That is how I became a Sanyasi-Khemlata Negi

Book: That is how I became a Sanyasi

Author: Khemlata Negi

Publisher: White Falcon Publishing

Have you ever had an experience that has changed your life?

That is how I became a Sanyasi by Khemlata Negi is the story of Diksha and Gautam, both separated years apart, yet find each other in Rishikesh. Gautam is a career-oriented person, with a goal in his mind to succeed, irrespective of the cost one has to pay. He changes his life, but his life is a living nightmare that he takes a resolve to end. Diksha is a young and a headstrong person, who, in the pursuit of her career, loses out on the smaller moments of life, and after losing her parents, derails her. When both of them lose hope, they meet a person that changes their lives and sets them on a path to Sanyas. What happens next, or rather, what happens before is the story of the book.

That is how I became a Sanyasi by Khemlata Negi works on a straightforward storyline. We are first introduced to Diksha and we go through her life’s story, her ups and downs and her reason for the Sanyas. Once she reaches Rishikesh and is almost about to finish her stay there, when she hears about the Shehri Sanyasi and decides to pay him a visit. Once there, the story of Gautam Thakkar begins, and we see his story and the reason why he became a Sanyasi. The storytelling is quite plain and simple. The book is poorly edited with words such as “trans” used in place of “trance” and “wander” in place of “vendor”. The climax was not very effective could have been better.

Coming to the characters, there is a single track that plays at any given time, be it Diksha or Gautam. The two storylines are very much similar and while I expected a contrast study, Diksha and Gautam, both are created as career oriented, divorced and confused after they lose their loved ones. The differences are not very critical, and this was a huge turn off for me. The character development is good. Characters like Steve and Shruti could have played more important roles and that would have added a lot of substance to the story.

The book is decent and scores a 2.75/5 for me.

Get a copy here