National Institute of Fashion Technology, Hyderabad
COMMUNICATION
ASSIGNMENT - 2
BOOK REVIEW
Submitted by:
Sapna Mahseshwari (MFM Sem 2)
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‘Dear Stranger I Know How You Feel’ by Ashish Bagrecha is a non-fiction self help book published
by Westland Publications Pvt. Ltd., consists of 30 letters and some poems around it. A kind of motivator
for the people who have gone through depression and mental health issues.
Ashish Bagrecha is a famous poet on Instagram. He started writing about life and love in high school with
the dream to become an author someday. In 2018, while fighting depression and anxiety, he decided to
post poems and ‘Dear Stranger’ letters about healing on Instagram to help and support everyone who was
going through the same feelings. He is a strong believer of the universe and its magic, Ashish holds a
master's degree in Marketing and runs an app development agency. He currently resides in Surat and is
married to best-selling author Savi Sharma. Together, they dream to inspire millions through their stories
and poems. You can reach out to him on:
Instagram profile: @ashish.bagrecha
Twitter profile: @ashishnbagrecha
The book is basically about how you revive yourself from the hurt caused to you, the way you heal and
take charge of your life again. There are 30 letters which in some way related to some kind of emotional
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breakdown combined with poems as a source of reinforcement to step up. Content have been taken
according to each day, take a look below:
It acts as a guide for people struggling with mental health and battling with life. It talks about how
difficult it gets for us to go through the pain. We just get detached from our physical self and observe our
actions as if someone else is watching. Pain becomes so overpowering we feel as if it threatens to drown
us in a deep sad reservoir. Things which used to look appealing earlier now all seem to fade away in this
chaotic black and white world, all this makes us feel hollow from inside. This hollowness makes us hide
from the people around and it gets more difficult to accept the reality, we feel so remorseful at that point
of time that we feel like getting away from everyone’s eyes. Even those painful thoughts keep on
occupying our mind, making us feel restless and unworthy, distracting us from the surroundings, leading
to sleepless nights.
The author while describing the situation of a person during pain and anxiety also suggests some of the
ways to distract our mind from such negative thoughts like doing meditation, going for a walk, talking to
a friend etc just so that our mind wanders somewhere else and suffering decreases, healing takes place
with the period of time though it is understood that it’s not so easy get over with the heartbreak so soon.
One weeps not only emotionally but physically too, that pain is so much heart wrenching. The author has
very correctly said: ‘Healing is not a race, but a long voyage that you must embark on’.
A point comes when life seems a lot unfair and our senses go numb, the loss occupies a bigger place.
Some situations become so unbearable that we start taking the support of liquor and drugs which brings us
to more devastating effects later on. Even this self harm will not bring back the old days which we are
reminiscing, sanity will come with time there is no need to rush with the things and trying to appear sober
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just to confirm with the society standards. There is no need to sit back and brood over the past happenings
give life a second chance and venture on the road of forgiveness that is not letting that particular instance
and person affect anymore. On this lane of second chance we’ll be better equipped with things in a better
way as now we know we need to keep check on our feelings and not let attachment occupy the
influencing position. Life is the name of growth and we should manifest our energy in the dreams we
want to achieve as no obstacle is such that we cannot surmount. We should never forget we are not alone
here we have a set of family and friends who’ll be always there for us in time of need, they are a source of
inspiration who always stand to give us emotional and moral support. Just turn the page and happiness
awaits for us, soulmate has been made for everyone which we find when right time comes. Never belittle
love.
The way these 30 letters are presented kind of give it a personalised feel, you see before the beginning of
every letter the author writes ‘Dear Stranger’ it purely looks as if he is communicating to you and trying
to help you out in your adverse situation. The way the sentences are framed it has a power of leaving a
lasting impact on the reader as it is seen how he encourages you at every moment and kind of imprints on
your mind he’ll be there for you no matter what, you can reach out to him whenever you feel low or
dejected. He reassures you that you are not alone in this awful hypocritic world and he has gone through
the same dealings in life so he can totally relate to it. It feels as if he is your friend, guide or mentor who
cannot see you breaking down every minute, he tries his best to uplift your emotions leading you to a
brighter day of life. The only thing which I feel would have added a silver lining to it if the author has
suggested particular exercises in separate sections for these mentally and physically stressful situations in
one’s life.
The book doesn’t define any class of readers, it is a very powerful support system for everyone who is
going through an emotional battle and kind of feels lost and alone in this chaos. It makes you realise
where you stand in life and what is your capability. It reflects on the point that nothing can stop you from
achieving your goals, not even the mental barriers.
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