Dec 03, 2015 06:53 PM
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Savainche gulam(Slaves of Habits) is a Marathi book with an English name. It is written by renowned psychologist Dr. Rajendra Barve. In his own words the book is part of psycho-education. The author says that 3% of the population suffers from obsessive compulsive disorders of various forms. We all have such people around, sometimes even in our families. Those who wash their hands again and again, those who check whether the house is properly locked several times. Those housewives who are obsessed with cleanliness are not a rarity.
These disorders can assume graver proportions. There are various case studies in the book. There is a young man working in a bank who thinks a small error caused by him may cost him his job and also land him in jail. Hence he checks the figures right to left and left to right. This consumes a lot of time and hampers the functioning of the organization. There is a housewife who bathes for hours, initial minutes are spent on cleaning the tap.
This book is not a self-help book. It is a scientific book written in simple words. It narrates how habits are formed. It narrates how rituals are inculcated. It tells us how the brain functions. It tells how thoughts break the psychological set up of a person. The author tells in a manner discernible to layman how medicines work in case of psychological illness.
The doctor speaks about fear which is inherent in all of us. The best way to conquer fear is not doing anything about it. By not doing anything he means not praying, not fighting with those thoughts, not worrying about it. Fear is like a wave, it just comes and goes. When it comes wait for it to ebb. The author emphasizes the positive impact which yoga, meditation, deep breathing, omkar has on the state of mind.
I really liked the book. It doesn’t make any tall claims to transform your life in few days. But it does educate you regarding mental health, which I feel is much needed.
