5th Book of 2024
Reading books since more than a decade and half and I never thought that a funny and satirical book can play the part of a very well-written self-help book in my life. I was recently going through a tough phase but reading a self-help book seemed boring hence I picked up “Masala Chai for the Soul” written by Jairam N. Menon and published by Rupa Publications in around 200 pages. I didn’t know that the book is not only going to be satirical but it shall help me see small and usual things of life in a very different light.
Jairam Menon has a very beautiful way of saying things which makes you see both the facets of it- the one being said in a lighter tone with an intention of making us laugh and the other which is trying to teach us about how to enjoy life rather than finding concerns in almost everything that gets thrown upon us. If author has based few chapters completely from an intention of displaying his prowess in humor, he ensures that he is balancing the same by actually getting serious and giving us some really good advices like a senior in a tone that makes us feel better and rejuvenated.
As the book title says, this is definitely like a great beverage for our soul. While reading it, you would want to re-read many of the chapters because of their simplicity in the way tough topics are presented with a flavor of simplicity in them. Another good addition by the author are the illustrations in the beginning of the chapter which reminds you of the childhood-days’ newspapers. Similarly, there’s a quote by few of the popular personalities related to the chapter at the end of it which sometimes are such a divine experience reading them that we start repeating the whole chapter again in our minds trying to establish the fact that the chapter wanted us to learn such a deeper insight.
There are few one-liners which really makes you laugh out loud. They are enough hilarious for us to stop at the sentence, highlight them and share with everybody on our social media statuses and stories. There are few moments that I would really like to highlight which made my reading experience wonderful:
· Author keeps quoting other authors to ensure that we also learn the real thing as well. Haha!
· He also himself gives advices in the chapter “Envy- Proofing your Life” to help us understand how not to become jealous.
· The part about vision mission statement that copying from one is plagiarism whereas copying from multiple is called research talks about the hypocrisy we have created in the professional world.
· Chapter on superstition is so funnily written giving the context of why we should believe it. For e.g. if we dont how will we justify the success of people we dont like. 😊
· The chapter on overthinking is so rightly executed where author again uses humor throughout the chapter and in the last 3 paras, gives us a good message about what we need to teach our children about the topic.
· The chapter on small talks is so beautifully written that author almost gets into the mode of a self-help writer and tries to explain the importance of it in a very interesting manner.
· The chapter on religion is written very maturely trying to explain how we are comparing Gods and ruining d relationship among ourselves.
· The description of potholes by meriting them with the quote "The road to success is always under construction" written by Steve Maraboli is so aptly included. Similarly, describing trucks to be doing item dance is another ROFL moment.
· The description of procrastination and bosses made by the author can fail all the LinkedIn posts.
Overall, this is a superb read and I am desperately wanting author to write part 2 of this book and make us learn small joys of life which can give great happiness through his cheeky style by making everything an entertainment for us. Hats off to Jairam N. Menon for writing this book so beautifully and making it an easy read. Along with that he ensures to use good vocabulary which will also help new readers learn great words in the process. I give this book 5 stars out of 5.
Thanks!
WRITING BUDDHA
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