My Stroke of Luck: From Alphabet to Author

Book review:

It is written by Vijay Santhanam who wrote 2 other books If Cricket Is A Religion, Sachin Is God & The Business of Cricket - The Story of Sports Marketing in India.

It is an inspirational book and describes the story of the author when he was afflicted with stroke and his determination in overcoming several difficulties, working relentlessly hard and becoming an author later.I remember tears were falling from my eyes when I was reading about his friend getting him a Sachin Tendulkar autograph and a note of 'Get well soon' during his illness.No, the book doesn't evoke pity but rather makes you realise few important things like friends & family who will be on your side at the time of difficulties and the way your company treats you and how you should be strong no matter what etc.I finished the book in like 3 hours max.The book has 231 pages but maybe because of the simple language , I thought the book was very short, It is divided into chapters.It partly does the job of being inspirational but mostly it is presented as a case study for maybe the doctors to study or the author's curiosity to find the answers to the things that happened to him?

Even during the time of sickness his love for cricket & chess doesn't die and he feels that it helped him in improving his mental abilities.He may be correct.I learnt some new terms like ST(Speech Therapy), PT(Physical Therapy), OT(Occupational Therapy), Situs inversus with dextracardia ,receptive & expressive aphasia and some other terms regarding brain like Broca's area, Wernicke's area and several things about stroke.I wanted to read more of his relationship with his wife but most details were of the stroke and other things.I can say from the book that her support must have been truly remarkable.More than anything that I liked in the book was his spirit, he never questioned his fate or cried over it, he was patient and learnt everything like languages all over again with sheer willpower and interest and also he believes luck is one's attitude towards difficult circumstances and winning over them.

This is not a must read but buy if you want to know what a stroke victim feels inside generally.The book is priced higher a bit.It is Rs.299/- but you can get it for Rs.181/- at Amazon or Flipkart.

I produce the pictures of some lines I highlighted in the book.Hope you enjoyed reading my review.:)

Lots of love- Kavya Seetala.