Review by Club Member - Bhavna Joshi

रस निष्पत्ति - शृंगार 🥰, शांत😇 (in readers)

भाव निर्मिति - रति😍, आश्चर्य😯 ( in characters)

A casual evening can become a stressful event only if you are a mother. A mundane job of house cleaning almost gave me a stroke when I realized the door to my lil' ones room was closed. He replied Mom can I have some privacy and there I saw him slipping away. I sat there and muffled up my sobs. I couldn't let him go, a few years back he was part of me, my body.

He heard me and came running, said, I am not going anywhere mom. You need to trust me.

Right there, I understood that I don't want to let him go not 'coz I love him but 'coz I have always felt that authority on him. 'Coz I for sure trust him. But then love doesn't give you the right to control but the right to surrender.

Just like Ella...who eventually learns to surrender

Forty rules of love is all about a beautiful juxtaposition of two journeys. A contemporary story of Ella & Aziz to age-old story of Rumi & Shams of Tabriz

Ella an editor, reads the manuscript of 'Sweet Blasphemy' by Aziz. Coincidentally as she is turning 40, this manuscript makes her question her life choices through its 40 facts on the spiritual power of love. It makes her question her choice of putting everything before her happiness.

"Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?"

The book is a collage of beautiful portraits of Rumi's devotional love for Shams, his guiding light. The mesmerizing description of the first whirling dervishes ever, spellbinds the dancer in me. Shams ability to defy and cross the fine lines b/w societal bifurcations makes you fall in love with him

Shafak's writing flows easily through several time-lapses. It does not feel disconnected. The beauty of prose & poetry is laid out for us to surrender.

Set in 5 parts just like 5 elements of nature, intriguingly each chapter starts with the letter 'B', as in Arabic language it encompasses the whole universe. The book does not sound preachy but I have my doubts with respect to the authenticity of certain sections

Would love to read more about Rumi and shams

Read it for its projection of love in its purest form...Devotion.