Wednesday

He can HEAR the Colour

"Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul."
 
Neil Harbisson is one such artist who plays with the keyboard of colour to play the piano of soul without hammering with eyes, instead perceiving through ears. In Neil's words, "The problem is not that I can't see colours but because you can." He can't see the different shades of colour but he can listen to the different frequencies. Yes! he is the man who HEARS the colour.
 
Birth Of Eyeborg
 
Neil Harbisson was born with Achromatopsia  (a rare vision disorder), rendering him to see the world only in grayscale. Doctors said it was incurable. When he was 16, much to the dismay of a teacher, Harbisson decided to study Art because he wanted to understand colour. He was allowed to do the course in greyscale. He went on to study colour theory. In  Dartington College of Arts, he attended a lecture on cybernetics and asked the speaker, Adam Montandon, if it was possible to create a device for him to see colour. And then a machine called the "eyeborg" was invented that translates colour to sound.
 
 
What is Eyeborg?
 
With the help of a high-tech headset, Neil Harbisson can “hear” colour. The headset is essentially a webcam that hangs over his forehead like a third eye — it’s called an eyeborg. It was built for him by a British technology expert, Adam Montandon.
 
 
The eyeborg works with a head mounted camera that picks up the colour frequencies directly in front of the person, and then sends the frequencies to a tiny chip that translates them into sound. Each colour matches up with a tone and pitch, and using bone conduction in the back of his skull, Harbisson is able to listen to the colours the machine is seeing. He memorized the frequencies related to each colour: high frequency hues are high-pitched, while low frequency hues sound bolder. Harbisson can see a total of 360 colours, which is more than the human eye.
 
Eyeborg- The life Changer
 

(Top) What non color-blind people see. (Below) What Neil Harbisson sees.
 
Neil Harbisson says, "It has changed the way I perceive the world. Colour is everywhere, so everything has changed. I still can't see colour, but I can perceive it. I can experience it in a way that allows me to be a part of this reality, which I was excluded from before. Thanks to the eyeborg, I’ve made a career by combining music and art. I do concerts where I plug myself into a set of speakers and play the colours of the audience back to them. And I also started to perceive sound as colour. Telephone lines became green; Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” song seemed red and pink. So I started to paint using the sounds around me. I’ve made pictures of pieces by Vivaldi, Beethoven, and Mozart among others. Now, we are developing a bag that you will be able to customize with your favourite song (using the same pattern I do with the artworks)." 
 
Life has become musical instead of colourful  
 
“At the beginning it was very chaotic and I couldn’t really distinguish colours in front of me, but after months and after years of hearing colours continuously this just became a new sense, it became something beautiful, and I started to perceive the colours by the sounds," said Harbisson.  “It’s like living in a music composition.”
 

Harbisson, a former music student, has used his expanded senses as a cyborg to contribute to his art. He already played piano. One day he realized he could compose using his sonic colours. It was more creative than just sitting at the keyboard and playing. Harbisson paints multi-colour soundscapes – a kind of sheet music of frequencies. He paints famous speeches and works of music. He has spent time listening to famous faces -- Prince Charles has a nice sound to him -- and looking at beautiful vistas, though Harbisson says his favorite views are at the supermarket, where pure white light enhances bright colours.
 
 
“A piano only has 12 notes in an octave, whereas, with colour, I have 360 notes in an octave, so it’s micro-tonal music, many more options,” Harbisson said. When he pans across the colours in his paintings with the electronic eye, the song plays and he records it. His latest project is called “Sonochromatic Dance.” 
 
 
Harbisson’s favorite colour is eggplant. Its sound, he said, is high and pleasing and loud. Red, at the other end of the spectrum, is deep and calming. The frequency of all human skin is actually orange, whether you’re black, white or Asian. In his words,"No human is either black or white but a shade of orange which I can hear to." 
 
