I am back with another post & it’s
about a novel that I read recently. Reading gives me strength, courage
and nurtures my soul. But the sad part is I don’t implement the good things I
read. Anyways the novel is “34
Bubblegums and Candies” by Preeti Shenoy, it’s a national bestseller. I don’t
know Preeti personally but I like her as an artist & then as a novelist. I
have read her another novel “Life Is What You Make It” a year ago and that time
the novel helped me in some way because I was going through a low phase.
34 Bubblegums and Candies is a
collection of 34 real life incidents, some are humorous, some are moving, some
thought provoking but each one brings out the essence & flavour of a
journey called Life.
The writer starts with a positive note
saying ‘No matter how bad a day you had & no matter how hopeless the
situation that you are in , things always change. Always. It’s just a matter of
time’. Each morning when you open your eyes you are gifted 86,400 seconds to
make a difference. And that itself is worth celebrating!
You may not like all the 34 short
stories / incidents but somewhere you’ll surely feel connected. So I am sharing some beautiful lines from the novel.
- If there is an underlying bond of deep love,
no matter how terrible the misunderstanding, the relationship
survives.
- It is best to be like the duck that goes with
the flow. To float along the river effortlessly, enjoying the gentle flow
of the water and to treat barbs and insults thrown at you like the water
that falls on a duck’s back.
- There are so many positive & uplifting
things in life. There is so much beauty, so much joy. Life is so short and
so fleeting. Its entirely up to us enjoy each moment.
- May you have enough happiness to make you
sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human
and enough hope to make you happy.
- The brightest future will always be based on a
forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of
your failures and heartaches.
- Oh God, grant me the courage to accept things I cannot change, to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Chapter 16: 'Stay or Stray', describes an amazing story about a couple who are about get divorced but they don’t when they realize each other's value.
Chapter 22: 'When Life tricks you', also
shares a very motivating story that gives a lesson ~ When the hour is the darkest and
trials are the greatest elevate yourself to another level.
Though its said that
it is difficult to understand Women but I liked the way the writer has written in Chapter 27: What women want. Chapter 34: Live Love Laugh, has a list that
everybody can follow.
The list is :
1) Laugh heartily
2) Have Sex Often
3) Spend time with children
4) Stay away from the grouches and the
drains
5) If you love someone say it
6) Be content with your body
7) Enjoy the small things
And I loved the end note ‘How this book came
to be’. Its so true ~ Laugh & others laugh with you; Cry & you cry
alone. So live without regrets, the gift of Life is worth cherishing.
