During a casual visit to Sapna Book Store a few months back, I stumbled upon this book. When I looked through the Contents, the chapter "Seven-year cycles of life" caught my attention. As I read through a few pages, it resonated with me deeply, and so were a few other topics. But the tiny font size was a blocker. I added the title to my Amazon Wishlist, merely for reference.
I spotted a second-hand pristine copy of this title for Rs.180 during a recent trip to Blossoms. I decided to buy it, overlooking the tiny font size. What are reading glasses for? :-)
According to the author, Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself. He focuses on the topic of Maturity and the aspects that contribute to this growth. He repeatedly states that it is not the same as growing old, and he substantiates it by beautifully bringing up the differences between growing old and growing up in the first chapter.
Every seven years, a new age begins, and a new step is taken. This idea is similar to the popular song from Thalaivar's Baasha. The purpose of each stage, the changes associated with it, and how one deals with the challenges are well explained.
What blew my mind was this line:
"And near the age of forty-two, religion starts becoming important for the first time".
This has been my personal experience in the last 1-2 years and I was nodding in agreement.
He then takes the topic of Maturity from the perspective of relationships and emphasizes why Interdependence (not Independence) is the need of the hour from the point of view of love and marriage. This is exactly what I was ruminating about while watching "Laapataa Ladies" a couple of weeks back. Though I loved the whole movie, I don't quite agree with the dialogue by Manju Mai when she tells Phool that women don't need men.
An individual progresses horizontally from childhood, youngster, and old age towards death. But there is also a vertical progress where one's consciousness expands.
There are some interesting insights about menopause and how it is not just for women. The topic of Saying No vs Saying Yes is just brilliant. Saying No feels like freedom and intelligence. The author says, "The freedom that is brought by no is a very childish freedom".
There are quite a few provocative lines though, which I decided to bypass and instead, focus on the many eye-opening insights the book is filled with.
Highly recommend this book if you are looking for new perspectives on growth and maturity.
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