"Stories of Work, Life & Balance in Between" by Tomson Robert

Time again, for a commissioned review! This time, it is a simple, easy read of a book named as above, holding between its two covers a host of continuing short stories.

Now...

What if you had an invisible recording chip that you could make an incision into your brain and fix in? What thoughts would t record, say, if you were in between six months and twelve months in your first job. Yes, it has to be those many months, precisely. Because for the first six months you’re either on honeymoon travelling down the various verticals of your organization with an air that suits a princess who has just arrived, a thick garland in her arms, sizing up the candidates her father has lined up for her Swayamvara. And of it is past twelve months, you’re officially a veteran as, one, it’s time for a fresh batch of new joiners already and two, because you now know the game to be able to try your hand at it yourself. So, yes, it is that six to twelve months of mind reading that we are talking about here, things that no one else hears than you yourself. The stories take you right back there, in those times.

The stories are self deprecating and funny to begin with, though not without the clear undertone of satire, a satire that makes us lose our way all the time between the means and the end, between the journey and the purpose. And then, towards the end of story 3, it brings about melancholy. The young chap asks for advice, and the older successful climber offers one that is barely honest considering his own trade-off between life and time. The younger strides off in silent disbelief while the older smiles over his personal destiny of success and breakage, of work and home. And thus rolls on the carriage of stories, innocent yet powerful, juvenile yet so real!

Stories of Whatsapp “good mornings” and our gadget gripped days follow. Stories of Boss-saga continues, and questions arise as to if the vicious cycle must continue or is it now about time it is reversed.

The stories are ample, and they lightly touch upon wisdoms that are deeper set in the universe of mankind… if you do not do what you love, you still have the choice to love what you do, for example; if emotions were bought at supermarkets, for yet another example, and so on…

However if I were to now bring upon how this could become a batter read, I’m afraid I’d come up with points too many. I felt that while the author aimed to touch higher thoughts through apprantly superfluous stories, the attempt in most or perhaps almost all cases have been detained back to their superfluous levels, unevenly standing out against their more altruistic ambition of delivering a life’s lesson, a moral, a message. I believe that the stories need much more deep dive capabilities to be able to achieve the message that they contemplate. Also to add to it, the autobiographical tone which includes repetitive characters and stories brings forth a kind of monotony and victim playing, which is far from the real complexities of the game. The dilemmas and disputes risk both over-simplication and under-treatment of the issues in hand. And it is monochrome in that it does not provide multiple perspectives that is necessary to do justice to anything we experience.

However, having said that, it is also to be credited that the book is overall an easy read and it is hearty and honest. It warrants known snippets from lives from all around us. It warrants a few mental mirror-facing moments, too.

And to end with, I loved the marble touch from Santa in the last story.

All in all, I rate this book a 5.5 on a scale of 10, and look forward to reading more from the writer.

And yes, the review will not be honest until it carries a note of confession at its tail-end, that while doing it, I did move over to check up my social pages while surely I had nothing urgent lying there waiting for me than a pure, plain, incorrigible addiction.