"Professor Chandra Follows his Bliss" by Rajeev Balasubramanyam

[Holly R W]

This is another book about a dysfunctional family, with Professor Chandra as the focus. I found the book to be interesting and fun to read. Chandra does grow and mature as the story progresses, at the ripe old age of 70. Aspects which make the book fun are the contrasts: portrayals of Chandra's stodgy life as a Cambridge economics professor, his ex-wife's wealthy and New Agey life style in California, Chandra's experiences with the "in your face" therapy at Esalen (and the nudist hot tub there), and the Zen monastery that Chandra's youngest daughter goes to live in for rehab.

Family members start off as estranged in the first part of the book. Chandra has a heart attack and is hurt that no one comes to see him in the hospital. He feels unloved and unappreciated by the people who matter the most to him, his family. This serves as a wake up call to him to make some changes in his life.

I liked much of the story. One drawback for me is the characters' psychobabble to each other, especially at the book's ending. I don't believe that people actually talk that way. Still, I did enjoy seeing how "Professor Chandra Follows his Bliss".

Rating: 4 Stars

[NancyJ]

That sounds interesting. I think many of us reach a stage where we realize we need to reconnect with family. I'm sure I'll reach that point eventually, though right now I'm really happy when everyone leaves me alone so I can read.

In terms of speaking psychobabble, I noticed that people are more likely to do this when they are in certain types of groups of training programs. I do it when I get excited about a new concept or technique. I realized how obnoxious it must be to others when a relative joined Landmark, which is an offshoot of EST. He was unbearable for a while because he talked about it nonstop and used their terminology in place of normal words. They push the participants to persuade others to join the group, presumably as a way to build their personal skills, or show their commitment or something. It was shameless how hard they pushed people to sell for them. It was like he was proselytizing for a religious group.

[Holly R W]

I appreciate your thoughts, Nancy. The book was fun to read and did have themes that most everyone can relate to (teen aged children, a generation gap, divorce, misunderstandings, etc.) Isn't it interesting how we each bring our own unique experiences to the books we read?