Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life

Genre:- Non-fiction: Self-Help book

Overall rating: 3.5*           

                                 

The book ‘IKIGAI’ by Hector Carcia and Fransesc Miralles is an extremely soothing and inspirational book which leaves the readers with a feel-good factor and a deep sense of motivation. This book encompasses various techniques by which our mind and body can be aligned so as to lead a fulfilling and happy life. 

‘Ikigai’ is a Japanese word that means, “the happiness of always being busy”. 

As per the Japanese beliefs, “Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years.”

Ikigai can also be referred to as a ‘purpose’.  Every individual has their own Ikigai which encourages one to get up from bed each morning and pursue their dreams. Some people are clear about their purpose in life but, for those who are still searching, this book gives you tools and methods to identify your Ikigai.

Japan is the country having the most centenarians and with the highest life expectancy in the world, it is only precise that the authors visited Japan to interview hundreds of locals and unraveled this amazing masterpiece. The authors visited the village Ogimi which has earned the name, ‘Village of Longevity’. The elderly even of the age above 80 and 90 are still active and working as opposed to sleeping or resting the entire day. They believe in keeping their bodies mobile right from dawn to dusk. 

As Easy as Getting out of Your Chair- Metabolism slows down 90 percent after 30 minutes of sitting.

Every chapter of the book is specific to a particular habit that the Japanese follow along with a defined logic and theory behind the same. Ikigai gives us 10 golden rules as a summary on the last page of the book:

1. Stay active; don’t retire
2. Take it slow
3. Don’t fill your stomach - The 80 percent rule – stop eating when you are 80% full
4. Surround yourself with good friends
5. Get in shape for your next birthday
6. Smile
7. Reconnect with nature
8. Gratitude
9. Live in the moment
10. Follow your Ikigai

The book is written in very lucid and simple language. Authors have provided translations to Japanese words and hence it is not difficult to grasp and does not break the chain of thought while reading. Time and again the Japanese words with translations give us the first-hand feel of the Japanese traditions and the message they are trying to convey to the world. 

After reading, I felt that some of the traditional Japanese concepts are interesting and a good learning experience. However, I was already aware of the few others; hearing them from my grandparents and parents since childhood. However, the way this book walks us through every principle is a breath of fresh air. It also sends across a strong message that along with physical health, emotional well-being is equally important. 

This book reignites that fire of self-care and motivates us to get back to the basics to find our life’s purpose and keep doing so till we find our Ikigai. 

Health and fitness are the most talked about topics all around us. Suddenly, there is a wave of lifestyle modification that has led to the eruption of several new diets and workout regimes with attractive promises. 

With the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus, it has become glaringly important that everything else can wait, but health cannot. Ikigai is a light read with an educational value to it.

Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people who love you.

Message in a Bottle | Nicholas Sparks

 

Genre: Romance

Overall Rating: 5* 

‘Message in a Bottle' is a heart-wrenching love story set in the 1990s and is painted beautifully by the author Nicholas Sparks. This novel explores different layers of love, romance, passion, loyalty, loneliness, loss and so much more.

The question on the cover page constantly whirled in my mind while reading this book.  

 ‘Do you believe in love?’

Garett Blake has been tossing messages in glass bottles across the ocean for Catherine, a girl he loves to death. Theresa Osborne stumbles upon a corked glass bottle on the beach while vacationing at Cape Cod. In the bottle is the letter having a distinct ship’s logo, wrapped in yarn and containing a message which changes Theresa’s life forever. Theresa could not help but notice the deep emotions and a sense of loss Garett was feeling while writing the letter. She instantly got absorbed in every word Garett had written for Catherine and before she knew tears were rolling down her cheeks damping the letter in her hand. 

The beginning and the ending of the letter were-  

‘July 22, 1997

My Dearest Catherine,

I miss you, my darling, as I always do, but today is especially hard because the ocean has been singing to me, and the song is that of our life together. I can almost feel you beside me as I write this letter…

…I am alone on the pier and I do not care what others think as I bow my head and cry and cry and cry.’ 

 

Theresa, a smart, intelligent woman in her early thirties and divorced due to her husband’s infidelity, is a single parent to her 12-year-old son. She works as a columnist for the Boston Times.

The letter has such a lasting impact that Theresa decides to publish the letter in her column, obviously by masking the names. The response to her column is overwhelming and soon enough she receives a call from one of her readers mentioning the existence of a similar letter having the logo of the ship as an identifier. Theresa asks for the letter to be faxed to her and Yes! The letter is from Garret; however, it is dated 3 years back. 

The beginning and the ending of the letter were-  

‘March 6, 1994

My Darling Catherine,

Where are you? And why, I wonder as I sit alone in a darkened house, have we been forced apart?

…Out of all the people in all the world I could ever have loved- I had to fall in love with someone who was taken away from me.’

 

Theresa gets so intrigued by these letters that her curiosity leads her to finding a third letter already published in a local journal. 

The last few sentences of the letter were- 

‘September 25, 1995

Dear Catherine,

…. You –and you alone – have always been the only thing I wanted, and now that you are gone, I have no desire to find another. Till death do us part, we whispered in the church, and I’ve come to believe that the words will ring true until the day finally comes when I, too, am taken from this world.’

 

Finally, Theresa decides to meet Garett in person, and after a few phone calls and taking cues from the letter, she finds out where she needs to fly to the next morning- Wilmington, North Carolina.