None of his other senses are compromised — he hears colours through bone conduction and audio through regular air conduction in his ears — only enhanced. Harbisson says that if someone who could see in colour used an electronic eye, “it would be probably be like taking drugs because it would have kind of a psychedelic effect.”
 
Part of the body
 
The eyeborg is permanently attached to Harbisson’s head — originally he was carrying around a heaving computer — and after the eyeborg is surgically implanted he hear colours with a less pressured form of bone conduction.
 
Harbisson began to feel as though he was a cyborg after five months of wearing the eyeborg.
Being a cyborg is feeling like a cybernetic device is no longer an external device but part of your body,” he said. He began to feel as though the eyeborg was “an extension of [his] brain” when he started to have dreams in sound-colour, hearing the tones associated with colours in his dreams.
 
“When I sleep it’s my brain that creates electronic sounds,” Harbisson says. “If I go to sleep if I dream of the sky or I dream of oranges my brain creates electronic sounds of the sky or the oranges. So I dream in colour, but it’s the sound of colour that I dream of.”
 
 
Neil Harbisson can hear the orange (the color, that is)

Neil now wears this “eyborg” 24 hours a day, and has doctor’s certification that he is a Cyborg. He continues to live each day as a colourful Cyborg in a colourful world.
 
"It’s very similar to a religion,” he said. “It’s like a priest who dedicates his life to something he doesn’t see. I don’t see colour, but I’m dedicating my life to it.”
 

                                     
 
Watch this witty and inspirational video to know more about HEARING colours.
 

Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi
JJJ
 
 

This post is being submitted as an entry to The Idea Caravan Contest organized by Indiblogger in association with Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton Investments partnered with TEDx Gateway Mumbai in December 2012.

All that Matters


Smile, a very simple curve which when gets traced on someone else's face gives me an out-of-the world feeling. It gives me immense peace and soulful happiness to make even one stranger smile a day. In this chaotic world, people have forgotten how to live happy in the race of a happy and comfy life. Isn't this ironic that people are running behind something which is already in their pocket? BEING HAPPY is very simple but most of us see it as the most intricate process.  Can’t you smile seeing an innocent child struggling with a water bottle hanging round his neck, can’t you feel satisfied by offering your seat to the old granny standing beside you, can’t you feel great by feeding half of your cake to the child begging with his sister in his lap. Small things done in a simple way is the way to a gratified smile. I'm looking for more of the smiles just to make myself smile.


Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi


This post is written as a part of ‘All that Matters‘ contest at BlogAdda.com in association with INK Live 2013.

Sunday

मरीचिका





रूमानी हवा के झोके

बिखेरते थे उनकी भीनी खुशबू

आवारा बादलो की टोली

बनाते थे उनकी तस्वीरे

रिमझिम बारिश की बूंदे

बरसाती थी उनकी भीगी यादें

चले गए वो उस पार

जहाँ  हवा रुखी है

बादल बंदिश में है

बारिश बरसना भूल गई है

क्यूंकि उस पार मरीचिका है |



Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi
JJJ

Tuesday

Learnings from Ambience

                          “That is what learning is. You suddenly understand  something  
                                     you've understood all your life, but in a new way.”
As soon as a child turns 4 years old, he is sent to school to learn to write, to imbibe moral values, to acquaint himself with right and wrong and to get saturated with goodness. He is taught do's and don'ts of day-to-day life but until he comes across certain situations he doesn't understand why everyone talks the same, the same RIGHT THING. But what exactly is right, he understands only when he comes across something WRONG. This is the way I too learnt some lessons in my life from my ambience, from the people around me, from the world around me.
1. MIRACLES HAPPEN


