You Will Love Again by Dr. Shyam Bhat: a review

We all have suffered from heartbreaks once in our lives. It was that point of time when we did not know what to do or how to behave. We were clueless and at a moment we felt like we should give up our lives. The fighters in us made us deal with the pain and we mature. At times the maturity is only on the outside and we tend to become a different person altogether. Dr. Shyam Bhat, a psychiatrist, in his debut book “You will love again” shows us how to heal from heartbreak. As Dr. Bhat writes in the book, what more can it say than what you have been already told about? You need to read this book to know.

According to the blurb- A power packed book on love and heartbreak. Psychiatrist Dr. Shyam Bhat has seen heartbreak in countless people and he wondered: What is the strange nature of this experience that even the most rational mind cannot seem to change? This power packed book is a result of many years of research on love and heartbreak. It first looks at what happens to your body and your mind when you suffer from this trauma. Why does it hurt so much? How do you heal? How do you find love again? Heartbreak is an opportunity for you to learn to look within, and to discover your own greatness, strength, peace and happiness.

To begin with, I am a major fan of the quality of books Juggernaut brings forth to their readers. The books are not only good to hold but they are also good on their quality. The first non-fiction I am reading coming from them, I couldn’t help but be eager to see what the book had to offer. The cover is very attractive and for the people who do not know that it is a non-fiction self help book, they would surely mistake it for a chic-lit. I would say that this is a compliment because usually non-fiction books or self help books have covers that aren’t attractive but this one stands out of the crowd.

A very compact book, you might be having two thoughts about it but it is guaranteed that the introduction given by the author would bring you to buy the book at any cost. A very compact book but packed with much information- this is a must read for people who have suffered from heartbreaks and even for people who are single. Through this book you get to see the journey from how the butterflies of the stomach are real and so is the breaking of the heart (literally!). The fact that it is written in a very interesting way and is not boring, makes it all the more read-worthy.

I would come to how it is written. Precise chapters that explain the flow from what’s happening to your body and mind, why does it hurt so much, the five steps to healing and finally, feeling love again along with real life examples bring to you a wonderful book that would help you see heartbreaks and loneliness in a different way. This book tells you how the pain that you feel is real and how you might have all the symptoms but are unable to recognize them all.

At different parts of the book, you get to see the quizzes where the author has given marks which you can take to analyse where you stand at the meter and this would help you know yourself better. The author says that it is possible for you to not have any symptom yet feel the same. It is for us and our betterment that we understand and act upon it. Giving up is not an option. The five steps of healing and finally the feeling of love again. This book is not like any other self help book but is a very important guide book for everybody. You would get to know about pranayamas and even the type of diet that you should follow. Follow the book minutely and you would see that you would feel calmer.

Coming to the cons of the book, I personally couldn’t find any apart from the fact that the book is too crisp a read. For me, whenever I read a good book, I always feel like reading more of it and am a bit disappointed when I don’t get more. A must read book for every person who is suffering from a heartbreak or one who tends to be depressed and lonely. Also for people who are strong because this would help you to advice your other friends. I ended this book with a smile on my face and loads of lessons learnt. As Deepika Padukone has said for the book “I hope this book makes you live, love and laugh again!” I would like to give this book 4.25 out of 5.

You can buy the book from Amazon

Once Upon a Time in India by Alfred Assollant (a Sam Miller translation): a review

We always love to do what we are forbidden. For the generation of today’s time who is so much into reading books, we get attracted towards the books that we aren’t supposed to read for various reasons. When we are teenagers, we love to read the books that are out of our reach and when we grow up, we love to read the books that are banned. So when I heard about Sam Miller’s translation of Alfred Assollant’s The Adventures of Captain Corcoran, aptly titled “Once upon a time in India” that was banned long back, I couldn’t control myself. I was immediately attracted with the cover of the book and intrigued to look up at its blurb.

According to the back cover- A dashing adventurer, a beautiful princess and countless wily villains. It is the time of the Great Uprising of 1857. India is in turmoil. Captain Corcoran, a French sailor who has roamed the world, arrives with his pet tigress Louison. And so begins the adventure of his life, as he and his tigress joins hands with a Maratha prince and his beautiful daughter Sita, to fight the British. This fast-moving story, with dramatic twists and turns, combines romance, humour and edge-of-seat suspense.

I will start with the cover. For the most part of today’s readership, the cover might seem very animated and they might take the book very lightly but I will tell you what I felt with the cover. To me, I liked it. The cover brings about the essence of the story and is wonderful in portraying what the main characters of the book are like. The animation, for me brings out the story and a lot of its undertones. The first look at the cover and you are bound to fall in love with the dashing adventurer, Captain Corcoran. It is surprising that the book was originally written long back (An 1867 publication in Paris).

Then, you open the book. The first thing that greets you is a picture of Captain Corcoran and Louison. Not only that one illustration, there are countless illustrations throughout the book done by Alphonse de Neuville and it surely brings about a lot of effect in the book. The book starts with an introduction by the translator Sam Miller and I will admit here that the book gripped me there. The way the introduction has been written made sure that no reader goes back into any other book once he or she has read the introduction. The attraction to the book only rises upon reading the introduction.

Coming to the story, do I really need to say anything about it? I would not term it a very serious read. No, this book and the stories of Captain Corcoran had fed the minds of decades of French teenagers who have enthusiastically read and devoured the story. Still a perfect read for the teenagers or for those people who prefer a breezy read, this book is one of its kinds. After finishing the story I just wish that this book comes back into the forefront and people get to know the stories of Captain Corcoran. There are many things in the story that relates to reality while some are totally fictitious. Given the fact that the original author of the story, Alfred Assollant has never been to India, all these mistakes can be forgiven. Being true to the spirit, if I weren’t an Indian, would I have been able to spot the mistakes?

Now, the characters of the story. There were detailed characters and those who are sure to make an impact after the story is done with. Exactly like the cover image, Captain Corcoran is as dashing even inside the book. Trust the author to make you fall in love with the Captain at first glance. Having said that, I would also like to mention the fact that my favourite character was Louison. The pet tigress of the Captain who is as charming as she can ever get, she is the soul of the story. One of the best parts of the book is the bonding that the Captain and Louison shared. Probably no one understood what the other wanted to share but the love that they shared made them bond so well and understand each other’s actions. Their undying love for each other made for a great part of the story. I’ll be true. At one point in the book I couldn’t help but wonder why I don’t have such a wonderful friend in my life.

The narration was smooth and the book was very fast paced. A breeze to read, for the choosiest of readers the book has a lot of undertones. The emotions that have been described in the book are well brought forward with the narration and the simplicity of writing. The ending had a smile on my face and somehow by the end of the book, I became one of the many people who are fond of The Adventures of Captain Corcoran. If I have to speak of the flaws of the book then I can say that the fact that the book isn’t for everybody is a flaw of the book. It would’ve been a cherry on the cake had the book been for all kinds of readers. Waiting to read more from Sam Miller, this book gets 4.5 out of 5 from me.