“Success is never easy” as it is rightly said. In today’s time, everyone is chasing success and working hard to get to the pinnacle. Every success story has two secrets. That secret is hard work and never give up spirit. Other than that, efforts courage perseverance determination are also the contributors of success. In order to remind everyone of these success secrets, Dr. Roopleen brings up 17 such success stories of Doctors from different walks of life in her book, “And So Can You!“. 

The title of the book instills inspiration and motivation in the reader of having the ability to do any task, achieve any target, and make any dream come true by sheer perseverance and dedicated attention. The author again and again reinforces the fact that hard work always pays off the only condition is that it takes time and patience. She has brilliantly chosen quotations about success and places them at the beginning of the stories. This can only give a glimpse into the extremely positive personality Dr. Roopleen is. At the end of every story there is a section of “Advice to young and Aspiring doctors” and another section of “Take away words of wisdom”. Although the author’s idea if you give advice to young aspiring future doctors but the applicability of all that advice can can apply to other people belonging to different professions also.  This is what widens the appeal of the book opening it to readers of every background. Everyone can read them and apply them in their lives. Through the stories the author says that life can throw challenges, barriers, hurdles and obstacles in front of anyone at any point of time but no one should give up and should stay ready to face them, to take tough decisions and stay determined to accomplish their goals.  She also highlights that there is always a driving force which motivates the people to do do what they dream to do and also the fact that as children their minds are impressionable and easily influenced.  

Almost all the stories feature doctors who, under exceptionally unfavorable circumstances fought all odds with determination and emerged victorious by excelling in their fields. Although the stories are about people who belong to the medical profession but it is applicable to all those who are working hard to achieve a specific target or any dream or any purpose they have in mind. So one way of looking at that could be that the book is for people who are looking for inspiration or for real life examples. They can find genuine people from humble backgrounds who made it to the best of their abilities in one lifetime.

Most of the stories are of doctors who were kids in newly independent India. From this perspective, the reader can also understand the socioeconomic conditions of the people who struggled very hard and made sacrifices for the comforts and good quality life they enjoy today. The stories more sound like wisdom acquired from experience being written about and being left as a legacy for future generations to look upon. Also the reader gets an idea about the life of ordinary Indian household and all the sacrifices that family members make for the better future of their children and how they invest on their education and try their best to give them all the facilities and comforts that are affordable to them. 

The author has given interesting titles to all the stories and somewhere the basic message is to stay positive and do not give up without winning. Picking up one story and categorizing that are the best one would not be justified rather every story in itself has a beauty which distinguishes it from the rest. To certain extent reading the stories in the book of all the people can change a person’s perspective from pessimistic to optimistic.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about the book is the way in which the stories are narrated. They at times sound like bed time stories for children where even though it is all nonfiction but the element of going back to the doctor’s childhood and recording his/her life from there is what ignites the reader’s imagination. Most importantly, the stories end on a positive, victorious note and that is likely to cast a good effect on the minds of children. The language and vocabulary of the book is simple and easy to read. The book can be read by people from all walks of life belonging to possibly all age groups irrespective of the fact that they are a student or professionals or retirees. 

Categorizing this book understand “motivational literature” would be more like doing injustice to it. The book features the stories of real people who struggled through real difficulties and faced their circumstances bravely. In that sense, calling it “non-fictional literature for motivation” would be a better categorization. 

Ratings:
5/5

Author Name:  Dr Roopleen
Book Title:  And So Can You!
Publisher: Power Publication; 2018 edition (2018)         
Paperback: 269 pages

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