                                      
Magic is all what is confined to magician's hat but for me, magic is what I dream and believe in. I have seen people never giving upon anything because it is their strong conviction that turns the impossible into possible. There is a man living miles away from me who has kept inspiring me though he could neither walk nor speak. At the age of 21, when doctors declared a maximum of two years more life, he went on to fail their predictions with his firm determination and courage winning against all the odd circumstances and emerging as the greatest researcher and scientist of quantum physics in human history. When I was eight years old, I was watching DD-1 broadcasting a documentary on Stephen Hawking. Since then I started believing in human potential. Whatsoever a man wants, he can achieve it merely by self-confidence and believing in his dreams. Just like the Rapunzel of Tangled who longs of seeing the glittering lanterns finally finds them in real.
                                      
I saw Stephen Hawking, I learnt that human potential is infinite surpassing all the odds.
2. Simple Living High Thinking

                                       
Simple and generous people are always adored by everyone. Ramesh Uncle, a rich business man from Kerala lived in a rented house in our colony. He was so rich that his friends used to call him 'Hamara BILL GATES'. But he never tried to be bossy. He never showcased his flamboyance instead wore a simple white shirt and lungi and ate simple rice. It was the year 2001 when our door bell rang. I rushed to open the door and to my surprise Uncle was standing with a box in his hand wishing 'Happy new year beta'. Oh! it was a perfect new year beginning for a cake-o-holic like me. Later I came to know that he distributed sweets in the whole colony and adopted the child who daily came to his house for distributing newspapers. Once he asked that boy, 'Beta, what is the front news today?'. The boy drooped down his head saying, 'Someday I'll read it to you for sure.' That was the day when he decided to take his responsibility and make a difference starting just with 'one'. It is the human tenderness which brings people close to you, not the affluent position or money.
I saw Ramesh Uncle, I learnt that man becomes rich by his thoughts and actions.
3. Love Animals

                          
               
Animals can be your best friends, give them a chance. My mother used to feed a dog daily. It was like they both had developed a strong bond between them. Every morning at 8 'o clock when I was to leave for school, the dog came wagging his tail and my mother used to feed him with the chapatis. I never liked that dog. One day while I was returning back to home, a stray dog started chasing me. I ran and cried for help. Suddenly that morning dog appeared and combated with the stray dog saving me. That day I realized dogs are more compassionate. They are really faithful and befriend you better than humans.
I saw the dog, I learnt that these meek animals just need your two-minutes of care to surrender their whole life for you.
4. Do before it is too Late

                                             

We always wait for the 'right time' to accomplish certain tasks neglecting the fact that time is always right. My music teacher used to scold me everytime I committed simplest of the mistakes. I started inching away from him. But he used to make me sing for hours more than the other group members. I hated him for making me strain my throat inspite of knowing the fact that I'm the weakest link of my group. But anyhow he pulled me for the extra sessions. After a month, our school participated in 'Bharat Vikas Parishad's Singing contest. His efforts paid off winning us the first position at the district level and third at the state level. Then I realized why he used to scold me. Actually, he was just polishing me but I never looked through his reprimands. When we returned back to school, I wanted to say him THANK-YOU. But could never gather the courage to go in front of him and as usual used to run away fearing his scolding. A year later, the morning assembly was dispersed before it started, every teacher was weeping like a child, moist eyes all around, students were silent like grave because everyone's favourite Music Sir succumbed to leukaemia. That day my sincere THANK-YOU breathed last.
I saw my Music teacher, I learnt that death is inevitable, do everything in this short span before it gets too late.
5. Wrap your genuine love in  genuine gifts

                                            
  
