Age-old values that help lead a sound life (Book Review)

Title: Mantras for Success; Author: Shiv Malik; Publisher: Konark Publishers; Pages: 286; Price: Rs.295

Title: Feeling at East with Yourself; Author: Rajiv Parti; Publisher: Konark Publishers; Pages: 218; Price: Rs.295

"Know the purpose of your life and identify the sacrosanct values and convictions dear to you," advises Shiv Malik, as he delves into a rich career of 43 years in business management to share invaluable tips on how to add quality in life. And the "Mantras for Success" is for everyone, and that's what makes it such a good read.

Malik began as a sales representative and ended up as the chairman and managing director of MMTC Ltd. Speaking both from experience and using anecdotes from the lives of those he admires, Malik dwells at length on values such as courage, humility, integrity, magnanimity, benevolence, friendship and loyalty, discipline and happiness.

Like others in his genre, Malik urges people to take to pranayam or breath control and meditation for better health and mind discipline. He tells us how regular exercise and sound diet helped an electrical engineer to live for nearly 100 years without ever taking any medicine! Malik also provides enough tips on how to be a good team leader in a work place. "When one looks back on life, one should have no regrets."

Rajiv Parti was a successful US-based successful medical practitioner until he developed prostate cancer that turned his life upside down. He made a dramatic recovery thanks to family love, the harmonious balancing effects of ayurveda and his embrace of spiritual principles. "Feeling at East with Yourself" seeks to discover the spiritual core of general well-being, says the author who aspires to be a holistic healer, emphasizing the power of the Spirit and spirituality.

Parti outlines 12 principles for a healthy body, mind, heart and spirit that include calmness, ayurveda, acceptance, thought, Dharma, values of heart, harmony, Seva, the principle of Now, gratitude, divinity within, and non-attachment. For Parti, a strong spiritual outlook strengthens the immune system and fosters resilience. From practical experience, he underlines how spiritual values can relieve stress and foster hope. A book worth reading, more so if you are young and confused by the complexities of life.

(M.R. Narayan Swamy is Executive Editor at IANS. He can be reached on narayan.swamy@ians.in. The views expressed are personal.)