Once There Was Me REVIEW! #23

Name of the book- Once There Was Me

Name of the author- Bobby Sachdeva

Story of the book-

The book starts on the day of 31st October 1984 when the author wakes up because of the loud commotion in from of their house. He came to know that our former prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguard. Whole India was shaking by this incident and the common public were starting an “Anti-Sikh Riot”. Bobby lived with his family in a respectable society in Delhi but everything changed on 31st October. Bobby was only 14 years old then and was shocked that all the neighbors who were so sweet to them and never disrespected them before changed completely. His father predicted the circumstances early and sked his mother, two sisters and younger brother to move to their neighbor’s house who was at first reluctant but agreed to give shelter to the women. Bobby’s father asked him to go with his mother as well but her didn’t leave his father alone. They were just going to have some food when their house was attacked and they had to hide inside their house water tank to save themselves. Their house was burnt down and everything valuable was looted by the rioters. Bobby’s father sent him secretly (in the disguise of a girl) to his best friend’s (Ashok uncle) house to seek help and for shelter because he knew that they will be attacked again. Ashok uncle welcomed Bobby and fed him some food but he disagreed to help his family. Bobby called his own uncle who lived in a more secured society in Delhi and asked him to help them who agreed to come for them at midnight. They were finally taken to their uncle’s family and his father finally decided to move to Amritsar to escape this anti religion riot. Bobby and his family lost everything along with their lovely house and left for Amritsar for a fresh start without any violence.

But life doesn’t play according to our favour and this happened with Bobby as well. This is the story of Bobby and his struggle in the corrupted, religiously influenced country India.

Read the book to know about his experience.

My review-

This is the semi autobiography of Bobby Sachdeva with a blend of fiction. This story tells us about the struggles the innocent Sikhs who faced huge religious wrath and lost everything- their wealth, house and lives as well. There was a time when the people used to kill the women of their family because they thought that it was better than getting raped and exploited by the other inhuman people. The struggles of the Sikhs saddened me and again religion came over humanity which is not a new thing in India but it is very wrong. The author talked about how the government went silent and supported the other rioters who killed the innocent people just to remain in power and get support from the people.
This book talked about many realistic problems that all of us know but simply ignore because we don’t want to go against the society and sometimes the beliefs of our own family members. The discrimination by religion is not only restricted to this country, it is everyone that is portrayed in this book by the experience of the author.

There was also a good thing to learn from the book- if we work hard then nobody can stop us from succeeding but the hard work should be strategic and not blindly.

Coming to the best part of the book that fascinated me was the author questioning the godsmen who were preaching for only for money and they are actually very rich. The money they get from donation doesn’t reach the poor people and the poor people remain poor but the rich always gets richer. The author didn’t question the existence of God but he is completely against the fake gurus who claim to be messengers of Gods but in reality, they are running a business and do all sorts of crimes like raping and assaulting women in the name of faith and God. I loved this book so much because the author talked so bravely against these problems and his thoughts match with mine as well. This book teaches us not to believe in anyone so blindly that you stop seeing the reality.

The book also talks about other aspects of the corrupted society and money is needed everywhere to execute your work smoothly. Some people are honest but most have become corrupt and blended themselves in this corrupt society.

The book has a very easy language and the narration was excellent. This is a plot driven story and if you are fond of details then this book is for you. I would highly recommend this book because this book will teach you many things and challenge your beliefs.
The only thing I didn’t like about the story was how Bobby became desperate to get the us green card and how he even gave money to people. Also, how he lied sometimes just to satisfy his ego and fame.

Also, if you are a god believer, you may find some of the instances provocative but I will suggest you the book even then.

Cover of the book-

The cover has the photo of the author in black and white and strips of blue on it. The cover is beautiful.

Rating for the book- 4⭐/5⭐
Rating for the cover- 3.5⭐/5⭐

Favorite lines from the book-

• It is very easy to step up in life, but it is very hard to take a step down.
• Human beings only own the one present breath: they have neither knowledge nor ownership of the next one. So all men are equally rich or poor, since they all own just the one breath that they are now taking.
• Religion was not for display. True religion is a belief system to be internalized, not imposed externally.
• The people who knew the true meaning of God and religion are not bound by the rules laid down by preachers.
• When perceptions change, then mindsets also change.
• The human brain is like the hard disk of a computer. It is blank until information is fed into it and then, it can only work with what has been put in.
• Are we of any value once we stop breathing? No one keeps bodies at home beyond a day or two. Some of us are buried, some turned to ashes. In either case, we are of no value to anyone. Then why do we feel that we are superior to some and inferior to the others? The fact is that we are all the same- just mud.
• People came and went, but the world kept spinning on. Other than a few who were close to them, nobody was affected by the absence of the dead.

If you like my review and want to buy the book, then click the link down below-

If you like my review, you can follow my blog and comment down below if I need any changes. You can also follow me in Instagram at https://instagram.com/book_withquotes .

Thank you!