(Don't Think of a Blue Ball)

First review by Mandovi Menon for The Times of India - GuyLife


Don't Think of a Blue Ball is not a book for the closed-minded. It's well in keeping with the changing times, the growing sense of spirituality that's shrouding the world today. It contemplates something that more and more people have been searching for in these trying times--a real sense of inner peace.

It's fickle in the best of ways; only to imply that this book has chameleon content and can as such be whatever you want it to be. In fact, Malti herself puts it best at the very beginning of the book when she says, "Don't Think of a Blue Ball can be as deep or as light as you want it to be." Though this may be enough motivation for you to go out and grab yourself a copy, allow me to paint a clearer picture.

This is a self-help book in many ways--no question about that. But Malti has definitely given the genre a fresh perspective, at least with respect to linguistic style. If you've been a regular reader of her articles, you already know of this life-coach's uncanny ability to simplify complex theories and illustrate their application in real life. This book is much the same in all its unprocessed, what-you-see-is-what-you-get language.

The book has a good flow, which is remarkable considering the plethora of topics that Malti speaks about in here. The topics she covers have been spoken about before--in literary works such as 2006's best-seller The Secret--but she tackles it in a manner I thought was especially riveting due to a strong sense of personality that comes through. As she gently forces us to confront a more honest version of ourselves through riveting lessons about positivity, replacing negativity, letting go, coincidences and much more.

A lot of her prose is speckled with DIY lessons, which adds to the book's worth, in my opinion. Malti's always vocal about her NLP training and is generous in sharing some great trade secrets through these tests and exercises that she's learned and applied with great to success in her own life.

Of all the tests available in the book, I especially enjoyed the 'jigsaw puzzle visualization exercise' and 'thinking pink declaration exercise'--but this is definitely going to differ from person to person. Also, I loved that she didn't hesitate to share deeply personal experiences, all of which further simplify the message of the book while engaging the reader.

In the end, this book is more akin to a tete-a-tete with the coach herself as it feels as though she's talking directly to you. Despite considering myself to be a strong and positive person by nature, this book made me take a harder look at myself. It gave me a clearer picture of what I wanted, and a step-by-step method of achieving it. All this while using the power of the universe and faith in ourselves--the two things we often neglect.

As I soaked up the last few sentences of the book, I closed it gently, suddenly aware that this was more of a beginning than the end!