We all have an aspiration to reach the top, be known for what we are best at. However, in this journey, we lose focus on the essential aspects and often concentrate on lesser things. Yet, when we start focusing on our goal, we truly understand the power of our achievements.
That is what Jasmine Builds on Shifting Sands is all about. A book about a journey of a middle-class Indian girl who dares to dream, her ride to success and the lessons she learns on her way.
I’m not a fan of self-help books and left many half-read. Therefore, when BlogAdda approached me with another book review, I was a bit sceptical. However, as I began reading the book, I felt close to the character and her journey to reach her goals.
About the author
Sanjay Desai is an ex-banker turned author. He has founded a self-empowerment multimedia & technology platform called ConsciousLeap that enables a global community to obtain fulfilment in all phases of life through content, community and products.
About the book
The book comprises three sections, a prologue, the story of Jasmine beautifully divided into 19 chapters, and an epilogue. Moreover, the book has additional micro-learning links embedded in form of QR codes.
The prologue describes the author’s visit to Kedarnath to meet his spiritual guru Ma Krishnanandgiri. The way he described his journey, makes me want to visit Kedarnath.
The story of Jasmine, the main protagonist begins with a college fest, which opens an avenue that Jasmine never imagined as her career. She pursues her newly found love. However, things take a turn when insecurities cloud her logical mind leading to a series of wrong decisions and bad behaviour that affects her mentally and emotionally.
The second half of the book focuses on Jasmine’s journey to redeem her self esteem and achieve her goals with the help of her mentors, who teach her a few essential life lessons.
The epilogue comprises the key takeaways that the author learned from his spiritual guru and the story.
My favourite chapter in the book
I loved Chapter 13 thoroughly, where Jasmine’s mentor Bala explained to her about “Manifested Dream” through equations that were simple enough to understand yet complex to realise its true meaning. Something that we all can implement in our lives.
Overall it was a good read. I love the writing style, very easy to understand and digest. Plus, the chapters were not lengthy which made the reading experience even better. Here’s a link to the kindle edition and paperback version of the book.