Whenever it's someone's birthday, I become more excited than the birthday person. While others present him/her with expensive gifts ostentatiously displaying their richness, I always gift my friends a card which I sacredly prepare for him/her. I have been religiously following this custom since last twelve years and today my friends remember me for my cards, the verse I write for them and insist for the same to present for the upcoming years. I love it that how a simple card conveys the feelings, love and care so effectively.
I saw friends loving my hand-made cards, I learnt that things done from the heart are always respected.
6.  A Smile can win hearts
A simple smile can set everything correct. It is the most powerful weapon which can turn situations in your favour. One of my brothers was going through tough times at the initial stage of his career. He was rejected from several interviews but he never lost hope. He used to smile everytime his family questioned his ability. In one of the interviews, he was asked, 'What if you are rejected this time also?'. He simply answered in a humble tone, 'This will make my smile broader than yesterday because failures should also be welcomed equally as success.' He converted that call and his never-fading smile taught me the value of humbleness and perseverance.
Sometimes someone's smile brightens your day. In my school, a maid called Kamla Bai ji greeted every student she came cross with her affectionate smile. Since nursery class, she used to take care of me. I remember well that I always slept in the bus on my way to school. She affectionately used to carry me in her arms to class and then wake me with a smile. I developed a tender bond with her over the years. When we were leaving school after +2, she gave plain paper pieces to all of us. She said, "I don't know how to read and write but I know how to draw". She touched my heart that day. A smiling face was drawn by her on the paper. I went to her and said, 'This is the legacy which I will be carrying from this school and pass it to as many as I come across'. She blessed me,"Beta! tum sab aise hi khilkhilate rehna. Duniya ki mushkil raho pe ye muskaan hamesha tumhara sath degi." Even after five years, whenever I visit my school, I first search for her and it really makes me happy that out of thousands of students coming and going over the years, the lady with white hair still remembers my name and asks," Surbhi! Beta kaisi ho?".
I saw smiling people around me, I learnt that despite the hardships and chaos, smile soothes every heart who looks at it.
7. Respect the ambience
A year back, I was travelling from Ajmer to Udaipur. The bogie I boarded had two Russian females along with some common masses. I found it very sick that some lame minds were staring at the ladies and trying to get close to them. Although the ladies were smart enough but when the scoundrels were about to cross the line, the young lady sitting beside the blondes raised her voice and the whackos made their way out of the compartment. It is always required to make a move against the wrong. After a few hours, one of the blondes got up and moved towards the exit. She took out a cigarette from her pocket, lit it and puffed it away from the general sitting place. As she finished, she put some cardamom in her mouth, came back to her seat and bowed Namaskar to everyone. She wanted to apologise for smoking but said Namaste. I was moved by her act. How sensible that lady was, she knew smoking is an offend in public transportation, so she apologised. Moreover, she smoked away from the sitting area so that others don't become uneasy with the smoke. Had our general masses also emulated her, public places in India would have been much comfortable and clean.
 I saw the brave lady raising her voice, I learnt that foxes under the skin of lion just need a roar to run away. I saw the Russian lady respecting the Indian culture, I learnt that every place has its own culture and you should abide by it.
8. Work is work
My family has never distinguished between a girl and a boy and I find myself very lucky to be born to such liberal parents. As said, 'Children learn from elders', my father always helps my mother in her daily chores. He joyously washes dishes and sometimes makes meals too. He always says, "No work is big or little. No work is entitled to a particular person. It is just  a work which has to be accomplished."

I often find people putting off their work just because it has to be done by someone else. Uncle is eating out because aunty hasn't prepared dinner today. The girl is waiting for a coolie to lift her small bag. The boy is growing restless for not finding his morning tea cup beside his bed. The lady is angry because the maid has gone for a week-long leave. Please don't classify work. Don't find yourself inferior to broom your own room. Don't take working in the kitchen as a blot on your masculine image. Just finish off the work to enjoy the evenings.

 I saw my father doing all chores, I learnt work is meant to be done irrespective of your status.
9. Save Resources

We have been studying the importance of saving the resources since our childhood. But how often do we pay attention towards the misuse of resources? Save water, Save electricity, Save energy are the most voluble slogans echoing in the textbooks. I used to write essays on 'Save Resources', make posters on 'Save Water' but hardly did I realized the intensity of these issues until I visited my village and had to face the power cuts, draw water from the well and walk miles of distance. That day I vowed I will use the available resources optimally and avoid their wastage. After all one has to bring the change to see the change.

