karan bajaj | redpillows

About the Book:

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In 2019, Karan Bajaj quit his job as Discovery India’s head to start WhiteHat Jr with the mission of making every kid a creator in this world. At the time, everyone thought Karan was reckless to give up a high-flying corporate career at the age of forty, but eighteen months later, WhiteHat Jr was acquired by BYJU’s for $300 million. On the surface, it was one of the fastest startup-to-exit journeys in India, but the seeds of this were planted a decade ago when Karan first decided to create his own set of life rules.

In The Freedom Manifesto, Karan, for the first time, reveals these secrets to help you transform your life. Unconventional, practical and no-nonsense, these seven rules will help you prioritize what matters most, radically transform your mindset from an employee to an owner, create a daily routine to end self-doubt and negativity and break the shackles of conformity to design a life of your calling. These rules will set you free, not just financially, but also help to reveal your best self.

My Thoughts:

The Freedom Manifesto is insightful and gripping in a way that I did not expect. I generally do not read non-fiction and especially books of self-help or self-improvement (not yet anyway!). However, this book is indeed a stepping stone for me, inspiring me to consider reading more books out of my comfort zone ( usually fiction) and to explore new avenues and genres.

The book draws on the author’s personal experiences as the basis for explaining several simple steps to transform your life. Karan doesn’t just talk to us about his successes but highlights his failures and the lessons he learnt from them. He is open, accepting of his decisions (both the ones that worked and those that did not), precise and clear in his thinking and critical of himself in a way that draws the reader in, igniting sparks of interest in following his journey. Through this journey, we also read about steps that we can follow to help ourselves, questions to ask to help introspect and suggestions on what to do after we have thought of the answers. I found the style of writing and presentation to be quite unique and this is what captured my attention. The book and writing are personal but written in a way that anyone can understand or relate to and this is something I quite enjoyed.

In conclusion, I truly enjoyed reading this book even though some of the formulas went over my head. This is something I would have to truly look into at some point. In general, I realized that a lot of the questions that Karan raises or suggests that we ask ourselves are ones which I have thought of but never focused on specifically. The point which sticks with me is what to do with the answers once have them and how to prioritize things which are important to us. All this makes this book worth reading!

About the Book:

A violent encounter on the streets of Manhattan forces Wall Street banker Maximus Pzoras to confront questions about suffering and mortality that have dogged him since his mother’s death. His search for a mentor takes him to the farthest reaches of India, where he encounters a mysterious night market, almost freezes to death on a hike up the Himalayas and finally, finds himself in an ashram in a small drought stricken village in South India where strange things begin to happen to him.

But are Yogis who walk on water, do impossible poses, and live agelessly for 200 years the stuff of fiction or fact? Can a flesh and blood man ever truly achieve nirvana? Max struggles to overcome his rational skepticism and the pull of family tugging him back home. In a final bid for answers, he embarks on dangerous solitary meditation in a freezing Himalayan cave. Will Max penetrate the truth of human suffering, or is enlightenment just a new age illusion?

The SEEKER is both a page turning adventure story and a journey of tremendous inner transformation, a SIDDHARTHA for our generation.

Note: I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an hones review. Frankly, I am glad that I came across this offer and took it up. At first I did not know what to expect but as I persevered to finish the book, I realized that it was indeed worth it. Read on to know my thoughts about the book.

My Thoughts:

This is an enthralling and gripping story of a wall street banker’s journey on his path to self discovery. Max, an American wall street banker, has been through a lot in his life and has come up from the depths of poverty making something of himself. A chance encounter with an Indian yogi on the street sets him thinking along the lines of yoga and enlightenment.

Max sets out to India seeking a teacher and through the journey he treks up the Himalayas and then down to South India. Almost freezing to death in the Himalayas and later almost starving during the Drought in the village he goes to in the South, all shape Max into the person he becomes in the end. Throughout the story the author describes the trials he faces and how he seeks to overcome them. This is done beautifully without sounding far-fetched in any way. If you have any idea about the author’s background, it is easy to see that he has used some of his experiences in life to describe various incidents in the story.

The story is packed with adventure as Max treks up the Himalayas and then ventures down to South India with a stop in Mumbai along the way. The author brings out various lessons through the story without sounding as though he is preaching. The reader can learn a lot about how yoga and meditation can help one relax and be at ease through this story. The author’s style of writing is wonderful and he has woven a story that is ripe with adventure and learning. The reader will definitely feel as though he/she is personally experiencing what the characters in the book are and this is just an example of how strong the descriptiveness of the story is.

If I continue on this path, I will end up revealing a lot about the story which is not fun. So instead, I will stop here and just end my review with a strong recommendation to read this book. Who knows, you may also be inspired to follow the road to self discovery or at least take up yoga and meditation for the peace of mind and soul.