The Best Thing About 'You' is 'You'; A Review

I have always admired Anupam Kher’s acting skills and his other endeavours but now as a writer, his first book is just like his acting; simple, precise and impressive. All, at the same time. The book, bracketed into 50 chapters is a collection of events in the actor’s life. The idea behind the book is to inculcate positive thinking in daily life and in a way it prepares you for the journey called ‘life’. It outlines the solutions for some of the problems which we face in our day to day life. It is replete with author’s insights on varied topics from success to failure to discontentment.

The first few chapters help the reader to get to the bottom of the problem. The chapters such as ‘We are all unhappy’, ‘The Anger Syndrome’ provide some practical solutions to our problems through examples. The book explains the need for a positive outlook towards life despite the negativity which exists in the world. As the book continues it explains each and every aspect in a very lucid and simple way which a dis-satisfied soul can easily decipher. It talks about some solutions to come out of a shell and become a better human being.

Mr. Kher also presents some examples which help in understanding the problems. He wants people to come out of their inhibitions and use their energies to the maximum. There are some aspects of the book which I loved, like it asks you to be yourself, be honest and fearless, facing your fears, living in present.

Overall, the most impressive part of the book is that it is neither preachy nor impractical. The author insists that solutions to our problems lie deep within ourselves only. We need to look within ourselves. To explain all these points, the author quotes many examples from his experiences or from different books. The advice may be old but the humility with which it is been described makes this book stand out from others.

‘The best thing about you is you’ is a very useful, readable and recommendable book because of the way it’s been written with examples and anecdotes managing to touch the depths of the heart and soul. Mr. Kher has been very humble and polite with his words throughout the course of the book. The book makes reading an enchanting experience and even if it would have gone longer I wouldn’t have complained.      

Dealing with discontentment in life

Discontentment is a disease. It will keep compounding if left untreated. We all are discontent with what we have especially when we compare ourselves with others and realize that we are in no position to match them. This is quite evident in today’s generation more so than at any other time; we have indulged in a kind of a rat race which doesn’t end till we stop breathing. We can crib, moan and lament at how much more others have. Such feelings will take us only to the road to materialistic and sadistic pleasures.

Everyone has a variety of reasons to be discontented. Some may feel they are not doing well enough in life to buy a big car, house wives may feel their house is uglier than others and the list goes on and on. But, what we tend to forget is realizing that we too are special in our own way; everyone has different talent, skill and ability. We can always strive to better ourselves. Okay, I cannot be like a certain famous person but I can always try to improve myself. Sometimes, if we get detached from all these external pressures and let our minds to function smoothly then there is always a likelihood of achieving the desired result. Many of our great leaders have stressed on the view that we have to constantly evolve to survive. And if we are caught up in a web of discontentment and resentment then there is little scope for improvement.

Another way of shrugging off this problem is ‘Positive Benchmarking’. This is gaining popularity in the corporate circles. We can wake up any morning and feel low about the things. Your Car’s AC is not working properly or you are forced to prepare that important presentation late at night. And if you are a homemaker then if your maid is on leave then you tend to feel a bit down. So, yes both of these people have a reason to feel discontented.

But, wait how many of us have cars? How many of us have those well paying jobs? How many of us have maids in our houses? The moment we realize the answers of these questions then a certain level of calmness comes back. We cannot escape the truth and the truth is that we belong to a very privileged class of people and have very less reasons to be discontented. We have benchmarked ourselves against millions of Indians who are without electricity, education, food and clothes leave alone car and a well paid job.

We need to have that positive benchmarking in life to gain utmost satisfaction and if we end up comparing ourselves with the people who have achieved greatly in life then we are bound to feel down, unhappy. The key lies in our efforts to improve ourselves as a person. And, as I have said earlier everyone’s blessed with different abilities so it would be unfair to compare and judge the success of a particular individual with another.

Mahatma Gandhi had once said ‘There is enough for the world’s needs, but not enough for the world’s greed’. I completely agree with this.