Book Review - The Alchemist

This is a very feel-good kind of book with very powerful messages.

My preconceived notion of destiny changed after going through this fabulous albeit abstract fable about a shepherd who followed his destiny and was able to realise his dream. I had always assumed that we let ourselves drift through life towards destiny. That our destiny is "destined", and nothing can be done to change it.

But in Alchemist, Coelho lets us believe that destiny is actually a "destination", i.e., God endows each person with a unique set of dreams and capabilities to achieve those dreams, and when we exercise our capabilities best & achieve our dreams, then we fulfill our destiny. Sometimes these dreams seem so impractical with respect to our current situation, they seem impossible even to ourselves, or others make us believe they are impossible, so are content just to muse about them. As a result, we just drift through life, not really "living" it.

"Follow your heart" - the Alchemist says. Very few of us have the courage to follow our heart. We are afraid that our heart will betray us, or that we would lose whatever we possess if we listen to our hearts. We are urged to think with "brain" & not with "heart". But the brain can only perform functions which our heart wills it to do. So the brain and heart must function in harmony, and we should not be afraid to listen to our hearts. In our religious texts also, we are urged to listen to our "Antaratma" - the heart, and then only we would realise who we really are. This book illustrates these ideas beautifully.

But above all, what I loved about this book is the feeling it conveys that "If there is a will, there is a way". " The whole Universe will conspire to make you win!!!