Book Review: The Wise Man Said

Book : The Wise Man Said

Author: Priya Kumar

Publisher: Books That Inspire

Genre: Fiction | Spirituality

Pages: 180

Price: 299 INR

Blurb:

Sammy is an 80 year old billionaire, who finds himself at the peak of his success built on a mountain of sacrifices. He decides to participate in a life he missed to live. Eleven months in a year he leaves behind his identity and money and allows his curiosity and his willingness to experience anything—death even, to take him on life changing adventures and experiences across the world. Loaded with wisdom, surprise, humor and an eagerness to embrace life, The Wise Man Said is a collection of twelve such adventures of Sammy, where his journey becomes his greatest achievement—a life well lived.

A book that can change your life!

I have read Priya Kumar's "Calling" which is a beautiful book on spirituality and about understanding the calling of your heart. Therefore, when I was approached to review "The Wise Man Said", I was extremely happy. I had high expectations from the book and I am glad to announce that the book was beyond my expectations. 

After reading "The Wise Man Said", I will say that Priya Kumar reminds me of Paulo Coelho. Her wise words can change something very deep within you. The best thing about her writing is that she derives the extraordinary things from the simplest of circumstances and narrates it in such a lucid way that it touches the right chords. 

"The Wise Man Said" starts with Naina, an established writer who is on a writer's block. She had been delaying the submission of her manuscript for six months. When her editor gives her a deadline of 24 hours to submit the story, she feels overwhelmed as she doesn't have a story to tell. She is lost in her life and feels clueless about penning a new story.

She goes for a walk and meets an eighty-year-old man, Sammy. His white robe and red Nike shoes make him look endearing. Naina gets bewitched by the old man's wisdom as they start chatting. She starts finding her own self as she talks to Sammy. Naina dozes off on the meadow after some time and when she opens her eyes, the old man is nowhere to be seen. However, he leaves his brown leather book on which the word "Wanderer" is engraved. 

We read the wise man, Sammy's book along with Naina. There are 12 chapters in the book which are basically Sammy's experiences as he travels the world. But, what was truly remarkable in those 12 chapters were Sammy's perception about the experience in hindsight. Each chapter has a section called "What I missed seeing then" after each experience where I read some of the best words of wisdom.

The book taught me to use the power of hindsight. When you are going through a bad or challenging experience, you might wish for the experience to end and never remember it. 

But, what if, you thought about that experience later and can see something beautiful that can be learned from it? If you write about your experiences, your hindsight can bring a karmical liberating conclusion to even the most difficult days. 

All the chapters in the book are thought-provoking and taught me something about life. My favorite chapters are "I am skipping now", "Come find me", "The lost purpose", "The Man God" and "The future that wasn't."

There are so many brilliant quotes in the book that it's hard to choose the best among them. Here are some quotes from the book:

1. "All answers are within, O' Dear One. You can travel the world twice over, you will not find the answers outside, you carry them with you, everywhere you go."

2. What we take for granted no longer serves us-our lives included.

3. Your soulmate is not necessarily your lover. Soulmates always find each other. You will know when you do.

4. Purpose leaves clues. The fact that you are alive is a clue to your purpose. 

5. Leave notes of faith for people. Leave notes of hope for people. It will make your own suffering worth it if someone else can be saved from it."

I can definitely go back to "The Wise Man Said" again and again. If you are looking for a book that can change your life in a positive way, you must pick this one. 

I am going with 5 stars. 

I got a review copy from the author for an honest review. The opinions are my own.