I saw resource crisis in my village, I learnt that the bounty of mother earth should be used optimally.


10. Don't take things for granted

We often take things for granted. We never realize its importance until it is gone. Don't take relations, love, prosperity for granted. We hardly stop by to say thank-you to our parents for our existence, to people serving us, to the bank balance for buying us luxuries, to the nature for providing us with living environment, to this universe for this beautiful life.

 I saw my beautiful ambience, I learnt that I have to be more grateful to make my life more beautiful.




Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi

JJJ
I am sharing what 'I Saw and I Learnt' at BlogAdda.com in association with DoRight.in.

Sunday

Amber tint of Diu in Ambipur's Fragrance


           “The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
So to read a few more pages of this book, we set out on our weekend trip and this time we targeted reading the unexplored pages of the beautiful island DIU. We soon sketched our road map from Ahmedabad to Diu.

Distance between Ahmedabad and Diu : 354 kms  
Time taken to travel : 6 hours 15 mins


Ahmedabad-Diu road map

As said "A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles". So we, a muckle of twenty friends, geared up to measure this distance to dabble in the colourful hue of Diu.

 

Since we all could not get accommodated in a car, so we decided to hire a bus. Yeah! a Volvo bus to fix all the twenty monsters under one roof. To sweeten the trip, we also took an    Ambi Pur air freshener so that the driver always feels fresh and we can breathe in pleasance.

We started on Saturday morning at around 8 a.m. much later than the scheduled time of      6 a.m. How can the nocturnal beasts like us get up early on weekends. Anyhow after umpteen calls to each other, finally the gang occupied the bus. 'Asli majaa SAB ke sath aata hai' . All were in the party mood to set the bus floor on fire. 
   


Capturing every tangy and spicy moment is a must-do for every trip so that the trip remains vivid and fresh forever whenever you flip back. I was all set with my camera to flash and wink at everyone.




The monsters had gone crazy in Ambi Pur's fragrance. Everyone wanted to be clicked as if Anurag Kashyap was looking for the next Barfi. Some were sitting still because they still couldn't overcome the past night's lullaby. Some were poking the still idols to get them into motion. Some were looking for their Jhilmil. Some were flaunting their new branded glares. Some were flaunting their new attires. In short everyone was occupied with the silliest of the tasks the world has ever seen. The old melodies in the air added to the mood and all the crazy fellows sunk in the madness. 

The flock  babbled...
Zindagi ek safar hai suhana
Yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana
Boys pitched these at the loudest.... 
Yeh dil na hota bechara, kadam na hote aawara
Jo khubsurat koyee apana humsafar hota


gaadi vaale gaadi dhire haank re
 jiyaa udaa jaaye lade aankh re hoy

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
 I'm standin' here outside your door
All were pointing towards the only jumbo in our group.... 
Chal chal chal mere haathi, O mere saathi
chal le chal khatara kheench ke

This time the girls were in action...
Yeh ladka hai allah kaisa hai divana
Kitna mushkil hai tauba isko samjhana

Again awakening the only desire of boys...
Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu
Aayi rut mastaani kab aayegi tu

The gang hummed ...
Zindagi ke safar mein guzar jate hain jo makam,
woh phir nahin aate

The guys were on their knees... 
Hume Tumse Pyaar Kitna Yeh Hum Nahin Jaante
Magar Jee Nahin Sakte Tumhaare Bina

The guys and girls were in the field...
Ladki kyon na jane kyon Ladkon si nahin hoti
Sochti hai zyada, kam wo samajhti hai

The song jazzed up the sphere...
Hum jo chalane lage, chalane lage hain yeh raaste
aa ha ha ha manjil se behtar lagane lage hai yeh raaste

It was really romancing with the wheels. The wind in the hair, the trees passing by silently, the people gurgling with laughter, the changing colour of hills, the music falling into ears, and the eyes tracing the long unwinding beautiful country roads made me fall in love with the journey.                   

