Every book for that matter offers others perspective about either fictional, or on worldly matters. Readers may agree or disagree with the content, opinion or even factual matrix presented by the author. Every reviewer over a period of time must have felt that it is difficult to reveiw few books because you become a participant in the writers journey and lose objectivity. Objectivity infact is not necessarily to be imposed on each and every aspect. Few reads are catharactic, few are enlightening and few are to be lived.
One such book which I completed recently is "Blaze : A Son's Trial by Fire" written by Nidhi Poddar and Sushil Poddar. The book publised in 2021 by Rupa Books and is available in English, Hindi and Marathi edition. It is worth mentioning that I've known the authors forehand before I've read the book so the book came as a shocker on knowing what they have gone through.
Its intriguing how people hide the emotions, the tumult they undergo and yet appear so calm before the world. It's not a inbuilt quality in humans but something which a person deliberately chooses, though not an easy task to hide his/her pain and engage with societal chores.
The books revolves around the prodigous boy Divyansh who crossed path with life threatening diseases not once or twice but multiple times. His battle or I should say "war" lasted for a decade until his Moksh. But what about his parents? How will their tryst with the battle conclude? Long back I've read Arun Shourie's "Does he know a mother's heart" about his family's struggle growing up with a special child. Infact I could not complete the book at that time. Recently, I've recently read "When Breath becomes Air" by Paul Kalanithi which is author's own account of his mortal battle. It was my second attempt on this book and somehow could travel to the last page. But the uniqueness of current read is its way of composition where authors have interweaved Divyansh's thought process, his creativity and vision in form of poems on relevant places.
The book is divided in 3 parts where in the first part mother's heart speaks, the second one is father's thoughts and third is poems of Divyansh. Though the poems have been reproduced in between the foregoing parts of the chapters, in last part they are in completeness.
The struggle of the family, grit and liveliness of the main character, his creativity forms the core of this book. Its not an easy read as authors have lived the book and reading certain parts takes your heart out. Can God be so cruel? Why is destiny like this? Can we alter the God's path? Readers may break down if they have lost someone close to their heart. The family's ordeal from Mumbai to Israel to USA especially in these difficult scenarios is a rare one. His words in Catharsis
"I will have unconditional implicit faith,
In your grand design,
and never blame you, or fate,
for misfortune that may become mine...
I will be miling and singing all along,
and catching the horns of what comes my way,
with an unrelencting, aggresive battle cry."
Couple of lines from "Halfway down the path not Untaken"
"Unfanthomable are the ways of God
He is a whimsical artist
who sways his brush as he wishes.
I was about to plant my feet,
On the lush, green track,
But I guess He has other plans for me,
For he chose to change my track."
The concluding lines of Blaze sum up the person Divyansh was:
"Nerves of Steel
a rock-strong resilience,
burning determination,
radiant visage,
Are all the various traits,
carefully tested by this master,
who can burn those who give up,
and strengthen those who don't.
Look into the fire, my friends,
Look at its profoundness,
and rekindle the fire in you,
to make the spirit strong,
Stronger than ever before."
It is a unique book where poetics in midst of a true story is blended providing it a lived experience. If we see the book has 3 composers namely Mrs and Mr Poddar and Divyansh.
Bachchan Ji has so craftfully written the foreward along with preface by Khalid Mohamed in which he shares his profound thoughts on the book and his personal connect. Do read.
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