Book Review : Life Mantras

Blurb View:

“After having gone through the book, you will definitely and convincingly realize that to achieve peace, true happiness, contentment, satisfaction and also to attain continuous progress in life in terms of material gains, respect and love, you need not depend on anybody in this world. It all depends on you. It is all in your hands.”—‘Saharasri’ Subrata Roy Sahara “Nobody does anything for anyone. All do for themselves either for more and more material gains or to save and escape from any kind of material losses or from mental-emotional dissatisfaction or for getting more and more mental-emotional satisfaction. Therefore, no one sacrifices for anyone. When no one does anything for anyone, there is no justification in expecting any returns.” The author goes on to explain that to make life truly beautiful, one also needs to understand the basic truths with which we are born or the basic instincts inherent in us all. So for a positive outcome one has to learn the psychological or the emotional aspects of life, in other words, the realities of life or the entire philosophy of life. As you get immersed in the potent energy of these ‘Life Mantras’, you will slowly find a change, a sense of fulfillment, a self-motivation coming in you. You will thus be led to the ultimate realization that the journey of life is indeed a truly blissful and an enlightening experience.

Review:

In Life Mantras, India’s top corporate honcho Mr. Subrata Roy shares real-life lessons by touching upon many aspects of human thoughts and emotions. Right at the outset, he begins by saying that every human is unique by himself. Thereby, he discusses the psychological and emotional aspects of life. Gradually he moves on to ways of achieving happiness, satisfaction, content life and more. While he talks about motivation, he boldly puts it forth that money does motivate just as esteem and love. He further grabs attention by saying that we only work for ourselves and our own advantages. Gradually as the book progresses, the reader learns that there are seven health stages of human being and four types of knowledge. And of course at the end, he writes about ego and its woes. Overall, ‘Life Mantras’ gives us a deep insight into the basic realities of life.

Mr. Subrata Roy Sahara laid the foundation of Sahara India Pariwar with mere 2000 rupees with three workers in the year 1978. But today his company boasts of 12 lakh fellow workers. Presently, he is in Tihar jail, from where he has written this book. To write a book in the prison isn’t an easy affair but for him this isn’t the end. Life Mantras is the first one in the trilogy, ‘Thoughts from Tihar’. As of now, this one is an exhaustive amalgamation of his experiences, observations, interactions and more.

The book is deep and thought-provoking despite being repetitive in nature. Mr. Roy has tried to explain many aspects of being a happy person. Very interestingly, he talks about collective materialism and the philosophy of his company.

Further he says that ‘money is a good servant but a bad master’. I really appreciate the way he touches upon various elements of life in a very truthful and positive way. When he says ‘whatever we do, we do for ourselves’ maintaining exclusivity for the people within our emotional sphere, I totally agree with him. He also asserts that it is very important to be happy but there is no power in the world that can make us happy until we work towards it. You got it!

This is what it means when he says it all lies in your hands.

cbp3 At the end of the book, there are some Q and A’s which further give us a chance to understand his thoughts and belief.

The book is good and it talks about everything that can make us feel good and do well in life. But there were times when I questioned ‘Does Mr. Roy really practice what he preaches in the book?’ With all my doubts, I still believe it’s impossible to talk so much and not follow at all. I am sure he does and that’s what made him so successful. Without taking a call on him personally, I would say his book definitely gives a view of a better life.

P.S. The content in the book has been produced just as the author had written it. I believe it definitely needed editing to make it crisp and interesting.

My Rating: 3/5

About the Author:

Subrata Roy Sahara (born 1948) popularly known as ‘Saharasri’, is one of the most successful, bold, vociferous and talked-about figures of corporate India. When he laid the foundation of Sahara India Pariwar in 1978 with a capital of `2,000 (about $32) and three workers, who would have imagined his company’s meteoric rise to a worth of `1,80,000 crore (about $27 billion) within a span of thirty-seven years! A teacher, guide and a proud guardian to his over 1.2 million fellow workers, he ascribes his success to his philosophy of ‘Collective Materialism’ which means continuous collective growth for collective sharing and caring. Renowned institutions like Harvard School of Business, USA; the Indian Institutes of Technology; the Indian Institutes of Management; and Banaras Hindu University have invited him to address their faculty and students, besides which, a host of awards have been bestowed on him that include the ‘Indian Business Icon of the Year’ at the Powerbrands Hall of Fame Awards in London; the Doctor of Business (honoris causa) by the University of East London; and the highest honorary degree, ‘D. Litt.’ by the Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Bihar for his contributions in various fields.