Unlocked: The Power of You

JOINING the ever-increasing world of self-help books is ‘Unlocked: The Power of You’ by Gezim Gashi, a 33-year-old entrepreneur. Barely days old when he was thrown out of a second-floor hospital window by his mother to escape the genocide in Kosovo, he maps the way to personal success and fulfillment. What stands out in the book, apart from Gezim’s extraordinary story, is that it talks about controlling our own narrative and understanding that it is more about how you know people than who you know. Gashi says that the skills and lessons we have learnt — he calls them his superpowers — are just what we need to find our way and thrive in this uncharted territory. He says these abilities are what equip us to deal with the future. The author lays out a path to personal success and fulfillment that is accessible to all, regardless of their background.

IIC Quarterly’s latest issue is an enriching collection of essays. The lead essay is ‘Our History, Your History, Whose History’, which was historian Romila Thapar’s address at the India International Centre’s annual CD Deshmukh Memorial Lecture. The essay focuses on the link between history and nationalism and why this has the possibility of history becoming entangled with legitimising a kind of nationalist narrative that is questioned by many historians. The other articles in the issue are thoughtful insights into the sari; cross-cultural conversations that enable us to reconnect with our past and make it relevant for our present; the two epics and the construction of the nation’s identity; Myanmar’s decade of gloom and the implications for India; and an interview with two Japanese economists who visited IIC as part of a series marking the 70th anniversary of India-Japan diplomatic relations. Pablo Bartholomew’s photo essay describes his journey to reconnect with his ‘lost’ family in Burma.