missing-A Journey within by the
Team Tete-a-ten
The
story starts with Roohi going missing. Shekhar and Tara put in their best
efforts to hunt for their beloved daughter including putting up posts on
facebook. That is how they encounter Jennifer. The story also touches the
subject of homo-sexuality. However, the characters were not really well integrated
into one single story and there were rather too many parallel stories. As a
result, the story seemed a little scattered to me.
All
in all Six Degrees was a good read with a chance to explore thirty different
minds in one single book. Collaborative writing is definitely an interesting thing
to do. I would love to see more collaborative writing initiatives by BlogAdda
in future and I would make sure I do not miss it. :)
Pride makes the egotistical man, consciously or unconsciously,
try to cut off the heads of others to make himself appear taller. It likes to
belittle or humiliate others, to gloat on their mistakes and discomfitures and
to gossip and criticize. But woe unto any person, even well meaning, who
intrudes into ego’s own sanctum sanctorum. He is met with instant wrath, vengefulness
or at the very best, a “you should feel ashamed for hurting my feelings.”
I happened to read the above lines in Bhagwad Gita and I was
instantly overwhelmed by the reality of it. It is the pride which comes in the
way of forgiveness.
“you should feel ashamed for hurting my feelings”. Isn’t it
something that we use to validate our anger and the bitter feelings we harbor for
whatsoever reasons? Even when we forgive, sometimes, we do not forget. Pride,
Ego, Hurt; these are but powerful enemies, and while we are blinded to the enemy
residing within our own selves; we, sometimes, or may be most of the times, are
unable to see the greener pastures in the wetland of our mind’s making. It is not
for someone else that we need to forgive, but for our own selves. Forgive and
then forget. It sure is not easy. It sure takes a lot of inner strength. But it
is important for our growth as a soul. And only after trying can we reach that
goal.
There are people who
will try to pull you down; there are people who will unnecessarily try to insinuate
you to get into arguments; there are people who will talk too highly of
themselves while trying to show you your limitations all the time.
And I say, don’t get
angry on such people. Don’t give validation to their ego at the expense of your
own peace by getting into arguments with them or trying to justify your
limitations. For the truth is that we are all limited in a way or the other.
Take these people as challenges and love them for giving you a chance to grow
and become more patient and accepting. Accept your flaws and your mistakes with
dignity. For at the end of the day it does not matter that someone was trying
to pull you down; because you chose what you want to have from the incidents
and from the people. If at the end of it all you take a step towards your
growth by accepting your faults to yourself and still do not be negative about such
people, you have only stepped up one step higher.
So, leave their
choices to them. You chose only your own growth and your own peace. Be capable
of loving in every circumstance.
3>You have got a motive
and you need to achieve it!
4>There are so many people
who love you!
5>You have got so many
things that make you a special child!!
Today I just spotted this old Card
from one of my besties during college days. After a very bad mood swing, I was
upset for no reason and slept off without talking to anyone. And in the morning
I found a card on my table with a long letter written inside. The lines I
shared above are a few from the letter.
The ones who knew me closely perhaps
did have inkling about my low self-esteem. I am a person who will always doubt
herself; I usually don’t do fault finding in others but when it comes to my
ownself, I seriously have some kind of trouble of putting myself down for the
smallest of things.
Though, times have changed me,
atleast, to some extent. Times have changed as well. My once upon a time close
friend isn’t so close anymore. No, not that anything went wrong between her and
me; it’s just a matter of time and distance sometimes. Coming back to myself, I
surely do not have a very high self-esteem even now; but now, I guess, I don’t
care much about being loved. May be, that there actually are people who love
me; but now I have started believing that it really does not matter if there
are plenty or handful or just a few or even none at all. I have found my own
peaceful world surrounded by the love of God. Whatever happens; at the end of
the day, I have God, that one source of comfort and bliss; and why should I
need any other. I don’t make any efforts to make people stay in my life. If
anyone wants to, they are welcome; else I am good by myself.
I don’t know if I am the best or even
good for that matter. I don’t know if I am a special child or one in a million.
I don’t even know if I have got any motive or not. All I know is that I am; I
just am. It’s my being that is one truth which can’t be denied. I don’t know if
I can change the person I am and I don’t even feel the need to do so. I might
be weird, I might be a little socially awkward, I might be boring; but today I
accept myself the way I am. I might be anything but evil and that suffices my
expectations from me. I try my best to never wrong anyone. I might not be an
interesting person but nevertheless I try to be good at heart.
I have messed up many times and
sometimes, I still do; I have lost faith many times and sometimes, I still do;
I have felt the pain very deeply and sometimes, I still do; I have gone wrong
many times and sometimes, I still do; I have gone through the feeling of
getting left behind, and sometimes, I still do; but isn’t that precisely what
being human is all about.
To err is human!
Yes I have erred but I try to
understand and improve. I am on my very own journey on this planet. The people
may not understand my journey and I might not understand theirs. But
nevertheless, all of us are headed somewhere or the other. Keep going and keep
learning along the way is the only rule I would like to follow in my life.
Thanks for dropping by,
Much love to everyone who just read
this piece of me and myself. <3
