My First Book

 

My first book has taught me to always believe in myself. If you want a thing wholeheartedly, then the whole world conspires to bring that thing to you. This is a world-famous line from a world-famous book, “The Alchemist” which happens to be my first and my favourite book. It might be a matter of surprise that I did not read any books besides my textbooks during my school days. Neither my parents nor my teachers encouraged reading. That's why I consider "The Alchemist” as the first book which I read during my 3 months holiday after my S.L.C examination. It is a novel written by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho. It was first published in 1985. A.D  and got a lukewarm response. But with the passage of time, the masterpiece got worldwide recognition and has been translated into several languages. I read the book in the English language in 2011 A.D. Since then, I have re-read the book several times. In fact, I read the book every time I feel low in my life to boost my energy once again. The book tells the story of a young Spanish shepherd who wishes to roam around the world and his adventure to Egypt. This book has taught me to always follow my dreams, have faith in self and god, have a purpose in life and let time decide your fate at times.

 

Santiago, the protagonist of the novel is a well-educated young man. His parents wish that he takes a prestigious job on par with his education. But he expresses his desire to visit new places and meet new people rather than staying in the same place doing table work. When he learns that he is not rich enough to be a traveller and that only a shepherd travels despite being poor, he decides to be a shepherd. Undoubtedly, his parents are greatly disappointed in him. The same goes for society. Had he chosen to live according to the will of his parents, he would never have a fulfilled his dream. This made me realise that we are not born to fulfil others' dreams but our own. Our dream and our vision may appear small to others but they should not affect us. We should never hesitate to follow our dreams even if people around us become unhappy or get offended. Similarly, at the beginning of the novel, Santiago experiences a series of recurrent dreams every night. When he visits a Gypsie woman to interpret his dream, she suggests he go to Egypt and find his treasure. An old king of Salem, Melchizedek also advises him the same. Then Santiago spends all of his life earnings to start his new adventure. His real treasure is the journey itself. He risks everything, his earnings and even his life to follow his dreams. In the same way, we should not be afraid to take risks in our life. If we get too attached to things or people, we will have to live a mediocre life. We should always pursue our dream and enjoy the journey rather than get fearful of failure.

To me, god is a kind of warm feeling that I always have inside my heart. I don't expect miracles from god. Not the god himself, but my faith in God is the more important thing for me.

 

The character of Santiago taught me that we should always have faith in ourselves and on the god. Many times, many people are unaware of their own capabilities. They are just one try far from achieving great feats. That’s why we should always believe in ourselves and push ourselves to the highest point possible. We may doubt ourselves at times but we should always be on the track with our life. Similarly, we should have faith in god. God is someone or something who acts as a guardian to the whole world. When no one is by our side, it is the god who remains by our side. We should do good deeds and refrain from doing bad deeds. Because even if we hide our crime, god watches everything. To me, god is a kind of warm feeling that I always have inside my heart. I don't expect miracles from god. Not the god himself, but my faith in God is the more important thing for me.

 

Another important character of the novel, the alchemist who is capable of turning glass into gold says that everything on this earth has a purpose. Iron is not lesser than gold. If one wants to make gold, then he needs to understand his purpose of making gold. He cannot make gold just for the sake of making gold or if he thinks iron is more valuable than gold. In the same way, we should have a purpose in our life. There is a popular saying which goes like this, "You're born twice, once when you are actually born and the second when you know why you are born." A purpose is a must in our life. A man without an aim is like a ship without direction. If you want your life to have a direction, an aim, have a purpose.

 

There are many times when Santiago is uncertain of his upcoming future. He doesn't know whether he will make it alive tomorrow or not. We also have such times in our life when we don't have things under our control. We try to pull all the strings to balance everything and have everything under our control. But we may lose control sometimes. In such times instead of having a mental breakdown or losing all our hopes, we should do everything that we can and leave the rest to our fate. Time is a very powerful thing. It can heal wounds. It can improve relations. It can turn your life upside down. So, no matter how worse the situation is or how miserable our life is at present, we should never give up and at such times we should surrender ourselves to our fate which is decided by time.

 

"The Alchemist" is a great self-help book for me. It has made me optimistic. It's like a friend to me whose support I seek in my dark times. Just like Santiago achieving the goal of his life due to his dedication, winning attitude and belief in self. I am sure that I will achieve my aim one day. I strongly recommend this book to everyone, especially the lovers of adventure, mystery and quest.