Shades of Life: Sublime Joy Is in Living

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Shades of Life: Sublime Joy Is in Living

by Vasundhara Ramanujan (Goodreads Author), Mohammad Akmal

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 10 ratings · 7 reviews

In November of 1996, fifteen-and-a-half-year-old Aditya Raghavan complained of a headache-one that could not be soothed with over-the-counter pain relievers. His motherVasundhara took him to the doctor where more tests were conducted. What the doctor discovered-chronic kidney disease-would change Aditya's life.In "Shades of Life," author VasundharaRamanujan tells of her so...more

Hardcover, 188 pages

Published November 5th 2010 by iUniverse.com

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Oct 31, 2012 Nethra Ram rated it 3 of 5 stars

‘It was time to sit, plan and execute a plan for survival. We had to accept this as a challenge’ reads one line in the beginning of this narration. The background to this declaration is the knowledge of the fact that twelve and a half year old Aditya has been diagnosed with acute kidney disease. While most people would have gone crumbling along with their world, when hit with news of such a magnitude, Aditya’s mother and family took it as a challenge that they eventually overcame with extraordin...more ‘It was time to sit, plan and execute a plan for survival. We had to accept this as a challenge’ reads one line in the beginning of this narration. The background to this declaration is the knowledge of the fact that twelve and a half year old Aditya has been diagnosed with acute kidney disease. While most people would have gone crumbling along with their world, when hit with news of such a magnitude, Aditya’s mother and family took it as a challenge that they eventually overcame with extraordinary measures of optimism and healthcare.

Shades of life is a first person account of Aditya’s struggle and subsequent recovery from Renal Failure that caused him to lose function in both kidneys even before adolescence. While it was the boy who suffered from the clinical implications of the disease, his family – father, mother and elder brother, suffered along with him, emotionally as well. Vasundhara Ramanujan’s moving account, detailing her younger son’s condition and how it affected and changed normal life for the family, is a revelation. Of how, the ring of suffering and recovery is not just restricted to the patient but extends to his loved ones who wish to see him heal and return to life as they once knew it.

The book is a trove of information on renal disease, a more personal account rather than medical, offered from the point of view of Vasundhara and her family. While a text book or encyclopedia might give you all technical details of the condition and case studies to accompany, Aditya’s story includes a different perspective. It gives you, in addition, the reaction of a family, which until a stubborn headache, had a peaceful existence worrying about the result of cricket matches and college admissions. You get to feel and experience the patient side of the story, from the initial shock to coming to grip with the condition and choosing to fight to live and live with better health.

Pluses :

* Short chapters with concise accounts of events.
* Chronological sequencing of experiences and information that make this book more of a journal than a compilation of medical inferences.
* The physician profiles at the end, detailing the work and achievements of experts in the field that I am sure will be useful to many.
* The honest tone of the book that does not at any point of time attempt to be overtly dramatic.

Minuses :

* While being a science student puts me at an advantage for understanding the medical terms and names of drugs listed in this book, to a non-science reader, it does tend to come across sometimes as too much detail.
* Some chapters have a final passage called reflections, that goes on to explain in some more detail about the emotional side of points covered in the text. In my opinion, I didn’t really find the need to separate the passages. They seemed to convey the same kind of matter as the rest of the chapter.
* The narration, fueled by a very emotional trove of experiences tends to get monotonous at times. There are opinions, anger, confusion and clarity from so many people closely involved with the problem, not to mention Aditya himself and I couldn’t help but want for a tighter script.

