I Inspire by Neerja Malik - A Book Review

Neerja Malik…

The name inspires awe in many people. Why not? Neerja is a two times cancer conqueror, motivational speaker, cancer counselor, TEDx speaker, Pinkathon ambassador, author of the book ‘I Inspire’, and managing trustee of the NGO Sankalp.

I was lucky to get an autographed copy of the book ‘I Inspire’ from Neerja. Neerja writes about her beautiful journey in this world and how she discovers the ten treasures of life through various incidents she encounters.

This autobiography starts at Srinagar, where her nani (grandmother) tells her about the ten treasures of life. Her nani does not name the treasures but nudges Neerja to find them all by herself.

As you read her story you are drawn to the beautiful metaphors all through the book. Here are a few.

“The mountains of Srinagar in the distance, looked like huge chunks of chocolates with tips of icy mint.”

“Life with kids was like biting into a sizzling chocolate brownie. Sometimes it was nutty, sometimes a little too hot to handle, sometimes just right and cool like vanilla ice-cream and yet, at all times, it was tooth achingly sweet.”

Neerja’s story takes us through her different experiences with her husband Mandeep Malik, twins Shivani and Sidharth, her nani ( grandmother), her masi (mother’s sister) who was her age, her sister Jugnu, and her friends. She writes in a conversational style and her story goes back and forth from the present to the past. Her writing actually transports you to the time and place she talks about and that is really wonderful.   

Neerja does not hide the naughty parts of her in the book. She declares that when she joined the group “Notorious Nine” in school it was rechristened as “Troublesome Ten.” 

One incident in her life shows that when she decided to get something done there was no stopping her. When she was trying to conceive after several miscarriages and a stillborn, doctors recommended a day she was fertile. But she was in Mumbai and her husband Mandeep Malik was in Chennai on that day. Her husband could not come to Mumbai. So, Neerja caught a flight from Mumbai to Chennai to be with her husband and conceived her lovely twins.

Neerja was diagnosed with breast cancer twice. Instead of getting bogged down by the curveball that life gave her, she used her experience to become a counselor for thousands of cancer patients. Neerja was instrumental in setting up the cancer support group at Apollo Hospital. Sometimes during her counseling sessions, depending upon the patient’s faith, she would ask a patient to chant the Hanuman mantra or she would say “La illah ila Allah.” This type of counseling and care from the heart reduced the anxiety and fear in patients and calmed them down. Neerja was available 24 x 7 for counselling. If not in person, she counselled over the phone. 

She has very interesting musings about life in her book. Here are a few. 

“It struck her then that every life had elements of great and not-so-great. The folly many made was they focused so much on the not-so-great, that it completely clouded their vision towards the breathtaking beauty that life actually was."

“The root cause of all disturbances was resistance to what life brought. Acceptance meant allowing Life to sweep you of your feet and take you wherever it pleased. Acceptance was not just passive ‘giving in’ to what was happening. Rather, it was active ‘participation’ in the plans of God."

“Neerja grinned from ear to ear every now and then as she realized how incredible life was. It did put hurdles along the way, but when the sprinter, undeterred, jumped, soared and continued the race, it applauded the spirit with such bliss, such strength that one couldn’t help but feel the end of it all that it was worth it. More than worth it.”

I especially liked the passages where she talks about her role as a mother and its various joys as her children grow up and also about the internship she did after her degree in Social Work.

Are you eager to know about the ten treasures? They are fun, love, God, faith, miracles, death, acceptance, abundance, living in the now, and creating. You get to find and enjoy all the treasures if you have the attitude of gratitude.

“I Inspire” is the story of a girl with a happy childhood, exciting teenage, blissful marriage, sweet motherhood, and lovely family and friends. It is also the story of overcoming life threatening challenges with a smile and then helping others cope with similar situations. She has shared her emotions and feelings without holding back. Hope you enjoy the journey as much I enjoyed it.

Neerja is now 65 years young :)

The story in the book is told in 167 pages. There are pictures in the book of which a few i have shared in this blog as collage images. The book was first published by Jaico publishers in the year 2015. The book is available in Amazon. Here is the link.