‘Forty rules of Love’ by Elif Shafak

Never judge a book by its cover. This quote stands completely apt for this book. As the name suggests the book has nothing to do with the love stories of human life but about the divinity of love. The book explains the nuances of devotional love and how the devotee violates various rules of life in his attraction towards divine love.

A book by Turkish female author is inspired by Rumi’s message of love and his companionship with his spiritual master Shams of Tabriz. It’s a book that encourages you to transform your life and fill it with love. As one of the rule quoted in the book is as follows:

“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!”

Shafak has beautifully knitted the relationship between him and his divne God that the sacrifices, understanding and the feeling of surrender required to please your God. For which one has to even go against the social norms set by the materialistic people. As vey aptly mentioned by her in the book as one of the rules: “Do not go with the flow. Be the flow.”

The book is written with a lot of conviction and every word in it will make you fall in love with the book and the ideology of Rumi. This is the most congenial read I have come across that would help all of us to realize our internal goals and how we can make our stress life more meaningful.

Dr. Gitanjali Kalia

A learner at heart with 13 years of experience and still growing. From field experience to academic ambience, people interaction and exploring new ideas have been my area of interest and has proved to be stepping stone towards my achievements. Creativity is my core skill, be that vision to see the world or to work towards something aesthetically, creativity exists in everything. I am an academician by profession and the creativity is my passion. Academician: Shifting from advertising field to teaching advertising wasn't in my dreams but I must say it is one of the most challenging and coolest profession altogether. What keeps it ticking is to be with Young minds!! I have written research papers and got by books chapters published in the international books by international publications . Poet: I am a poet and got my poems published by Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi in Kavya Lehri and Kavyanjali. I also have an ebook to my credit titled 'Lyrical Emotions'. Writer(Blogger): A writer who loves writing and has written for numerous magazines, online portals and newspapers like Time of India(Youth section), The Identity, Contemporary Vibes, The Higher education, etc. A Blogger who runs her own blog. An artist who works towards improving her skills every now and then. A traveller who knows learning is much more outside the classroom. As a leaner is never satisfied with his/ her work, I believe to utilize the gift of human birth to the fullest and enjoy.