Numerous benefits of reading include the mechanisms to lower stress, boost happiness, and raise IQ. Here are our top three suggestions for February 2023 reading, regardless of whether you’ve already read some of the best books or are just beginning to expand your literary horizons.
Our Top Book To Read – February 2023 are
- Unveil Your Purpose by John Giftah
- Infertility, Impatience, Intuition By Rakhi Kapoor
- The Shotgun Wedding: A Novel By Suchandra Roychowdhury
UNVEIL YOUR PURPOSE by John Giftah – A complete guide to live the life you have been created for
“Don’t just live a purposeful life but live the purpose of your life”. This is the underlining theme of John Giftah’s latest Bestseller, “Unveil Your Purpose” which became a #1 New Release on Amazon.
As the world is grappling with the pangs of the pandemic and many people are searching for answers regarding the reason for their existence, Dr. John Giftah’s book came as a lighthouse of hope guiding them towards their purpose in life. He shares that a person can live their life to their fullest, experience satisfaction in life and express their full potential only when they are living in their purpose. He says, “An aircraft is at its best in the sky – not on the road; Likewise, you cannot expect to unleash the best version of yourself on the ground if your purpose is amidst the clouds!”
When asked the reason for writing the book, he shared about one of the tragic perils that is actively playing in the society. ‘Each individual has a specific area of purpose, passion and strength. Unfortunately, in most cases they are forced by their family to make a career move to a field which is not their area of strength. This leads to an extensive amount of pressure and other complications which in turn not only affects them professionally but also emotionally, psychologically, mentally and even physically in many cases.’ Through the book, not only does he want to shed light on this alarming issue that is affecting millions of people, but to also guide them into discovering and walking in their purpose.
In the book, he takes a deep dive to explain how our purpose in connected to our childhood dreams, ambitions, gifts and experiences. ‘Ever since I was young, I dreamt of impacting lives across the globe. I have been writing and speaking ever since I was a kid. Today, I am not only walking in my purpose but also walking in my dreams and one can clearly see that what I used to do as a kid is a foreshadow of what I am doing now.’
This success did not come easy for him. He shared how he underwent seasons of discouragement, opposition and pain that forced him to give up walking in his purpose. But he fought against the forces with GOD’s help and is now a beacon of hope to those who are facing similar challenges in walking in their purpose. His experiences coupled with his personality and gift of inspiring people is a perfect dose for humanity for such a time as this.
‘Unveil Your Purpose’ truly matches the description of its subtitle in being a complete guide to live the life that we are created for. The eight sections of the book cover a wide range of topics like fundamental aspects of walking in our purpose, a step-by-step guide to discover and channelise our purpose, having a purpose-driven mindset and lifestyle, practical steps to take towards our purpose and a lot more – resounding with anecdotes, life experiences and examples – all based on GOD’s Word.
In conclusion, he shared a truly life-changing quote from his book, “You are not a created-being trying to find a purpose; You were created because you have a purpose”. This one statement is enough to pull the trigger against identity crisis, low self-esteem, the feelings of being devalued and unworthy and a whole lot of strongholds taking on today’s generation.
INFERTILITY, IMPATIENCE, INTUITION by Rakhi Kapoor – A holistic guide for aspiring parents
The infertility treatment sector is growing and is undoubtedly an expensive affair. It does not guarantee immediate results and multiple attempts may be required. Medical intervention to conceive through various infertility treatments does not guarantee conception unless it is also backed up by a healthy lifestyle and reduced stress levels.
Most young couples are postponing starting a family later in their life. While they strive to strike a balance between their higher studies and financial stability, achieve their personal and professional goals, and strengthen their relationships to become parents, the biological clock keeps ticking. This leads to difficulty in conceiving and an increased infertility rate in young couples. The whole process of conception has become complicated and stressful instead of a joyous one.
From Rakhi Kapoor, a renowned physical therapist and antenatal counsellor with over two decades of experience in handling normal pregnancies, assisted pregnancies and pregnancies involving various risks this book will help couples who are planning a pregnancy or undergoing infertility treatment to increase the possibilities of conception.
The tips and advice in this book are practical and effective in today’s hectic life with increased stress levels.
THE SHOTGUN WEDDING: A NOVEL by Suchindra Roychowdhury – A romcom for everyone out there!
The Shotgun Wedding: Write-Side of the story by Suchandra Roychowdhury is a romcom around Bengali culture, a must read for everyone out there!
The ebb and surge of life comprises of stories, some told, some untold. The journey itself is multidimensional, a feast of sensations, a deluge of emotions, woven with intricate threads of reality, ambition, love, frustration, betrayal; you really have to be on the write-side of the story to fathom out just which strand can be drawn out into a narrative you would dearly love to have an audience for!
Such was the journey of “The Shotgun Wedding”, following the bewildering career trajectory of its protagonist, Dita Roy, a city-bred woman, who lands herself a job as an English Lecturer in an obscure college in rural Bengal. Here, in the village of Phulpukur, Dita meets a rumbunctious set of people who are inextricably linked to the somewhat dubious functioning of the college. The curious diorama of characters ranges from wily politicians like Palash Bose with powerful mafioso contacts, reformed family members of an erstwhile dacoit like Aditya Pundit and his sons, shrewd and scheming businessmen like Girish Sarkar, wayward student activists like Rajeev and Utpal, and a mysterious stranger with startling grey eyes – Raja. Raja is an enigmatic presence who haunts Dita’s conscious thoughts even as she tries to come to terms with the bizarre set of circumstances that unfolds around her.
Though set primarily in rural Bengal, in the sleepy little village of Phulpukur, the narrative swings back and forth between Phulpukur and Kolkata, engaging with the urban/rural dichotomy of its characters. Thus, while Dita hails from Kolkata, she has to meet the challenges of the patriarchal set-up of her workplace in Phulpukur; conversely, Raja starts out from the village, struggling to find his place in the great world beyond. The shotgun wedding stands as the climax to their hilarious adventures and misadventures, spinning out into a crescendo of chaotic events that are covered on national television by the media sensation, Chirag Mukherjee.
Germane to this story was a transient stint of my own professional life, a brief period during which I served as Lecturer and Acting Principal for a remote college in West Bengal. On a retrospective impulse I have travelled back to moments that intrigued me, ideas that challenged me, memories that befuddle me and out of it all I have tried to craft a narrative, using hard facts interspersed with flights of imagination that delves with subtle humour into chasm of educational politics in Bengal.
The sparkling heart of “The Shotgun Wedding” however, is the breath-taking bond between Raja and Dita, a flame that smoulders through the novel despite Raja’s deceptions, Palash Bose’s aggressions and Dita’s own jejune beliefs. It begins on an innocuous note with Dita mistakenly identifying Raja as an urchin who works in Gopal’s canteen and serves her tea. Yet with time, their relationship encounters unfathomable turns leading up to their unexpected presence in the infamous shotgun wedding.
