Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – At Work is a compilation of 101 stories about the Work Place. Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Juhi Rai Farmania have done a brilliant job in bringing this potpourri of work life tales for us. The book which definitely strike a chord with you and I am sure at least one among the 101 stories would be similar to your own. I have thoroughly loved this book and it definitely does justice to the legacy of Chicken Soup series of books.

It has been a little over four years since I started working. I have switched companies twice and presently am working in the third company of my career. In such a short span of time, I have met varied people; I have won accolades and at times have even been rebuked for my mistakes. The journey so far has been bitter sweet. There were days when I had truck loads of work and had to stretch days without any breaks. There were also days when I had absolutely no work and had all the time in the world to do all kinds of things apart from work. I have had great managers, who I still admire and hold in high regards but I have also had managers whom I wish I had never came across. There were colleagues who started out as team mates but ended up becoming my best friends, with whom I can share anything and everything. There were team mates who I wish to never see in my lifetime again. There were annoying people, sweet people and of course the inconsequential ones. I have learnt that to succeed in career one has to work smart instead of working hard. I have learnt that sometimes ass kissing gets you good appraisals but have failed miserably in that. The Workplace is where we spend almost two thirds of our day so if one is not happy at the workplace life tends to become a tad difficult! Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – At Work is a wonderful collection of anecdotes of people and their Work. After reading this you are bound to be in the best of spirits and eager to go and start work afresh!

The book chronicles the experiences of Doctors, Engineers, Writers, CEOs, Call Centre Employees, Businessmen et al surrounding their profession and their work place. It has stories of the experienced and the fresher’s too; all teaching us valuable lessons. Being true to the soul of every Chicken Soup book, this too has accounts which compel you to see the glass as half full instead of half empty. All the 101 stories in it gives you hope and teaches you valuable lessons of how to steer one’s professional life during crisis, how not to give up at the face of obstacles as in one of the stories it says‘ dig a tunnel under or fly above the wall instead of colliding with it’. This book for me is a manual which I shall keep referring back to whenever the atmosphere at work gets too hot to handle. It has stories which I am sure would act like therapy when one faces depression due to stress at work.

The book is divided into 13 sections each having stories with a specific theme; an underlying message. There are stories direct from the CEO’s desk, the point being loud and clear – seize the break after which only sky is the limit! There are stories which orchestrate how you can turn roadblocks at work into winning opportunities. There are stories which show how it just takes one step to move towards doing something that you always wanted to and if you have conviction, in spite of initial hiccups you are bound to see light at the end of the tunnel. This personally is my favourite section as sometimes I want to invest my entire time in doing what I love- to write; but so many ifs and buts creep into the mind. This section screams out loud and says ‘Go for it and listen to your heart!’  Also stories of true leaders , of work life balance, of learning from slip-ups, of perks and fun at work,  of courage and persistence , of  Indian way of doing business and of listening to both the head and the heart while at work are in abundance.

I am happy I got the opportunity to read this book and review it. I would definitely recommend Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul – At Work to one and all. Read it and savour the experiences of others like you; perhaps even learn a little something from it all!