Book Review: Wings To Fly

This is a differentiated book amongst so many that I have read. It has been self-published on the journey of the author - Shri Deepak Sharma. It has his life journey, blended with his experiences in the social impact space. It aptly has the sub-title to this book title : “ nurturing dreams to come true”.

The book captures the author’s learnings that he has had in his transition from full-time corporate career to impact-sector volunteering. It is not easy to write a book, especially talking of learnings including failures. Much appreciation to the author for this bold attempt. The book has also presented voices of various people who know the author. 

The author’s description of his life journey is that of the hard work of an aspiring middle-class Indian boy to his success. He rose in his career across esteemed organisations like NTPC, BSES, ABB, Alstom Power and TATA group. In the book, he describes his visit to Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta in 1996 as ‘heart-wrenching’ and ‘very touching’. This sparked his focus to a new thinking of “returning” to the society.

This book captures that story of how the perceived success, as society determines it to be - basis social standing, wealth generation, etc - changed to that of calling, awakening, social service, and giving back to society.  His social-impact calling came into being in 2009; when he came across an advertisement that was inviting volunteers from civil society. At present, he is a Trustee at Udayan Care, where he had started volunteering in 2009.

“Life throws surprises that are often beyond the realm of understanding. The essence is to surge with the flow and not be too complacent or critical.”

This book is easy to read with simple language. The author has used various anecdotes from his life to make his points. Readers across various age groups and backgrounds will be able to relate to it. The book could be a good encouragement to many of those professionals who are confused - if they want to quit their career for full-time social volunteering. The book is simple read, written from the heart without any attempt to polish the narrative to perfection. 

If you are thinking of giving back to the society, read this book once. It will provoke you to think about your own drive to give back to society.

Diwali is always a good time to reflect on giving back to society. The book is a good nudge in that direction.

The author is Corporate Advisor & Independent markets commentator 

Twitter : @ssmumbai