Book Review of ‘Something Happened On The Way To Heaven’ Edited by Sudha Murthy

Something Happened On The Way To Heaven

Contributing Authors: Bhaswar Mukherjee, Saurabh Kumar, Dhrishti Dasgupta, Supriya Unni Nair, Satyarth Nayak, Jimmy Mathew, Vibha Lohani, Rajesh Pooppotte, Swaha Bhattacharya, Rishi Vohra, Neelamani Sutar, Subhobrata, Pushkar Pande, Nalini Chandran, Praveen P. Gopinath, Neha Garg, Ila Gautam, Tulika Dubey, Shantanu Bhowmick, and  Tapan Mukherjee

Edited by Sudha Murthy

Penguin Books, 2014

Short Stories, 201 pages

Rating: 4/5

 

I used to hate reading while growing up, as I was dedicated to reading books only for answering the questions in exams. So, today when I bring back those memories, I feel like I lost so many years of reading in this lifetime which I can never get back. I am doing my best to compensate for all these years through these beautiful short stories, compiled by Mrs. Sudha Murthy.

As an ingenious fiction writer herself, she has published several books under her wing, mostly through Penguin. Known for Kannada and English work of her, she is the humblest person you can ever know if we listen to her stories from several people who are blessed to meet her in real life.

She is recognized for her social work and life inspiring short stories which will always leave you gasping for more. This book is a special one for her and for readers like me as well because they are contributed by various readers itself!

Yes, it is possible through Sudha Murthy only that we can read these untold stories in a very beautiful manner.

Something Happened On The Way To Heaven is a collection of short stories which drifts you into the lives of various people going through Childhood, Young Adulthood, Societal Issues, Morals, Choices, Middle Age, Old Age and the inevitable one “Death”.

 

Following are some Excerpts from the book which I loved and cherished all the way:

 

“Just because I broke up with a boy doesn’t mean that he has the right to spill acid on me, does it?”

“No matter what happens, there’s always tomorrow.”

Acid by Pushkar Pande

This story “Acid” by Pushkar Pande is very dear to me. I strongly believe in personal views and wishes which doesn’t offer any right to an unknown entity to take decisions of your life. A victim, a criminal or a simple human being, they all are human at the end of the day and it’s their birth right to choose where they should lead their life after an accident or an incident. No matter how you see the situation, it’s always different for the one living through it. In my opinion, which may or may not matter to others but for me, if you can’t help others, let them help themselves and support them rather being a bystander.

 

“But I wasn’t looking at her. My attention was caught by the expression on Didi’s face. I had never seen that look before and I didn’t know what it meant, except that my sister had never looked so pristinely beautiful until that moment – it was as though she had found the fount of all happiness.”

A New Beginning by Swaha Bhattacharya

The way characters have been formed and presented to us in each story, is an art in itself which I respect dearly. Each expression and the situation are explained precisely in a manner to help you relate.

 

“Somehow, my little child could recognize the goodness of a person’s heart. Maybe all children do. And as adults, we shy away from making friends with, or trying to understand people who are beyond our immediate circle.”

The Mysterious Couple by Rishi Vohra

This is the harsh reality of our life these days, we are no longer interested in making friends because we are scared of not realising the expectations we attach to those friendships, while a child is merely interested in the companion without any fruits in return. To understand a person we need to take a first step and get to know them.

 

Why thumbs up:

The way stories are narrated and put together was a plus point for a reader like me who has a concentration span of not more than 10 minutes at a stretch. You will love each stories through their engrossing characters and attitude towards their life as well. Characters, that are challenged, motivated and appreciated throughout these stories.  Majority short stories are about the lesson you learn at the end, so Sudha Murthy has collected and edited one fine collection of stories which not only help you learn something at the end, but they are fun to read and empathize towards.

A big shout out should go to the Penguin Books for being a ray of sunshine for these contributing authors as they take steps towards their future in Literature field.

Stories are not just collected, edited and gone to the printing process, infact they are framed in such a way that helps you to not only relate to them on each stages of life but they create a strong foundation to follow ahead as well.

 

Conclusion:

A book which gave me a chance to live 20 different lives through this collection of short stories. Some are dear to me because I can actually relate to it, while others are there to take me on a whirl wind of an emotional rollercoaster ride. Some made me cry at the end, while some helped me appreciate what I actually have in my life and do not bother to cherish it often. Characters resembling people in my life whom I can proudly support and pamper no matter their caste, bank balance, their standard of living just because they are ‘Important’ and play a vital part in my life.

Thank you so much Mrs. Sudha Murthy and Penguin Books once again to make an effort for everyone out there that can instil a little bit of human nature in their daily lives. Go ahead and give it a try, am sure you’ll love it as well.

 

This book review was written by Aradhna Tiwari. She is a freelance Content Writer by profession, while a book hound by passion. She loves to read Fiction, Non-Fiction, Contemporary, even some thriller and psychological reads as well. She has worked with many SEO companies as a Content Writer, has written Wikipedia pages, Personal Blogs for Online Reputation Management, a Social Media Executive while writing blogs, articles, website contents and reviews for some of her favourite reads.