Conclusion:

Shades of Life is a story of survival. Of how one family braved it through two critical health problems that threatened to rob one of their own, of holistic living. When you just can’t find that ray of sunshine in your life, pick up this book. Aditya and his indomitable spirit will help you through.
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Apr 05, 2013 Leo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, motivational, inspirational, life, 4-star

This book, a non-fiction, is the recollections of the journey taken by a family after one of them was diagnosed with kidney disease. To have a feeling that that might be the problem and then hearing it is one thing, but going to the doctor for a persistent headache and finding out that the matter is something completely different is another. The settled family rises up to help the son, Aditya, fight against the odds. The author Vasundhara, the mother donates her own kidney to him while fighting...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Alpa Dedhia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Vasundhara says the book is meant for information not entertainment. I tried to treat the book the way she wants it to be. I stopped my heart to intervene. I kept saying ‘BE STILL MY HEART. DONT REACT.’ But it refused to.

Every page turned made me restless.It poured information. It poured difficulties Vasundhara and her family faced. It poured emotions. Fear, Worry, Care, Love and family together. And everything was so fast one after the other that I barely had time to gasp and reflect. I can und...more

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Nov 02, 2012 Shilpa Garg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shades of Life is a first person narration of life’s trials and tribulations faced by the author and her family, when her teenage son is diagnosed with deteriorating kidney function. It explains the stage by stage progression of the renal failure as a disease, its prognosis, diagnosis, the various tests involved and the therapy both dietary and medical (surgical and non-surgical). Since, I am a Science graduate and a Pharmaceutical professional, the language and terminology used was something I...more Shades of Life is a first person narration of life’s trials and tribulations faced by the author and her family, when her teenage son is diagnosed with deteriorating kidney function. It explains the stage by stage progression of the renal failure as a disease, its prognosis, diagnosis, the various tests involved and the therapy both dietary and medical (surgical and non-surgical). Since, I am a Science graduate and a Pharmaceutical professional, the language and terminology used was something I could relate to. But even a layman can get a complete understanding of the disease from this book, which is indeed a plus point.

Bed-wetting beyond the age of four could be due to kidney reflux and which could lead to kidney failure later on, was a shocking revelation. And this kidney reflux if treated early could lower the chances of kidney failure. So, bed wetting should get medically treated is something which is an enlightening take-away from this book.

A child suffering from a life threatening disease, a disease that would alter the life of everybody in the family, a disease which would need a life time of healthcare, could be daunting and difficult to handle but here is this family which believed, “through strategic thinking, we wanted to devise plans for overcoming problems that we would face, with appropriate actions to offset them”. And this they followed religiously all through these years during which Aditya had to go through 2 kidney transplants and innumerable hospitalizations and visits to the doctors. And that Aditya lives his life to the fullest, has achieved so much despite his illness is awe-inspiring.

Shades of Life is truly an inspiring tale of grit and determination to face all odds that life throws your way.

The book is written in a simple and limpid style and the reflections at the end of each chapter gives the important insights/learnings. However, some of the reflections are way too elaborative, which have already been dealt in detail in the main chapter. A crisp and a concise or even a bullet-pointed summary would had been much better.

The purpose of this book is not to entertain but to inform, to create awareness and sensitivity towards this chronic disease and it successfully proves its point.

This book is a must read for all to prepare oneself to meet such exigencies of renal failure and to help find a life-saving solution.
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Sep 01, 2012 PNA rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: information

Shades of Life: Sublime Joy Is in Living

May be I'm not ready yet to write about the book. However, I must write as well, and this is the question, to write or not to write, and if I want to write, how to. Because at many levels the books brought me face to face with that painful reality that life fragile. Anything can happen at anytime, the security we feel now, can disappear in a matter of minutes!

A mother, the writer narrates the incidents related to her son Aditya's battle with kidney failur...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy

A fifteen year old boy suffers from a headache that none of the over the counter pain relievers can get rid of. A visit to the doctor for a quick check up leads to a situation that no one could have predicted. The boy is diagnosed with a kidney disease that could slowly take him towards a kidney failure and ultimately an untimely death. Thus begins the struggle for life for a teenager and his family.