How fast did the time fluttered no one noticed until the driver honked loud saying, "We have reached Diu". On reaching there, few of us went to book hotel for such a huge crowd. Rest of us stayed back looking for something to feed the rats in the stomach. Luckily we got rooms in a nearby hotel at affordable price. All were asked to take some rest and gather in the evening. After such lively hours, each one of us fell dormant for a few hours. In the evening at around 5p.m. we steered the bus towards Diu fort. It took around 20 minutes to reach there.

Diu Fort is located on the coastal side of the of Diu Island near by the Arabian Sea. The fort offers a kaleidoscopic view of Diu town, which is located very close to it, and its adjacent areas. It is noteworthy that this fort of Diu lies in the strategic complex that comprises of Passo Seco Fort, Nagoa Fort, Gogola and Barra. The fort was built by the Portuguese during their colonial rule of the Diu island. The fort was built in 1535 subsequent to a defense alliance forged by Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat and the Portuguese when Humayun, the Mughal Emperor waged war to annex this territory. The Diu fort and the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa were chosen as the two wonders from India, among the seven from across the world, out of a list of 27 monuments built in 16 countries during the Portuguese rule.



We explored every corner of the fort for the next four hours. We decently completed the photo-session ceremony with every historical mark. Digging into every crook of the fort, we went back to the hotel. In the night, we again searched for some restaurant to feed twenty hungry storks. It was a very nice experience to sit together on the dinning table, deciding the menu for half an hour and after much discussion ordering some plain food. It was really fun to be together.

Next day, it was decided to leave by 9 a.m. so that no one has to compromise with their sleeps. But still the lazy lizards made it half an hour late. So on Sunday morning we left for Nagoa beach. It took 20 minutes to reach there.

Nagoa beach in Diu is horse shoe shaped bordered by palm hoka trees. It has clam water ideal for swimming, sailing, boating, and water skiing. Nagoa beach is well known for 'hoka' and 'rukhada' trees which are originally African and brought to India by Arabian traders. We all dunked into the waters and had lots of fun.We even lazed in the sea beach enjoying the balmy breeze and the sight of swaying palm trees.


After gulping enough of the salty water, we moved towards the sunset point. Sunset Point is a small beach in Diu, which is famous for watching the sun set. There we saw a serene sunset, waves attacking the coast, and heard the soothing gurgle of Arabian sea. It is the one of the amazing place on island.

 

The setting sun ,the serene waves and the calm breeze gave the most solacing experience we ever have had. I felt like sitting there forever in nature's lap. It seemed as if every wave babbled something into my ears, the cold wind gently kissed me each time it breezed past me and the setting sun gave the message of hope, after every sunset the sun rises to spread the amber hue.


After spending almost two tranquil hours beside the Arabian sea, we boarded the bus back for Ahmedabad. The calmness of the breeze was hovering everyone's mind but soon all got up from their seats to groove to the music. We had already taken a good number of rocking tracks with us. So, on the way back, the peppy people leaped and bounced to some shaky-wavy tracks.
 Pehli baat to yeh, Jo tu tik-tok tik-tok chalti hai
Maana ye saari teri high heels ki galti hai
 
Chikni chameli chhup ke akeli

 pawwa  chadha ke aayi 

 Ooh la la…Ooh la la…
Tu hai meri fantasy..

Mundeyan nu chardi thaari thaari thaari ohdi heat te
Marjani paundi bhangra Angrezi beat te

Hua chhokra jawaan re
Hua chokra jawaan re,Hey hey
Subah hone na de, saath khone na de
Ek doosre ko hum sone na de
Tu mera hero ...
 Battiyan bujha lo jee, Jinde kunde la lo ji
What I say just follow ji, This party getting hot
Char baj gaye lekin party abhi baaki hai



We all wished that this 'Perfect Road Trip' never ends. Still having the hangover of this beautiful journey and finding it difficult to concentrate on what the person standing on the podium trying to explain. I'm just humming.
Chalte Chalte Mere Yeh Geet Yaad Rakhna
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna
...




Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi
JJJ



This post is written for the contest 'The Perfect Road Trip' organised by AmbiPur India in association with indiblogger.in.

Saturday

Breathing Love

 
 
Since past 16 years he eagerly awaited each day for the first sunshine to see the blooming beauty. Today Miss Sweet sixteen was looking angelic in the pink. Her gentle touch on his tough torso sent a cold shiver down his spine. He shook himself and a flower landed in her hand whispering "I Love you".


Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi
JJJ
 
 
 This post is written for the 55 Fictionist Contest, hosted by IndiBlosp

Wednesday

Book Review - My Stroke of Luck

                                                    
About the Book
 
Title: My Stroke  of Luck
Author: Vijay Santhanam
Publisher: Hay House
ISBN:  978-93-81431-95-5
No. of Pages: 231
Price: 299 INR
Genre: Inspirational
  
About the Author
 
Vijay Santhanam was born in Madras (now Chennai), India. He is graduated from the University of Roorkee – now Indian Institute of technology(IIT), Roorkee – in 1986 and the IIM – Ahmedabad in 1988. His 21 years of corporate career included senior marketing roles with Procter and Gamble and BP. Having Planned for, and happily taken, early retirement from corporate life, Vijay is now able to pursue his passions more fully – writing, teaching, following sports and other interest. His published books include (co-authored with Shyam Balasubramanian). If Cricket is a Religion, Sachin is God in 2009 and The Business of Cricket: The story of Sports Marketing in India in 2011. Vijay is also a visiting professor at IIM-A and IIM-Lucknow. He is currently based in Singapore.
 
The Cover Speaks
 
The light lemon yellow colour with a tinge of red gives the book a pleasant look. The flowers embedded inside the human brain circuitry symbolises the ray of hope and determination Vijay had after he suffered from the stroke.
 
Synopsis
 
When Vijay Santhanam was afflicted with a stroke at the age of 41, he was paralysed on the right side of his body. He couldn’t move without help and he couldn’t speak at all. But he soon realised that his powers of reasoning/thought were not lost to him. And he garnered his spirit and willpower within him to work at regaining his health and faculties; a stroke wasn’t going to get him down.
Vijay goes on to get back to work, to write two books on one of the biggest passions of his life – cricket, a sport that was one of his greatest inspirations while in hospital and on the road to recovery, and to teach at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Lucknow.
This is the inspiring story of a man who didn’t waste time bemoaning his fate; his immediate agenda was to understand what could make him healthy again and to start with, to return to the life he’d known before as a regional head of marketing in a multinational company in Singapore. My Stroke of Luck: Alphabet to Author is Vijay’s journey through long, sometimes painful, and often frustrating, months of therapy, relearning the alphabet and learning new strengths: emotional, mental and physical.
Vijay’s attempt is not to describe the human brain and how it works in a scientific manner but to celebrate a man’s inspiring journey. He believes when a human being is confronted by a big crisis, often she/he summons all her/his spirit and willpower to fight back and win. His story is testimony and an eloquent example of it.


Book Review
 
The tagline of the book clearly and rightly states it's one man’s inspiring tale about his journey from adversity to victory and undoubtedly instills a path to motivate others to cope and win against any adversity that our life throws at us. Though some medical terms are being used by the author to describe the stroke and body conditions but at the end he succeeds in making the reader understand how he fought against the stroke with his never-say-die attitude and care of his friends and family.
 
In a Nutshell
 
It's an inspiring story one must read to realize that nothing can stop a man from bouncing back to life not even the deadly disease. Life is all about living each day to the fullest despite of all the adversities being thrown at us.
 
My Rating
 
3/5
 
 

Hioy'oy Hoi Polloi

JJJ
 

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