It’s been
a long time since I have read a book and I wanted to revive my reading. I took
the opportunity of Discount sales at Amazon and ordered 4 books. I was thinking
which one to start with?
I have
heard about "Life is what you make it" at the Vaahini Women's day
celebrations of Accenture and heard the author, Preeti Shenoy address the
gathering at the celebrations. Hence, this book became my first choice to start
with.
To be
frank, I have not read the other works of Preeti Shenoy and had least
expectations when I started with this book. Initial few chapters, made me think
this was yet another love story but I continued reading because it was my
favorite Genre.
But as
soon as I read a couple of more pages, it got me hooked.
The main
character in the book is a female lead, Ankita Sharma. Ankita sharma is a sweet
bubbly girl, a girl next door who is beautiful, intelligent, ambitious, and
seems to have the world in her hands. She is born into a conservative middle
class family, for whom family name was everything. She was born in an era where
there were no cell phones and writing letters to keep in touch was a fad. She
had two best friends with whom, she used to keep in touch through letters. All
is well till Ankita finishes her graduation at Cochin and gets admission in MBA
at a reputed institute in Mumbai.
Ankita goes
ahead and takes up this opportunity to pursue her MBA at Mumbai. Her family
also shifts along with her. Ankita’s Life seems to be going pretty well for
her, she continues to focus on her studies and achieves good grades in her
first semester.
6 months
later Ankita ends up in Mental Hospital. To know, What are the
circumstances which led her into Mental hospital, you need to read the book.
The book
ends with Ankita being reborn overcoming her circumstances and leading a normal life, thankful for being
alive everyday, just like the birth of a Phoenix.
Life is
what you make it is a wonderful narration by Preeti Shenoy. The plot of the
novel may seem straight forward but here are the reasons why you must read the
book:
- It discusses
about little known widespread problem, bipolar disorder and also the
importance of understanding and supporting the person with the mental
illness to overcome and lead a normal life.
- It helps you
relive your college memories
- It emphasizes on importance of
love in your life and to never belittle love.
- It
also emphasizes on the importance of relationships in your life.
The
author has a charming narrating style and carries ahead the plot wonderfully.
So friends go ahead and grab the novel on a cozy evening and enjoy.
Life
is what you make it.
Let me conclude with a wonderful quote from the book "Never
belittle love, no matter where it came from and be a little humbler, nicer and
kinder with your words and actions"
