Feb 20, 2015 10:24 AM
5992 Views
(Updated Feb 23, 2015 10:58 AM)
Spirituality and Metaphysics and Energy management - "Whoa! Wait, I read only fiction - be it humour, sci-fi, mystery or thrillers, " I said to myself when I received the book'Connect-Ticket' by R. Sridhar as a gift from a dear friend. As though reading my thoughts, he said, "Don't shrink away. This is not just a jargon of theories and out-of-worldly concepts! What's more, you don't even have to read the chapters sequentially." Skeptically, I looked at it for some time(read months). The theme and name did sound interesting! One fine day, I picked it up and got reading.
About the Author: R. Sridhar: He is a journalist in The Times of India and the writer of column'Connect-Ticket' published in the same paper. The book comprises his writings over 13 years on personal energy management. He also conducts personal energy management workshops in the busy city of Mumbai. His other varied interests are photography and music.
About the group: The name of this book Connect-Ticket also is the name of the prayer group that he started 15 years back. This is a non- religious group that has complete faith in the concept of'energy healing'. In this, like-minded people come together(not physically) and pray for someone in need or ill in health. They all strongly believe that if positive energy is concentrated on a particular person or family or place, it is definite to uplift the overall energy of that entity or person. Here, the technique of praying is not important, but the dedication and intention is. Today, though most of the group members reside in India, the members also include people from US, UAE, Pakistan and Singapore. Hence the name- Connect-Ticket(A ticket or platform to connect with each other for a common motive and intention)
What does it contain?: The best way to read this book, as R. Sridhar puts it, is to randomly open a chapter and get reading. Each chapter lasts not more than 2 pages and should not demand much of your time. That's exactly how I read it and before I realized it, I had read all the chapters almost effortlessly. In the process, I got to know some flabbergastingly interesting things about myself, my energy, why it behaves the way it does, my aura, and a bit about spirituality in the deal. The most important of all is that there were no long paragraphs and no heavy words. Examples are sprinkled all over the book which makes it quite a savouring dish. I particularly liked the one liners at the beginning of each chapter which gave a gist of what to expect in it. If you don't like the gist today, you can open another random chapter. You will like the previous gist some other day!:)
Though all the chapters had their own beauty, I found the following ones particularly helpful and apt eye-openers for me:
Count your blessings: When in mood of complaining, it would be a good exercise to count the blessings that you have and feel grateful for them. One look at what you have will make you feel not only grounded, but also honoured and privileged! For example, a wailing of, “Oh, I have to cook food today as well as wash vessels, the maid has not come.” can be replaced by “Thanks that I at least have enough material and grains at home to cook food!”
Create your Oasis:(My favourite): This talks about having your own favourite cozy corner in or outside home where you feel elated. The sheer realization of being there with your favourite things makes the place almost sacred for you! I too have a little library at home and a snug nook – that is my Oasis.
The Power of Duplication: It talks about how an event or activity repeats itself over a period of time just the way the earth repeats its seasons! This applies to all the phases of life - the art of parenting as well where the child simply duplicates his/her parents' behaviors at some point in life. I read a quote somewhere the other day, “Don't be worried that your child doesn't listen to you, worry that it is constantly observing you.”
What's the good of a review if we can't take a sneak - peek into it! So here follow some liners to give a flavour of the book:
Your aura is in a constant state of change. It either increases in size, depending on whether you have involved yourself in an energizing activity(like jogging, dancing) or gets drained depending or your health or interactions with people of lesser energy.
Intuition is that little voice inside us telling us to do the right thing at the right time. Remember to listen to it, it is always right!
Shut off your'inside' noise for some time each day. This is from our mind that is constantly thinking about something. To turn that off, our ancestors did something very simple: they breathed correctly.
Our brain thrives on novelty. It loses interest in anything routine else cerebral cobwebs take over.
My opinion: I find it a great piece of repetitive reading value that does not demand a formal sitting and worthy of being cherished in the home library . As I have not read books of this genre, I have nothing to compare it with. 4 out of 5!
I would have loved a few assessment sheets spread over the book giving scenarios and 4 options of how we would react. Maybe a score can be calculated giving us an insight on our personality, and how we are in terms of the concepts introduced in the book like clearing off mental clutters, compartmentalizing our mind, prioritizing and overall management of energy. This would have made the book more interactive. But I guess this was not to be since this is a collection of articles and not written as a book. Some concepts were repeated towards the end which gave a feeling of reading a chapter that I have read previously.
I surely am looking forward to the author's next collection which I hear is in the making. This time, I will not wait for a friend to gift it! Happy reading, friends!
