Port Blair, Jan 06: Critically acclaimed author, Sheo Nath who shot to fame recently with his novel ‘Disclosure: A Rape Victim’s Resolute Revelation’ has come up with entirely different book ‘Minimizing Unhappiness’. While Disclosure was on sensitive issue of rape and got rave reviews from the readers, ‘Minimizing Unhappiness’ is a self-help book that helps the readers to tide over their problems in the most practical way.
‘Minimizing Unhappiness’ is what everyone aims to achieve in the fast paced world these days with a stressed life. The author found out that people are unable to make decisions properly due to various issues. As per the author, most self-help books available in the market give solutions which are impractical. In fact, some self-help books are so high in motivation, but very low on practicality that the individual sometimes feels depressed. So, he came up with a book which has examples only from our own surroundings and has examples from the lives of ordinary people around us. He has succeeded completely in his efforts for ‘Minimizing Unhappiness’ not to become superfluous. There is nothing preachy and all solutions even to complex problems are very simple and practical. The author has dealt with very unique situations viz. a person caught with unavoidable persons or falls in unavoidable circumstances. He also talks about how to develop the right attitude and behavior and how to minimize unhappiness.
His last book, ‘Disclosure’ alsohad earned the appreciation from its readers for its unique style of raising the most sensitive issue of rape and what the victims face afterwards.It is not the usual romantic or revenge saga, but addresses a very important and relevant issue. It is still a taboo subject in society and people do not like to discuss this topic with the sincerity it deserves. There have been random jokes passed on involving rape. The real pain of the affected person has never been talked about. Also due to societal pressure and a nearly hostile environment, the victim seldom speaks about it. The issue has not been addressed properly at the level of community and society. Even if a novel has talked about the issue, it is on the individual level of feeling. Disclosure has dealt with the status of women across the globe. It has even tried to give a solution as to how to deal with the issue of women safety.
The author admits that while writing ‘Disclosure’, the topic was so sensitive that it was even tough to start. But having been deeply affected by the spate of rape incidents in the country, he was determined to write on it. He found a dearth of standard reading materials. Women were reluctant to talk on this issue. While doing the research online, he had to deal with a lot of unwanted and irrelevant materials, but this made him very sure that this is a pandemic affecting every nook and corner of the world. It took more than 4-5 years of research with the facts, figures and personal experiences of the victims to come out with the product in your hand. The research drained him emotionally, as per his own admission. What resulted is a classic novel wherein the protagonist, a rape victim has not been named at all in the story, making the writing tough and unique at the same time. It has been attempted to make the story free of any tag of region, religion, caste or color. Again, the canvas of the novel has been the whole world, which has been handled quite artistically and emphatically.
His first book ‘Tukron me prem-kahani’, published in 2008 had 14 stories, each on a central female character. However, the stories are about human relationships and male characters form an equally important part of the story. The stories’ subject ranges from infatuation to spirituality in love. The fear of society, the platonic love, love in disguise, meeting with old love in twilight years of life, resurfacing of love during college reunion etc make these stories lively.
His forthcoming book ‘Aasman ka guroor’ is a collection of poems that touches patriotism, women issues, environment issues, human behavior, etc. He has thanked many poets of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and many were written when he was working in the Islands.
Right now, he is basking in the success of ‘Disclosure’ and ‘Minimizing Unhappiness’ and rightly deserves it.