Having liked the idea of following one's dream in Alchemist, I choose to read another book of the same author, Paul Coelho. Zahir! It's about love, but it isn't a love story. It is about a famous writer's search of his wife Ester who goes missing. The writer's name is untold, it seems to me as Coelho's memoir of his love life with some fiction added . Zahir -the word in the novel means something or someone who fills every piece of your mind to an extent you are not able to think of anything else, sort of ruins your peace of mind. The writer is not able to lead a peaceful life as his missing wife Ester becomes the Zahir of his life. He is obsessed with her thoughts, he would take any step to find where she is. Just to know why did she leave him. Ester is a daring journalist who likes exploring places, people. She wants her husband to become what he is capable of. She underpins her husband in becoming a writer which until then was just a dream for him. Since they were sharing a fine rapport, the writer is confused and unhappy of why did Ester had to leave him without explaining a word. The people he then meets, Mikhail friend of Ester, Maria, the tribe everyone and everything around had something to tell him about the energy of love which till then he hadn't given a thought. He looks back to find out what actually went wrong in their relationship. He hadn't liked the idea of Ester becoming a war correspondent, he paid no heed to the stories that she had to say about people in war zones, their lives. When he asks her to quit the job of a war correspondent , Ester says...(I loved these lines) " I can’t. It’s like a drug. As long as I’m in a war zone, my life has meaning. I go for days without having a bath, I eat whatever the soldiers eat, I sleep three hours a night and wake up to the sound of gunfire. I know that at any moment someone could lob a grenade into the place where we’re sitting, and that makes me live, do you see? Really live, I mean, loving every minute, every second. There’s no room for sadness, doubts, nothing;there’s just a great love for life. They are capable of limitless love, because they no longer have anything to lose. A fatally wounded soldier never asks the medical team: ‘Please save me!’ His last words are usually: ‘Tell my wife and my son that I love them.’ At the last moment, they speak of love!”...but he isn't convinced, and Ester didn't want to explain anything more. She wanted him to understand her passion without words. Having understood what has made his love life abyss, the writer goes all the way from Paris to Kazhakstan to meet his wife. It is the journey which is most of the story. As he moves around he discovers new things, Esther was no longer the Zahir. Ester was just the destination, it's the learnings that he makes in the journey towards Ester which are significant. Ya it's the travel that matters not the terminus.The author has included so many terms and supernatural things from other books which at the end he has mentioned in the credits. To me the book didn't have much meaning, it was like the book had so much to say but very little to understand. Esp that to enjoy life thoroughly, you have to forget your personal history. I couldn't relate to that, the mistakes you make in the past are lessons that will help you in the future. N yaa some supernatural stories which didn't interest me much. But yes there were some fine lines about love, life, friendship, dream in the book which were worth noting down. A list of those I liked, or those I could relate to:
-> The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.
->Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan.They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories,things, other people’s ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams.
->The acomodador or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappointment in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first free himself from that giving-up point and, to do so,he must review his whole life and find out where it occurred.( I could relate to this)
->Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
->I learned something recently: our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives. When things were bad last year, various people I had never even seen before turned up to ‘console’ me. I hate that. ( Very true!!)
->The energy of hatred won’t get you anywhere; but the energy of forgiveness, which reveals itself through love, will transform your life in a positive way.
->In the words of a Persian sage: Love is a disease no one wants to get rid of. Those who catch it never try to get better, and those who suffer do not wish to be cured.
->Finally, he explained to me that suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way we imagine we want to be loved, and not in the way that love should manifest itself—free and untrammeled, guiding us with its force and driving us on.
N finally a poem on which the whole story is grounded:
ITHACA
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon—do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your heart does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
-> The most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don’t talk anymore, they don’t sit down to talk and listen. They go to the theater, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. If we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.
->Everyone believes that the main aim in life is to follow a plan.They never ask if that plan is theirs or if it was created by another person. They accumulate experiences, memories,things, other people’s ideas, and it is more than they can possibly cope with. And that is why they forget their dreams.
->The acomodador or giving-up point: there is always an event in our lives that is responsible for us failing to progress: a trauma, a particularly bitter defeat, a disappointment in love, even a victory that we did not quite understand, can make cowards of us and prevent us from moving on. As part of the process of increasing his hidden powers, the shaman must first free himself from that giving-up point and, to do so,he must review his whole life and find out where it occurred.( I could relate to this)
->Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.
->I learned something recently: our true friends are those who are with us when the good things happen. They cheer us on and are pleased by our triumphs. False friends only appear at difficult times, with their sad, supportive faces, when, in fact, our suffering is serving to console them for their miserable lives. When things were bad last year, various people I had never even seen before turned up to ‘console’ me. I hate that. ( Very true!!)
->The energy of hatred won’t get you anywhere; but the energy of forgiveness, which reveals itself through love, will transform your life in a positive way.
->In the words of a Persian sage: Love is a disease no one wants to get rid of. Those who catch it never try to get better, and those who suffer do not wish to be cured.
->Finally, he explained to me that suffering occurs when we want other people to love us in the way we imagine we want to be loved, and not in the way that love should manifest itself—free and untrammeled, guiding us with its force and driving us on.
N finally a poem on which the whole story is grounded:
ITHACA
When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon—do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your heart does not set them up before you.
Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.
Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.
And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
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