New Delhi: The evolution and definition of an individual is ever evolving. Any individual who enters the world with his education system-driven skill sets is often faced with sovereign isolation. If he fails, he is left wondering what went wrong, though he did everything according to the rule book. What he may realise is that there is no measurement book when it comes to life. The market may take us in for our qualifications but judge us on our capabilities to mould ourselves according to the requirements of a concrete and direct situation. The concrete situation can be whether to claim glory, trumping an opportunity of his immediate boss, or to dedicate it to his boss’ surreal and made-up support, which even the mortal boss yearns for with all his might. This is quite a dilemma. To choose a career-boosting opportunity to claim self-glory or to step aside and continue the hard work in silence like a duck paddling in the water beneath the surface. This choice may break or make the career of the young professional.
Naveen Krishna Rai, in his book Life Management, adorns his affirmations with historical anecdotes suggestive of practical applications. The bookshelves are replete with self-help books. The question is, what sets this book apart? Primarily, the vernacular depiction and description of real-life situations with actionable insights are explained with the help of short stories. Secondly, there are not many authors from the Hindi heartland that have risen to prominence with sheer toil and grit. The author’s life experiences directly touch the muddled and fraught conscience of a fresh graduate seeking a place to stand in the saturated workspace of Indian markets.
Almost every professional in his twenties craves instant success, hoping that he possesses the requisite charisma in abundance to help him gain strategic alliances. Rai’s book sets the stage for its reader to cultivate that capacity, an artful balance between effort and surrender, between planning and spontaneity. Success in our times is a heady cocktail of being attractive. Attraction does not merely depend on the guises that modern individuals wear on their sleeves. Attention is sought through a milieu of many traits like being a problem solver, quick-witted, and hardworking but not seeking glory for self (at least that’s what peers should feel). Thus, success, to an extent, is a mix of both the real work and propagation of that effort and the glory of great results. The successful man is also a man who can be compelling. Life Management resoundingly succeeds in providing ways to inculcate such capabilities in its individual reader.
Modern non-fiction works always strive to balance disciplines like psychology, management, and philosophy. How many authors have succeeded in it? The answer is at least those who have been successful in convincing their readers that this book is going to change their lives forever. There is no qualitative tool that can measure the said assertion. However, the reader of the book relies a lot on its articulation, captivation, and disarming capacity. Rai’s book succeeds on all these counts. It can potentially secure a full read from those who even parse through its contents.
Philosophically speaking, a person is only capable of lying to oneself. Where is a shelter home from the series of lies an individual may tell himself? The problem is that the majority of us do not realize this shortcoming because we are too timid to face the truth that we lie to ourselves. Rai’s book succeeds in bringing this foreboding thought out of its reader. When an individual is helped to muster that courage, he feels unshackled and starts looking at his life choices with much vigour. The book requires a slow reading from an amoral point of view. The unlocking of success formulae will depend not merely on a flash reading of Life Management but on imbibing its stated skill sets through re-reading. The book is encouraging for its readers as it emphasises that the journey of managing one’s own life is deeply personal, and there will be days of both triumph and challenge.
Written by: Ranjan Kumar, Assistant Professor in Legal Theory at National Law Institute University, Bhopal.