Vasundhara, Aditya, Srinivas and Dhananjay were like any other family. Settled and revolved aroun...more A fifteen year old boy suffers from a headache that none of the over the counter pain relievers can get rid of. A visit to the doctor for a quick check up leads to a situation that no one could have predicted. The boy is diagnosed with a kidney disease that could slowly take him towards a kidney failure and ultimately an untimely death. Thus begins the struggle for life for a teenager and his family.

Vasundhara, Aditya, Srinivas and Dhananjay were like any other family. Settled and revolved around each other. Hectic job and pressure of academic life were their only cause of anxiety. But everything changed with a single visit to a doctor’s office. Aditya, the youngest in the family was diagnosed with a kidney disease. Thus began the medical treatment and diet control. Then came the almost inevitable dialysis and the transplant.

Yes, Aditya survived and went on to graduate from IIT and earn a PhD. The complete account of how their lives were affected and how they battled against the disease is narrated by Aditya’s mother, Vasundhara Ramanujan in ‘Shades of Life’. The chapters in the book are like chapters of their lives and the book ends with a message of hope for not only Aditya and his family but also for those countless other families who are going through the same thing.

I have to say it right off the bat that though this is no work of fiction, at times it felt like fiction to me. And no, I don’t mean it in a negative way. It’s a compliment to Vasundhara because the courage and strength she has shown in her life is amazing. She has fought the disease alongside her son. She has probably had the toughest job – to fight a dangerous disease herself and donated her own kidney to her son. It is well known that there is nothing that can be compared to a mother’s love for her child and Vasundhara has proved that ten times over through her life.

Aditya himself is a brave person. Realizing that he had a life threatening disease at the age of fifteen and understanding the implications of that disease could not have been easy. I feel as if he had to grow up a few years in span of a few hours to actually understand. He has fought as hard as one can to live a life that we usually take for granted. His determination and adaptability surprised me time and again throughout the book. To see beyond the next dialysis and pursue his interest showed his strength of character.

The book also sends across the message that the doctors are only human after all. While there is corruption even in the medicine line, most doctors are sympathetic and humane. They can each only do so much after all. Srinivas and Dhananjay each played their part in this struggle. But still Vasundhara clearly overshadowed everyone with her strength, grit and positive attitude.

What I liked about the book was the Preface written by Mohammed Akmal, an MD who is associated with the University of Southern California. He has been associated with the family for quite some time now. In his words he has characterized Vasundhara so well. Also there is a list of those who has lent their expertise in the medical field and guided the family through the most turbulent times. It was good to see that list there and that credit was given were it was due. There’s also a glossary of the medical terms and a bibliography at the end to guide the readers.

Overall, the experience of reading this book isn’t one that I can express through my limited vocabulary. I cannot say that I felt what the family had to gone through because I can only imagine the deep struggle and sympathize with the family. But yes, through the book, I have ‘watched’ the family struggle to deal with a whole lot of things. I have grown with Vasundhara and Aditya and I realize that we take our lives for granted while Aditya did not have that option. While we fight for and about petty things in our lives, Aditya had to fight for his life almost every single day of his life since he was fifteen.

I would suggest and recommend this book to everyone I know as it will not only make the readers take a deeper look at their lives but also spread awareness of this killer disease. A MUST READ FOLKS!!
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Oct 31, 2011 Raji Lukkoor rated it 3 of 5 stars

A riveting story of unexpected obstacles, confusion, helplessness, loss of hope, and thru it all--triumph. This family's struggle w/ kidney disease gave me insight into my own life about how much I have taken for granted, and their perseverance reinforces my resolve to never give up. It is an honor to recommend this book to friends and readers.

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May 31, 2011 Vasundhara Ramanujan rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

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About Vasundhara Ramanujan

Vasundhara retired as secretary general of Mumbai-based Media Research Users Council. She and her husband Srinivas live in Dubai. They have two sons.

Mohammad Akmal is a professor of medicine at the USC Keck School of Medicine and has directed its dialysis program for more than twenty-five years.

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