My Stroke Of Luck by Vijay Santhanam

Harsha Vardhan Reddy

Harsha is a final year student of Mechanical Engineering at BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus. He has led various student initiatives in the past three years in Pilani and has just finished his summer internship at Accenture Management Consulting. He was also the head of AIESEC chapter at BITS Pilani.

Few minutes into the book, I realised that this is the kind of book which a person should get to read at least once in his life. Irrespective of which phase of life you read it in, it can have an everlasting impact on who you will be as a person. The book reiterates faith in humanity – what a man can do with determination and willpower. The inspiring difference is, it is not done in a way how Nelson Mandela`s autobiography can but in a way which inspires an ordinary man to realise his potential.

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield

“My Stroke Of Luck” describes how a stroke at the age of 41 brings out the fighter in the author and alters his life forever. The book covers the next four years of Mr Santhanam's life where he faces many obstacles, physical and emotional, and comes out with a fresh perspective of life and a career as an author.

For once, I was really happy to finish a book without having to refer to a dictionary. The style of writing is lucid and he does not use words which would baffle readers. He also makes it a point to explain every medical term so as to enhance the empathising power of the reader.

I had a few eye-openers while reading the book, some of which might be completely unintended by the author. In the times where majority of the aspirants of the elite institutions are driven by the compensations received by the students upon graduating, this books stands as a real life crystal clear example of how institutes like IIM A instill leadership qualities among its students and companies like P&G, BP go much beyond the pay package they offer. As he says, sometimes it is all a matter of perspective.

Although, I thought that one or two chapters might be uninteresting to a section of the readers, it makes a good read and leaves you inspired like an Indian movie with an outstanding storyline
but a couple of bad songs.

Bytes and Banter Verdict : A Good Read  -  3/5

The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.