"The book wrote me"

Beyond Guts by Cyrus Jehangir Sataravalla. Published in 2005 by Quantum Success, E-4, Ashoka, 3 Naylor Road, Poona 411001. Pp: 928. Price: Rs 1,486/$ 49.99.

Strikingly unconventional in its presentation, Cyrus Jehangir Sataravalla’s 928-page offering is the essence and culmination of a vow that virtually overtook his life. There are many things that set the book apart from others in its genre. Authenticity and conviction are woven into the very warp and weft of the work. Every word, punctuation, illustration, picture, diagram (these abound in plenty) finds its own space and rhythm, speaks its own piece in perfect unision to establish the inherent harmony that is the work itself. The precise and painstakingly done little diagrams and illustrations reiterate that the "mind thinks in pictures.”

The book also tellingly speaks of Sataravalla’s burning vision and mission which brought him back literally from the dead. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at the age of eight the author learnt very early on to live with traumatizing pain and underwent three life-threatening surgeries which removed his large intestine. This taught him two things— that there is life abundant "beyond guts” and that life and death are merely two sides of the same coin. Just as he believes that the mundane and the spectacular are flip sides of the same coin too, so are the material and the spiritual. Long before he birthed the book into print he had " lived it , and felt it.” As he aptly says, "the book wrote me.”

Sataravalla: "dominant thoughts”

Sataravalla has drawn from myriad sources to put together his life’s work. "It won’t bother me if I never write another word. This has indeed been the quintessential quest.” A well-known motivational speaker and seminar leader, Sataravalla can never stress enough the importance of the power of thought. He writes: "Life grows from your dominant thoughts. It is all a state of your own mind. So now, you see how your thought is always reflected and bounced back to you. It has to travel outward from your heart center to return to you laden exactly with what you sent it out for. Now you come to the crystal realization that it is your own habitual thought imagery that invites all things into your life. The next time you feel upset, watch your thought, watch the rise and fall of your breath. The movement is right here. This truth once recognized is all that matters. It will be a talisman for greater growth. Remind yourself during such times that it is the thought that is temporarily unsteady not your life. It takes mental discipline and constant practice to get to the point where you treat negative thoughts as you do flies during a picnic; swat them ‘on the spot’ or shoo them away. Watch each thought closely and you will be rewarded bountifully.”

The book is also a journey that dehypno­tises you from the "can’t” into the willingness to be and the daring to do. When you endorse yourself you need no other endorsement from the outside. "Life endorsed me,” says Sataravalla. "When the surgeons removed my gut, something infinitely more was added on.”

Passionate about the role his parents have played the writer says with reverential awe, "Jangu, my father is the resonance of this work and Perin, my mother the love-light. To them both I owe everything.”

Meandering through the pages of this motivational self-help book is akin to taking a walk through a Haiku garden. It is certainly not a book that you go to; it is a book that comes to you; when you are ready. It is important to be ready for otherwise the somewhat fragmentary style adopted can prove tedious to the relatively uninitiated. It is far removed from the style of other motivational books. Wading through such a voluminous work is for some a tiresome exercise if you are the ready-reckoner type of reader looking for a quick-fix. The book demands a certain level of awareness in order to appeal — otherwise it can be glossed over for something less substantial. But for the initiated seasoned seeker, Beyond Guts is a companion. Open to any page at random and you find the message that is pertinent to you at that moment. That is the hallmark of an authentic piece of work.

Profound without being pompous, a child-like spirit of innocence wafts through the entire book. Definitely recommended reading for those walking the path. A must-have guide-map to lead you to your own inner light.

Tushna Kotwal