A trunk full of sunshine – Sapna Dhyani Devrani

A trunk full of sunshine
-Sapna Dhyani Devrani
Leadstart Publications

It was quite some time that I had received a book from Leadstart. Last week when they suggested a few books, there was one that I already knew. The Curve of Chance written by my friend Vijay Raghav. I had already read that book and published a review on my blog. So I started to look at other options. When I read about the other books, I found one quite interesting. A book that claimed to be a collection of sunny and warm stories from the life of a military wife. Army people have different life then any normal civilian life. A book from an army life seemed interesting, particularly from the lady of an army family. I was eager to hear from her about the life of an army family. So I chose the book and intimated Leadstart. As always, I received the book within a couple of days. Our dispatch section sent me a mail intimating the arrival of the book. At dispatch section I gave the reference number and told them that it’s a book, to enable them collect the packet easily. After going through various packages, he started to look at other smaller packages. He handed over to me a small package which looked just like an invitation. The book indeed seemed a collection of short and small stories.

The book seemed very simple. It was a collection of some 27 short stories, which I may call just memories. None of the stories stretch beyond 5 to 6 pages the shortest one being just one page. I felt like reading someone’s diary. The chapter headings capturing the entire left page of the book and the right pages left blank if the chapter ends in a left page, reduced the number of pages for stories to just less than 90. Nothing was great with the stories. These were very simple incidences which would happen in any life. The stories did not give much insight in the life of an army officer. It was just a collection of memories in the life of the author Sapna Dhyani Devrani revolving around herself, her officer hubby and of two kids. After quickly completing the read, I felt disappointed with the book. I left it on my table and went for my evening coffee.

While I was drinking my coffee something stuck my mind. I realised that I had read the book in one go. I would not say that the book was making you to move from one chapter to another like a thriller story. Rather it was so smooth read like a flowing river. I was not rushing through the book but the chapters were holding my hand and taking me from one story to another. The English was so simple and the expressions were from the heart of the author. Without realisation, I was visualising the stories through the eyes of author. There was a positive vibes and ‘happy go lucky’ approach throughout the stories. The author had explained various hardships that she had been through, but there was not even a single moment that was explained in a negative manner. Some stories were told in a quite funny way and every story was keeping our spirits high. There was a feeling of completeness as I had finished the book. This book is not about army and its life, as I had initially expected, but its about family and love. It’s a great memoir for everyone who love their family especially, the lady of the house. I wouldn’t say that it is a must read but it is definitely a nice read.