Book Review - The Calling: Unleash Your True Self by Priya Kumar

 

Book: The Calling: Unleash Your True Self

Author: Priya Kumar

No. of Pages: 166

Genre: Self Development, Self-help books

Publisher: Books That Inspire

 

The book blurb says …

The Calling is a spiritual adventure. It is an encounter with the truth, the wisdom and the force that is innate to us all. At the brink of a divorce and personal breakdown, Arjun took a trip into the heart of the Himalayas, on the insistence of a sadhu, who predicted that the journey up to Hemkund Sahib would align him to his purpose and change his life forever. At every turn the mountains holds secrets and tests that urge Arjun to evolve into the person he had denied to be - himself. Pretenses, falsities, confusions and untruths fall apart as Arjun is forced to confront the mess he had created in his life. What started off as an opportunity to escape reality, turned out to be an opportunity to escape from the dwindling spiral of self-created misery. Filled with spiritual insights and sprinkled with light humor, this story will help you find your calling, your voice and who knows, even your true self.

 

I say …

Not Bad. But not a quick fix either.

If you are looking for answers to life questions … don’t expect to find the answers in there.

If you are looking for your own calling … don’t expect a road-map to find it in there.

If you are looking for a quick fix … well … don’t expect to find it anywhere !!

 

The book is like a good Management Consultant – asking the right questions to you so that you give the answers – and then he can present the best answer basis the answers you gave refined with his own experience. You essentially solve your own problem, with the consultant acting as a catalyst.

And that is what the book does. It tells you a story and keeps asking you some questions (by way f the story, of course). If you go through the book, without pausing to ask the questions to yourself … you are wasting your time and heading for disappointment.

The idea is to take the same trip that the protagonist of this book takes and do your think thinking. You take the cue from the questions and arguments in the book and brainstorm with your own self … seeking your own answers. Discover your very own personal calling.

The book’s narrative is simple and it leads you on a path of self-discovery with the magical Himalayas in the backdrop.

Feel free to pick this book … but heed the warning I gave at the beginning of the review. 

While the cover shows some aspect of the storyline – a man caught up in corporate life, looking towards the snow clad mountains (his journey through the book) … I am not sure I would have been inspired to pick up the book just by looking at that cover. I don’t have suggestions or views on what would be a better cover design but the current one is not the best attention grabber from my perspective.

Ratings on Book Review Parameters:

Cover Design: 3.0 / 5  

Writing Style:  3.0 / 5

Characters:     3.0 / 5

Story / Plot:    3.0 / 5

Climax:             3.0 / 5

Overall:            3.0 / 5

A consistent 3/5 rating across since the book is good but ordinary. Nothing extra-ordinary in there. I would still recommend it to you (provided you are NOT looking for quick-fix and ready to do the difficult task of ‘thinking’ and ‘introspecting’ .. yeah .. it is difficult )

And in case you are interested, here are other books by the Author. It is very releevant and important thing to mention here that the Author, Priya Kumar, is "an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker, nationally renowned and award-winning bestselling author & the CEO and Chief Facilitator of Priya Kumar’sTraining Systems" (source: http://priya-kumar.com/)