Live Your Dreams: Be You by Neeti Nigam Keswani | Book Reviews

On one side people are crying that the good habit of reading is losing its charm and the current generation prefers to go with the other alternatives like watching movies and TV series or playing games on PC or mobile. And on the other side, a large number of books are released every month and some of them proves to be bestsellers. So, no matter what overall scenario is (according to the experts), the habit of reading is not dying. On the contrary, the huge sale of Kindle (device and app both) points a trend where people are moving towards Electronic books.

Well, there is a debate running whether EBooks are better or printed copies. For me, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the book. Yes, if the book has good content, the media on which it is being read, doesn’t matter at all. And yes, never underestimate the hobby of reading. While you read, you imagine things, and make your brain to do exercise. And as you know how important exercise is, right? That is why it said “reading is to mind what exercise is to the body”.

Recently, I got to know about a book named Live Your Dreams: Be You by Neeti Nigam Keswani, via FaceBook. I found the title interesting and decided to read it. I have enjoyed reading it thoroughly and here I present my personal and unbiased views and reviews for the same.

Let us have a look at the cover page of the book.

While on first glance the cover page may give an impression of the book as a light read meant for the kids, when you give it a second glance and try to see the details, you can find sketches of cloths, a boutique, a young girl wearing colorful dress and the name of the boutique. The girl and the boutique title catches your attention for being colorful in almost black and white stuff.

The cover page is not very attractive but it holds a lot of details associated with the book.

Book Plot:

Let me start with a disclaimer that though I will try my best to avoid as many spoilers as many possible, while talking about the plot and providing my views and reviews for various aspects of the book, it is quite possible to have some of them.

The book tells a story in simple and linear manner. It is about a young girl who has completed her study and like any other aspiring middle class child who envisioned for his/her better future doing a job. The aspirations to achieve a better lifestyle for herself and her loved ones, she is working hard to deliver the best she can. It is the beauty of growing up in a middle class environment that you understand the important of each and every resources and you, by nature, are unable to waste them, when you’d seen your parents working hard to earn the smaller things.

Her parents are considering that it is the right time for her marriage, so the proposals are forwarded to her in almost regular manner. Though, being educated parents themselves, neither her father nor her mother forced her to get married in hustle and bustle.

She is performing good in her job and she eventually conquers the milestones of success, one after the another. She had a possession, her green diary. And, she has a hobby. She love to draw lines to turn them into a good dress. The sense of fashion is natural to her and her imagination is remarkable. Whenever there is an annual day in the office, or an event at a friend’s place, she was the one who decide the theme and provide dress designs.

No, she is not feeling any conflict between her job and her hobby. She enjoy doing her job and her work was bringing some remarkable results for the company.

She had a support in the form of the family, she got support from the office also, she has a friend named Priya, her sister is more than a friend to her, one of her superior admires her work and is almost like a brother to her and she is in love with a genuine, humble, talented and equally hardworking fellow. So, the life is all fine for her. Is she missing anything? Will she get married to her soulmate? Will there be any complications? Why the book name suggests to “live your dream” – is there a void anywhere for the female protagonist?

Well, you need to read the book to know more.

Frankly speaking, I’ve picked the book without much expectations from the same. The reading experience, on the contrary, was really amazing. It is a story which goes into a linear manner. Of course, it has ups and downs, but it is a smooth ride.

After a long time, I came to read a story which is setup in the modern times and having characters which are modern, and yet it shows the real middle class family. We mostly see that the rich families in the book and some imaginative backdrops and things, which are good at fantasy level, but we are unable to connect with it. At the same time, we often see typical melodrama when it comes to the story setup in middle class environment. The book has realistic characters. Their dreams and aspirations, their way of living, their morals and ethics, their consideration for family values, their support to each other and the success they achieve (which they deserve, not accidental) is explored pretty well..

If you get to know about the author’s life, you may come to a conclusion that this is her biography or something inspired from it. Well, the author herself makes it clear that the book is work of fiction and is not her life story. Of course, some of the incidents could have been inspired from what she had experienced, heard, read about and imagined of course.

The author’s idea about gender equality and women empowerment is very right. We see that many authors, makers of films and tv serials etc. represents the wrong concept for these attributes in their work. Using abusive language, cuss words, talking about adultery at a length have nothing to do with these attributes, but we see it is represented through them. Neeti, in this book has avoided using any such things in the book, and the writing doesn’t include a single sentence which you can consider in “adult only” zone. This is a big achievement.

Neeti is good at writing about real emotions, for example:

Although, I may have grown up somewhere in their heart I am still their little girl and they want to be sure I am doing all right.

Yes, for all the parents, their children will always remain so. Their way of loving and caring will never let the children grown in the parent’s mind. And, that is the beauty of the parent-child relationship. At certain age, especially when people gets older and lose their parents, they feel a void. So, as the author says in the book, we must understand the importance of family in sooner-the-better manner.

Sometimes, we just tend to take our families for granted forgetting that these little moments spent with them will be the ones which we cherish for life.

Neeti talks about love in simple words which makes an impact:

It seems time passes so much faster when I am with him.
…
When our conversation starts, moments turn into hours without any of us noticing.

I like the following lines about the relationships and family:

And then my thoughts go on Priya and Randeep. I am so blessed to have such friends… I could open up with them without the judgements. I could just be myself.
— — — — — —
Randeep is just the cool brother I never really had but I still have in him… a gem of friend.

There are some philosophical and motivational lines in the book like:

As they say, it is easy to fight but very hard to make anyone understand your point of view.
— — — — — —
With increasing responsibility comes increasing accountability and that means growth and feeling of satisfaction.
— — — — — —
You know, words can kill like scalpel or heal like medicine.
— — — — — —
Go with the flow. Do not fight the current. Because if you try to fight the current, chances are you might exhaust yourself and drown. So, my simple advice is, go with the flow And believe you are well protected.
— — — — — —
Identity and striving for a goal both are important. But never at your own cost. Never let the little voice in you fade away. Listen to it often and take its advice.
— — — — — —
Set your priorities right and then live from the values set out. And don’t do something because he wants or she wants or what will they think. Do what you want.
— — — — — —
It feels good to be supported. But first we have to learn to support our feelings and values. So today I decide I am going to take the step.

So, as you can see, the book is good in terms of literary qualities also.

The characters grow gradually and remain as they are. There is no unwanted melodrama. There are various points in the book where the author could have infused it, but she decided to not to. The way the bond of love is explored in the book is really remarkable. The characters supports each other and that is what the friends and family is for, to support and to be supported . The book conveys the message of positivity. And, as we see so much negative things are happening around, a moderate dose of positivity is required.

If you want to summarize the message of the book it could be:

Enjoy the life as it goes. Enjoy the stopover that may come in future. Stop being unhappy about where you are and where you want to be. It is the interim time that the journey is all about… make it fun,make it exciting. Your adventures, your paths are what will make your destination worthwhile. Never ever forget to Live your dreams.

Summary:

The book is a gem to read, simple yet inspirational. It talks about motivation, love, morals, and other positive attributes nicely. If you love to watch family movies setup in realistic environment and read inspirational stories, this book is something you should go for.

Definitely more than 8.5 stars out of 10

• Buy Book From Amazon India – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon UK – Paperback
• Buy Book From Amazon India – Kindle EBook
• Buy Book From Amazon US – Kindle EBook

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