To be honest, I felt this book to be much like other books that I had read which stresses on the potential of human being in the respective author’s own style. So, the expectation was not much when I started reading it.
To put the story line in a single sentence, “A guy with messed up life personally and professionally lives in a victim mode and finally finds he is the cause of his state and no one else to blame and he vows to turn a new leaf on his life”. Credits to the author who brings in the transformation in the main character, “Arjun” from a helpless victim to a man of wisdom in a very realistic manner.
A synopsis of the story goes like this, “The deep yearnings of Arjun’s soul sets the path to transformation by unfolding series of events which appears to be chance happenings. The author brings about this by Arjun’s “chance” meetings with three sadhus and a transporter in the Himalayan mountain. The first sadhu he meets when he has an accident gives him a mandate to go a certain place in Himalayas to come out of the mess he is in. The second sadhu he meets in the Himalayan mountain sheds out three Golden nuggets in the form of three tests. The book picks up speed from here. The teachings from these tests are so profound and obvious but most of us overlook it. They are 1. We are responsible for the space we are in and it is up to us to make something positive out of it, never blaming the externals. 2. Even though we may be good, honest etc., we need to use the resources we have in our space (including people, and other things) in a way that brings out their best and thereby giving them an opportunity to work out their karma or in a way they deserve it. 3. In author’s words, “You cannot stop anything or anyone from changing. The only power that you do have is over your own state.” Finally, the meeting with the third sadhu hundred meter beneath the ground is a symbolic representation of meeting with his true self wherein he further becomes aware of his ulterior motives of using people to his means and not doing justice to their presence in his life. The author very patiently and realistically carries the character of Arjun throughout the story line as a resistant person who wants to have an “escape” of his situation. Only after the final meeting with his own self in the form a third sadhu, he is able to let go of his resistance and to surrender to what “is” and vows to make a change in his life. When I thought that is the end of the story, just like in a detective novel, the author brings in a dimension to his transporter in the Himalayan mountain who sheds his final wisdom to Arjun.
I felt the book a bit dragging between the first and second meeting of the sadhu, but finally when I completed the book, I realized it was necessary to portray the resistant character of Arjun. The book is well written with thoughtful words filled with wisdom. It is not that people’s transformation should happen in a Himalayan setting, but it can happen to any of us at anytime anywhere. Let’s better watch out. Well done Priya.

06-Oct-19: “The Calling” is the second book (first being The Wise Man Said) I finished reading by Priya Kumar, award winning author and an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker.

It has been rightly said that in the Spiritual realm nothing is a coincidence. In fact, the most detested being was born into this planet with a purpose. More surprisingly our lives are deeply interconnected to others. There are times when our single action is potent to change someone else’s course of life forever.

In this book, Priya chooses to explore this complicated spiritual subject by weaving a dramatic (read straight out of the movies) story around it. Her knack to convey the most complex of things in the simplest possible way, is a skill that I’ve come to deeply admire about her.

We have all heard of the famous adage, “as you sow, so shall you reap”. However, the game doesn’t end there. What you reap will impact your future, your destiny in ways that you cannot even imagine. Life when viewed in this light, is predictable. It won’t surprise you beyond your karmic contribution in it. Just like a farmer doesn’t reap the corn by a fluke, he sowed it. His crop is a predictable consequence and so is life.

Unfortunately, while dealing with problems in life, all our focus is on the outside. We make people scapegoat for the trouble we find ourselves in. And if this weren’t enough, we go on to blame destiny and even God for the mess our life has become. Instead of fixing the situation we’re in, we expend our energy fixing the environment, over which we have little to no control.

As Priya beautifully sums it up, “The spotlight is on you now. The whole world awaits your share of goodness, your contribution and your magic. There’s a place only you can fill, there’s a song that only you can sing, and there’s a calling only you can answer. The world waits with open arms for the boundless joy that is you”.

It is a book for all those who are in need of inspiration, some motivation or (in simple words) a kick to awake them. This Book is something that holds the true power to unleash your higher-self and your true-self. You’d never really regret buying this book. It has changed my way of looking at things as they appear. It has the power to make you think Out of the Box and to look to the Horizon. It’s about “the calling” that unfolds the real treasures and purpose of your life.

The story is a spiritual adventure and an encounter with the force that is in all of us. The story is of Arjun – a human being in distressed state of mind who has lost the pattern, and is at the brink of a divorce and personal breakdown. His life changes forever when he meets with an accident. An experience that leads him to find himself. It is when he comes across a sadhu who asks him to take a journey to Hemkund Sahib located in The Himalayas to unravel the Purple thread. Arjun isn’t aware that this journey would bring him wisdom, the quality of being wise, truth and his wisest-self. Arjun isn’t aware that it’s not the destination (the purple thread), but the journey and the experiences that’s going to change his life forever, and that is what is going to make his soul grow.

I found the Author Priya Kumar’s writing style very similar to my two other favorite authors Paul Coelho and Robin Sharma. The book is written so beautifully that I could have a clear imagination from every word in every single scene that has been described so well! The main character and the other characters are so well described and presented that it feels real to you. The story is written in such an amazing way that it grips you, and keeps you turning pages. It keeps you guessing to maintain the interest and not making you get bored at all. Go for it! 👌🏻😍
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