The Story of a Suicide- Book Review

                                                                                    Source: http://www.storyofasuicide.com/

Book                 : The Story of a Suicide

Author              : Sriram Ayer

Illustrations     : Ghana

              The novel is a story of four students -- Hari, Mani, Sam and Charu. It is tense to begin a book with the title “The Story of a Suicide” but the story magically takes you into the freshness of love and student life. The story is fresh, vibrant, eccentric and contemporary .

The novel has characters that are symbolic of today’s youth. The situations, the reactions, the issues are all contemporary and hence lets you connect immediately with the story. The story has a blend of love, revenge and friendship. It  also throws light on sexual orientation issues and its unacceptability in society.  The Twitter trolls and Facebook walls are no less significant than the protagonists of the novel. And that makes this book a complete package to read and instantly connect with the youth of the day.

The characters of the story have their own distinct identities. Sam or Sambamurthy is techno geek and can do the most impossible things with technology and gadgets.

Charu, Sam’s lady love is a strong, liberal, opinionated and assertive girl. She has strong objections to male dominated world and the resultant male Chauvinism. She is bold and audacious but a true friend who would go to any lengths to help her buddies.

Mani is Charu's best friend. He has spent days of destitute and poverty. His mother is the only ray of hope in his life. Mani being  a Tamil medium student is finding it hard to cope with a reputed English medium College.

Hari is Sam’s roommate in the hostel of the college where admission is a matter of royalty and pride. Both of them have no chemistry and very less interaction all through the book. Hari has a haunting past that has traumatic impressions on his mind and body.   He has been a victim of child abuse and had been subjected to prolong sexual molestation and harassment by his own Uncle. His torturous past is a secret that he has revealed only to his dear friend Mani. Hari is a gay and Mani is his homosexual partner. They love and understand each other’s pain.

The story has three major facades -- Sam and Charu’s love story that lands before its take-off,  Hari and Mani’s physical and emotional relationship and the third facade is the friendship between Charu , Mani and Hari. The story revolves around the emotional dynamics of these three facades that bind the imagination and interest of its readers. The book is sure to keep you glued till the flip of last the page. 

Striking Features of the book

The novel is like a handbook that systematically answers modern day issues. At the end of each chapter  one can find relevant questions that are of immense use and applicability. The book has smart answers with Do's and Don'ts for some of the most complex issues and problems. Hence, the novel is a worth read for both young readers as well as for middle aged people who need parenting tips and solutions. 

The audio links of each chapter is a complete bonus for the readers. So one has the comfort of enjoying the book without straining eyes for too long.

The illustrations are a major attraction of the book. I just fell in love with the art work. The illustrations are so wonderful and smart that it captures the complete mood of the chapter. I spent a good amount of time admiring the beauty of illustrations.

The story also explains how the lives of youngsters are ruled by their online activities and presence. The virtual world can actually destroy the real tangible world if not handled responsibly. The online snooping and how one's private life can be torn apart and served publicly by using softwares/hacking tools that are readily available. The book silently press upon the importance of cyber security and the subsequent vulnerabilities to ones personal life at large.

The parts of the story I related to the most

I loved the tweets that Sam used to tweet for no reasons. We all have been through that phase of life where sharing every bit of shit and high was a passion. I related it to the most.

Also the emotional relationship between Hari and his father was very relatable to me. The obnoxious dreams, the gut feeling that something bad is going to happen with his son was quite relatable and true.

I loved the chapters  Caesar meets Draupadi and the Facebook post of Charu. Both the post are thought provoking, bitterly true and bold.

Find time to read the complete novel @ http://www.storyofasuicide.com/ 

My philosophy and Tips to deal with Life:

The biggest problem with us is that we take ourselves way too seriously. Life is enjoyable if we can give up comparing ourselves with other. It is a gift that needs to be cherished everyday and every moment but we seldom think that way and live life like a struggle. 

We all have our own rough patches or phases of life. But how we deal with it makes the difference.  I have learned  that change is the only constant. It clearly implies that the hard time will surely change for good with passing time. Sometimes we don't need to react or troubleshoot the issue but remain patient and let the time do the needful. Many serious problems that took the juice out of my life were simply neutralized with passing time and without my interference. We need to take our time, our own sweet time. 

Suicide is an impulsive reaction to a situation. A stable mind can never dare to kill or bear the torture of self killing. Biologically we are designed to protect ourselves at any cost; We are wired to be Selfish. However, this fabric of sobriety is destroyed when one does not take time to deal with negative impulses. Whenever we feel depressed and self destructive we should give time to ourselves at once. Time acts like a shock absorber  and every situation falls feeble in the face of time. Time has a healing of its own. Also one needs to keep in mind that there are things that one cannot change. We have very less control on the world around us and blaming ourselves for everything under the sky will not help us in anyway.  

It is much better to accept failures and win a few. Life is about spending time on earth and not about winning the virtual territories of illusions.  

Have a blissful life !!!!!!