One of the reasons, I am writing the three book series, "The Monk Key" of which "Songs of the Mist", is the first part, is to share the story of one young man's journey to 'find the divinity within'. As the series was conceived on the banks of holy river Ganges, in 1987 and firmed up across my travels to Rishikesh Varanasi, Ganga Sagar. So it has been my deepest desire to offer it to that divine sources from which it draws its stories, energy and its blessings.
The another purpose of writing this book has been to reach out to the young generation who, in my opinion are alienated from the deep source of our culture, heritage and thoughts - our ancient scriptures. When asked, if they have read our Vedas, Purana's and Upanishad's etc., they typically reply "What is the point of reading them" due the certain biases rooted in modernity. The book "Songs of the Mist" is one such attempt to share the knowledge and thoughts of Karma Yoga, based on Bhagwat Gita; in order to inspire them to connect proactively with our cultural heritage. At the book's launch at Chennai's famous book store, I shared my thoughts on the same.
My book "Songs of the Mist" was published in Dec, 2016 and within 9 days it reached two thousand ranking amongst millions of books at Amazon. In April 2016, it breached double digit ranking. Within a period of 6 months, I have been blessed with opportunities to fulfil my desire to dedicate the book to its sources of inspiration. From the Himalayas to plains of India, I have had few opportunities to dedicate the book to Holy Ganges, at Rishikesh, Varanasi, Kolkata; Goddess Durga of our ancient temple in the eastern UP village and Buddha Shrine at Kushinagar - a place where Buddha attained Nirvana. Through book readings and launches, I have also been blessed to reach out to the readers of young India.
It gives me a great pleasure to share some of the images and few video clips, chronicling my book's journey across India. Hope you will enjoy it.
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| Parmarth Niketan - Rishikesh |
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| Sivananda Ashram - Rishikesh |
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| Varanasi |
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| Durga Ji, Buddha at Kushi Nagar and friends from Varanasi... |
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| Book Reading at Leela Palace Hotel organised by Apparao Galleries |
Here is an introduction to my book by the Famous Author, Journalist and Writer, Timeri N Murari at the Leela Palace Hotels, organised by Apparao Galleries in an event called "An Evening of Art, Music and Writing".
"Many of us here yearn for something more in our life. Shashi has provided a spiritual release in beautiful book, Songs of the Mist. It’s unusual and thought provoking book. The book answers questions that we struggle to frame in our daily lives. Shashi’s descriptive beauty of the mystic nature of Himalayas interwoven with sufferings and the heartaches, and struggle of each protagonist, provide eloquent and thought provoking read. Not a book to browsed at glance and to reach books full potential demands commitment and investment of time to savor its subtlety and do grows." - Timeri N Murari
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| Odyssey Book Launch |
At the Odyssey Book Launch, the popular Rapper - Blaaze (Baba Rap, Hosanna Rap, Slum Dog Millionaire, Delhi 6 etc.) and Keshav Ji - The Famous Cartoonist of the News Paper Group Hindu, who is foremost Krishna Bhakta echoed my thoughts about our ancient Indian Heritage and culture...
“When you just listen to it (Shlokas etc), …the sanskrit syllables are enough to get you positive energy, without knowing anything about it. … it can only bring peace in a world like this”. – Blaaze
“Our Purana’s (Ancient Vedic Scriptures etc.) give you how to deal with life, how to deal with situations and predicaments, as they have already analyzed and laid it out on platter so that you don’t have to think.” – Keshav ji
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| Chennai and Kolkata Book Fair |
Hope you have enjoyed the journey with me amongst holy places of India as well as my thoughts shared within the video clips. If you would like to read my book "Songs of the Mist" it is available at the following places.
Amazon.in || Amazon.com || Amazon.UK || Flipkart || Google Play || Kindle ||
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Shashi
ॐ नमः शिवाय
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