Santiago #atozchallenge

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santiago- paulo coelho

Santiago is the lead character in Paulo Coelho’s ‘The Alchemist’. He becomes a shepherd against his father’s will, who wanted him to become a priest in the local church. When he thinks there’s nothing left to learn from the sheep, he sells them even though he’s very attached to each one of them, and embarks on a journey to live his dreams. He becomes a treasure hunter ready to cross the vast Sahara desert for his treasure. His journey helps him achieve spiritual, emotional and psychological maturity. 


What I learnt from his journey to follow his dream and his search for treasure is that, we don’t tend to meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our path for a reason. He meets Melchizedek, who claims to be the King of Salem, tells Santiago about the soul of the world and insists him to follow his dream. He also gives him two magical stones, Urim and Thummim, which represent “yes” and “no”, to help guide whenever he’s confused. Without this encounter, the journey wouldn’t even have started. Then he meets the crystal merchant, the thief, the Englishman, the Gypsy woman and finally the alchemist. Each of them had a very important role in his life, contributed a lot to his experience. He learnt a lot from them about life, love, dreams, learning and the soul of the universe.



Every one of us has that little, inquisitive Santiago buried deep within us. Just the right amount of courage and confidence is required to bring it out and fulfill our own Personal Legend.

Review of The Alchemist.


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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju
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