Title - Jujube : The Journey to Joyful Being
Author - P C Balasubramanian
Genre - Personality Development / Self Help
Publisher - NotionPress
ASIN - B08DJDWTH8
This is the 5th book by the author. The other four were Grand Brand Rajini, Rajini's Punchtantra, Ready...Steady...Exit and A Drizzle in the Desert. I had an opportunity to review A Drizzle in the Desert.
The title of this book is an intriguing one. Isn't it? Firstly, you might be able to reconnect it with the Sweet/Fruit you would have had when you were a kid and secondly, if you are a fan of Super Star Rajinikanth, you would have heard him using this word in some of his movies.
When I started reading it, I noticed something unique about this book. Yes. It is the way, the book was presented. Though the content may not be new, the way it is presented would make you read and retrospect. What makes this book stand apart from others are the following factors:
1. Each chapter begins with a quote from a famous personality, which corresponds to the title/chapter.
2. Each chapter is further subdivided into three divisions namely:
a. Their Way
b. My Way and
c. Your Way
After a brief introduction about the chapter, author makes a comparison of how those were done by a famous personality(Their Way) viz a viz himself(My Way) and he raises few questions to us - the readers as to what we did and what we missed(Your Way).
This book is applicable for all ages but I would personally recommend it to the youngsters especially the ones in the teens because it is they who would need to understand the nuances and the seriousness of the subject discussed in this book in a subtle manner.
Author clearly mentions that this book is not meant to be preachy but to remind you to count your blessings and experience unadulterated joy. The book is divided into 30 chapters and each of them are unique in their own way. I am not mentioning all of them but a few which includes:
1. More time with family
2. Meeting friends periodically
3. Pick up a hobby
4. Start Reading
5. Revive Old Friendships (may go with point 2)
6. Hit the beach, hills or mountains often
7. Dress up differently. Change our wardrobe
8. Some act of kindness - as a practice
9. Teach others
10. Meet the Old and Very Young People in the family (and last but not the least)
11. Visit stores that you normally don't
As you could see, many of these are the common ones which you could relate to. In fact, I myself had lot of memories when I was reading this book wherein I made it a habit as long as I was in Chennai to meet my friends in the morning during Diwali rather than siting in front of the television and spending time with them. I also have multiple hobbies and good to see that being mentioned in the book as well. Also, it is this lock down which helped me revive some old friendships where I searched online and found a school friend of mine after 25 years and though he is settled in the U.S, he is very much happy to connect. I also had few online meet with my college friends who I had never met in a decade.
Don't we all agree that we visited our age old kirana stores when the lock down was introduced since many of the online retailers fail to deliver?
How did it feel?
Were you able to recollect the faces of the shopkeeper(we fondly call them as "Annachi")?
Do we need a lock down to do all these things? I certainly don't think so....
So, what are you waiting for? Pick up this book first. read it. You know where you need to improve or which pointer should be implemented. Continue doing the things you are good at and focus on things you missed, all these days....
This book is available on Amazon in eBook and Paperback formats. This is also available on Odyssey and on NotionPress website.
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