Janma's Gift - a book review
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2013 9:54 pm
Dev is a long time IFG member, a moderator here and above all someone whom I'm happy to call a friend. So when he recently called to let me know that his book had been published (in Kindle eBook format), I wasted no time in downloading it and just finished the last few pages yesterday. What follows is my attempt at a brief book review.
So let's begin
Some authors bare secrets (personal/ state/ etc.), some bare their anger but Dev has bared his whole soul through this book, so that his own journey through some of the darkest paths, may in turn provide spiritual direction to other travellers. Needless to say this takes rare courage, causing one to completely overlook the frequent intrusions that the printer's devil makes all through the text. While not overly intrusive, hopefully these will be corrected in the next edition.
The book starts out with the author describing how their daughter came into their life, bringing untold joy to all of them. The shared moments, private jokes, times of laughter & fun, her precocious insights and tender interactions with the world around her. A candid and heart warming description of family life and the many joys of parenthood.
Then suddenly the worst nightmare of any parent, a sudden sickness and their daughter is cruelly snatched away forever. Their whole world collapses, but just when it seems that there is no way out of the abyss, they are sent a blessing in the form of "Aunty", who takes on the role of spiritual guide & mentor, over the next few years slowly & patiently part guiding them and part allowing them to discover (for themselves, at their own pace) some of the many mysteries of the spiritual world.
It is this spiritual journey that the book is really all about. The journey is not orthodox in any way, instead of adhering to the teachings of any one traditional organised religion, throughout the book there is a free exploration of the spirituality in every faith - be it Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc.
It is not a long book, but it took me 2-3 days to finish it, simply because every few pages one needs to stop reading and digest what one has just read, both emotionally & spiritually.
Highly recommend to anyone who is spiritually inclined and is not averse to feeling the pain of loss, which has been conveyed so poignantly that it is felt first hand by the reader.
The direct link to the book on Amazon.com is - you can also preview the first few chapters for free by visiting that link.
How does one go about purchasing & reading a Kindle eBook?
If you own a Kindle eBook reader, you probably don't need my advice on how to go about doing this, so will limit my advice to those who don't.
Anyone can download the Kindle eBook reader absolutely FREE: for their PC/ Mac from the Amazon.com website, for iPhone/ iPad from the iTunes store, for Android tablets/ phones/ phablets from the Google Play store, ditto for Blackberry.
Once you have the Kindle software installed, you can either choose to log in with your existing Amazon.com account (if you have one) OR you can create a fresh account by simply entering in your e-mail ID and choosing a password (will require internet access on the device). Once this is done, you can search for and download whichever eBook you choose.
For eBooks which are NOT FREE you will be asked for your payment details (credit card no.) on filling that out, your card is charged and the book appears in your Kindle reader library - across all of your devices which are linked to your Amazon.com account (phone/ iPad/ PC in my case).
Now just open the book in your device of choice and read!
So let's begin
Some authors bare secrets (personal/ state/ etc.), some bare their anger but Dev has bared his whole soul through this book, so that his own journey through some of the darkest paths, may in turn provide spiritual direction to other travellers. Needless to say this takes rare courage, causing one to completely overlook the frequent intrusions that the printer's devil makes all through the text. While not overly intrusive, hopefully these will be corrected in the next edition.
The book starts out with the author describing how their daughter came into their life, bringing untold joy to all of them. The shared moments, private jokes, times of laughter & fun, her precocious insights and tender interactions with the world around her. A candid and heart warming description of family life and the many joys of parenthood.
Then suddenly the worst nightmare of any parent, a sudden sickness and their daughter is cruelly snatched away forever. Their whole world collapses, but just when it seems that there is no way out of the abyss, they are sent a blessing in the form of "Aunty", who takes on the role of spiritual guide & mentor, over the next few years slowly & patiently part guiding them and part allowing them to discover (for themselves, at their own pace) some of the many mysteries of the spiritual world.
It is this spiritual journey that the book is really all about. The journey is not orthodox in any way, instead of adhering to the teachings of any one traditional organised religion, throughout the book there is a free exploration of the spirituality in every faith - be it Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc.
It is not a long book, but it took me 2-3 days to finish it, simply because every few pages one needs to stop reading and digest what one has just read, both emotionally & spiritually.
Highly recommend to anyone who is spiritually inclined and is not averse to feeling the pain of loss, which has been conveyed so poignantly that it is felt first hand by the reader.
The direct link to the book on Amazon.com is - you can also preview the first few chapters for free by visiting that link.
How does one go about purchasing & reading a Kindle eBook?
If you own a Kindle eBook reader, you probably don't need my advice on how to go about doing this, so will limit my advice to those who don't.
Anyone can download the Kindle eBook reader absolutely FREE: for their PC/ Mac from the Amazon.com website, for iPhone/ iPad from the iTunes store, for Android tablets/ phones/ phablets from the Google Play store, ditto for Blackberry.
Once you have the Kindle software installed, you can either choose to log in with your existing Amazon.com account (if you have one) OR you can create a fresh account by simply entering in your e-mail ID and choosing a password (will require internet access on the device). Once this is done, you can search for and download whichever eBook you choose.
For eBooks which are NOT FREE you will be asked for your payment details (credit card no.) on filling that out, your card is charged and the book appears in your Kindle reader library - across all of your devices which are linked to your Amazon.com account (phone/ iPad/ PC in my case).
Now just open the book in your device of choice and read!