The Alchemist

TheAlchemist
Originally uploaded by megarajan.

Book : The Alchemist
Author : Paulo Coelho


Though I heard of The Alchemist a long way back , It didnt strike me to have a read of it.

When I met my friend Harish recently , he suggested this book and told it was good.

I got myself a copy of this and started going through it without any expectations of any kind.

It turned out to be a short story told in a simple manner , but the meanings of which carry heavy message , something like the Tamil classic Thirukural.

Coelho seems to have come from a spanish background with some knowledge of grassroots spanish life.

The story is about a Spanish Shepherd who wants to follow his dreams . He becomes a shepherd , bcos he is fond of travelling , just like me .

He gets a dream in which somebody says to him that "You will find treasure in the Pyramids " .

As the saying goes , "Anything that occurs once , will never occur again , but anything that occurs twice is bound to occur again " .

So when he gets the same dream twice , he believes that he needs to go in search of his treasure leaving his present happy and settled life.

The story is just like any other human being who faces lot of situations in which he has to take a decision . The shepherd finally decides to go in search of his treasure , following what his heart says.

How he reaches the treasure , the obstacles he faces during his search , the persons whom he meets during the time , the lessons he learns from his mistakes are all well told in a story form .

He finally finds his treasure under the pyramids , but the climax will be a real eye opener for anyone who reads till the end.

I have been familiar with Some of the things discussed in this book like Omen reading , which occured prominently in "Sandhana Mayandi " , a Tamil Novel based on a Real life Story .

The gist of the book is that "Follow your heart ...." , which has been told long before by Superstar Rajini when he told that "Naan itha ( Head) kettu velai seyiravan illai , itha ( Heart) kettu velai seyiravan " .

The book was really good and a must read for anyone .

- Megarajan