Book Review - Many lives, Many Masters by Dr Brian L Weiss

I like to think of myself as a reader, who loves to curl up with a nice book and a cup of tea, eager to be led on by the book and happily resigning worldly cares for the next several hours.  However, ever since the birth of my daughter I have not had that luxury, what with being busy taking care of a very active baby and too tired to focus on the book when I get a little respite from all the chores.  With this book I went back to such an engrossed reading, completing the 16 chapters in about 30 hours, a personal feat of sorts.

I am a great believer of coincidences.  I had heard about this book a couple of years earlier and even though I had the time to read, I did not bother to get the book and start reading.  And then this week I happened to come across this book and immediately was intrigued, and till the last page was turned I was able to sustain my curiosity, primarily because of the subject matter.

It deals with reincarnations, communication in the spiritual plane etc.  This book is written by an eminent psychiatrist Dr. Weiss, who, in the course of therapy with a young patient makes some mind-blowing revelations, forcing him to question and change his well-accepted scientific views on understanding Life.  

Even though it may not be generally known, the concept of this book, i.e. reincarnation didn’t take me by surprise.  Because of my Hindu background (which believes in reincarnations of the soul, till it is finally released from such a birth and death circle and attains Moksha or "Release".  The release has to happen because the soul learns the lessons it has to learn, and if in one lifetime it is unable to do so, it takes another and then another till it finally has fulfilled its mission), I didn’t fall down from the chair in shock, the earth beneath me did not shatter when the author talked about messages being conveyed from in between births.  

To me the take home message was this: we are all busy with life, getting educated in early life, earning our living, stabilizing in our career; we get caught up in mundane existence and in the process we fail to understand our purpose for life, but all along getting rigid about our opinions and outlook: what were we put here for?  The sooner we understand and implement our learned lessons, the better it is, on a spiritual level; that would give us lasting peace.  And how do we achieve this harmony?  Only by introspection and meditation etc.

For me, on a personal level this book is momentous because I feel coming across this book now and reading it means that the time is just right for me to introspect and understand the purpose of my life, instead of shoving it under the carpet yet another time.

How to Cut your Grocery bill in half by Steve and Annette Economides - book review

     When I saw the title of the book ' Cut your grocery bill in half'  I was intrigued, since I am a  avid couponing enthusiast and generally love to save some green stuff!  I thought this was going to be another book teaching its readers the nitty gritty of couponing - where to find great coupons, how to look for sales in stores etc etc

     The first point these folks (authors Steve and Annette Economides) drive home is the once a month grocery trip.  Okay something that I had not heard of.  I have heard coupon savvy folks like to go once a week to all stores in the vicinity which offer nice sales.  ( Some of them even do not mind hitting stores early in the morning when sales have just begun)  And on this once a month trip you tally the store sales with your menu plan for that month.  That's another sensible thing - planning out your menu for a month or even a week would be a good start for beginners like me  - that way your are in control of what you eat and there is some drastic drop in unplanned restaurant visits or take outs late in the week. 

    In this book couponing is just a chapter among ten other vital topics on how you can cut your grocery bill in half.  The authors have given ample pointers on all aspects of food consumption - planning menus, how to buy meat, produce, cooking once a month or even a week to save time, gardening, how to store all the stuff that you have bought with care - because throwing out stuff just because it was not stored in optimum conditions just defeats the purpose, right? 

    Well, here I have just mentioned a glimpse of what the authors have talked about in their book - they have covered all related topics right from how you can bring around picky eaters (adults or children), what are essential tools in the kitchen, the list just goes on.  Its almost like an encyclopedia of all things food related!  This book to me seemed like the westernized version of the popular book 'Cook and See'  by Meenakshi Ammal which almost all brides in Tamil Nadu (India) are gifted with during their wedding.  Not only does it have recipes starting from the simplest to the most complicated (you could even cook for a wedding based on the pointers in that book) and everything in between. This book by Meenakshi Ammal has been looked upon like an elder's presence and benign advice, especially for brides who have to go far away from home to start their family life.  This book by the Economides could certainly draw that parallel for people who are new to this country and/or do not have many friends to share information with. 

    The gardening chapter came as quite a surprising addition to this book.

    The narration is very enthusiastic and inspires the readers to take some positive steps towards managing your food budget as well as being in control of what you eat.  And another thing I like about this book is in almost all aspects of planning and execution the entire family could be involved - even the kids.  If only one family member were to take up the burden of planning out, go grocery shopping, or cook for one month at a time, it could get tiresome, but if the entire family is involved - even kids doing their age appropriate tasks like clipping coupons, helping with cleaning up and storage of food, and ultimately the family having dinner together most times of the week would certainly increase familial bonds; that itself is no mean feat in this fast paced world.