The real story starts when Garett meets Theresa on the dockyard. As the story progresses more details about Garett’s life come into the light like unravelling a mystery. A major in marine biology and grown up on waters as a family business, Garett is now a dive specialist and a diving instructor. He also owns a shop at the beach and a beautiful ship called Happenstance. 

They soon become good friends and unknowingly fall in love with each other. On their first date, Garett takes Theresa for deep-water sailing. They meet several times in the coming months trying to make their long-distance relationship work. But the loss of Catherine and distance from Theresa does not help to overcome Garett’s sadness and loneliness. 

All this while, Catherine does not leave his mind and it is a real test of Garett’s heart to love Theresa when he is still deeply in love with Catherine who is now no more. He is torn between the past and the present not willing to betray Catherine. 

At one of the meetings, Garett finds out about his letters that Theresa owned and is devastated. Theresa had not found the courage to tell him yet, not wanting to lose the love of her life. Feeling betrayed and at a loss for love once again he writes two letters, this time one for each- Catherine and Theresa.

After posting the letter to Theresa, Garret takes his ship in the deep seas in rough stormy weather. He has a message to send to Catherine. Something that needs to be sealed forever. 

Are these Garett’s final letters, who exactly is Catherine, what happened to her and how does this love story finally meet its end is something the readers need to read and experience. 

The emotional journey of this book is so overwhelming that by the end of the book you will find yourself in tears. 

One of the reasons the letters become so special is because it shows Garett’s personality and the fact that he is a loyal and devoted lover and a hopelessly romantic person. Who wouldn’t want to be with someone like him?

This story touched my heart so much that I am still lingering over the it even after years of reading and re-reading this book. This book gave me a fresh perspective and taught me the true definition of Love. 

Seize the moment with your loved one when there’s time because once they are gone you will only be left with memories; while sending messages in the bottle will not bring them back!

 

 

 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Rebecca Skloot

 

Henrietta Lacks (HeLa): Immortal and Mysterious

 A BOOK REVIEW

Genre: Biography

Overall Rating: 4.5* 

“HeLa cells were one of the most important things that happened to medicine in the last hundred years”

 ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’ takes the readers on a roller-coaster journey about an ‘Immortal Woman’ and navigates in an unfathomable past, through the lens of her family and more perceptibly her daughter Deborah. This book is a perfect amalgamation of science and emotions.

Yes! This is the story of Henrietta Lacks (Aug 1920-Oct 1951). We all know her as ‘HeLa’. The code ‘HeLa’ originated from first 2 letters of the name ‘Henrietta Lacks’ and is known for the world’s first immortal human cells. Deborah and the author Rebecca Skloot, take off on an adventurous journey to unravel mysteries of Henrietta’s life and her eldest daughter- Elsie Lacks.

Henrietta was born in Virginia, married a tobacco farmer and by the age of 31, she was a mother of 5. In 1951, Henrietta visited John Hopkins hospital complaining of a knot in her womb. She had a history of blood in urine, gonorrhoea, and increased cellular activity in the cervix. Back then, Hopkins was one of the best hospitals in the country, especially for African-American patients. Howard Jones, the gynaecologist in charge of Henrietta’s case diagnosed her with cervical cancer and the biopsy report revealed a malignant tumour. She began undergoing treatments with Radium which, along with mutating healthy cells also killed cancer cells.

Dr. George Gey, head of tissue culture research at Hopkins discovered that Henrietta’s cells were­­ extraordinary and doubled every 24 hours.

 “Henrietta’s cells weren’t merely surviving; they were growing with mythological intensity. They became the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory.”

 Dr. Gey propagated the HeLa cell line and circulated gallons of HeLa cells to researchers all over the world free of cost. Soon, HeLa cells became famous and the most coveted cells. As HeLa was becoming more valuable day-by-day for the healthcare industry, Henrietta’s family was completely oblivious of these events until more than 20 years after her death.

 As the book progresses, the author deep dives into Henrietta’s life through her daughter Deborah. Deborah struggles from countless questions about her mother and sister Elsie who died at a mental shelter at the young age of 15. Deborah’s inquisitiveness leads her to discover some of the most disturbing truths about her family giving her a nervous breakdown.

Moving to the scientific aspect, the book also encompasses the chronology of several breakthroughs in the field of medical science. Scientists conducted numerous experiments on HeLa cells. Little did they know that these cells were not donated by Henrietta voluntarily, rather a part of the tumour was cut from her cervix during her treatment of cervical carcinoma.   

HeLa cells made the world a better place by contributing in various discoveries and research studies. Some of the noteworthy contributions are world’s first polio vaccine in 1952, cancer research, cloning of individual cells, Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, successfully understanding the HIV using HeLa and ways to potentially stop it, chromosome study to determine that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes. HeLa cells were the first human cells sent to space to study the effect of zero gravity on human cells.

 The story of Henrietta’s life sent shivers down my spine and there were always mixed feelings while reading this book. My heart sank reading the struggles of Henrietta and her family but I was thankful as well for her contribution to the medical science. It is heart-breaking that no one knew or tried to learn about Henrietta’s life and her family, until recently.

The woman who changed the face of science and created history is still addressed by her lab code - HeLa and not as an individual. Every biology class in the world is incomplete without teaching about HeLa cells. Yet, she is still unfamiliar and a mystery to many. 

The author has successfully managed to make a positive impact on the society. It has captured the attention of the audience from all the fields.  This book is a tribute to a wonderful woman, her family, and their sacrifices that were long overdue. The world will remember Henrietta Lacks as a remarkable woman who not only brought smiles and happiness in the lives of the people when she was alive but also continues to do so years after her death.