A review by faysieh
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

3.0

An unusual book which is part fiction and part self-help guide although I am sure the author does not see his creation as such. The reason I say self-help guide is because this book explores what happens when our core beliefs - in Professor Chandra's case - being clever, having a good education, achieving, pushing oneself and being defined by professional status - are challenged and rocked to the very heart of oneself through a series of incidents. These incidents and Chandra's journey of self-discovery do challenge the reader to think of their own core beliefs, what is important to them and what happens in life when the things we hold dear begin to fall apart. Emotionally intelligent with some humour, I did however find this book somewhat disappointing. I liked Professor Chandra and felt empathy towards the way in which he was trying to re-evaluate what was important to him but I didn't like Steve, the new partner of Chandra's ex wife, nor Sunny. I experienced a bit of emotional investment in characters Radha and the other daughter (now can't remember her name!) but otherwise this was a book that one can easily forget. The synopsis talks about 'a trip of a lifetime' but for me that is overstated. It is a gentle read that isn't going to wow anyone.