JOIN USSeeking solutions in books
Self-help books are considered as a blessing by few and a bane by some. Today, there are all sorts of self-help books available in bookstores, mostly by American writers and even some by Indians. How to succeed in your career? How to be popular among your friends? How to get that cute guy in your college or office to fall for you? Nowadays, there are books that give advice on every topic possible. Self-help books promise to transform you from the ugly duckling to the face everyone wants to keep looking at, or the shy reserved kid to the social butterfly. Sounds perfect right?
One book in your hand and it claims to have the answer or solution to all your problems. But it is still a mystery whether these books can actually turn your life the other way round.
Self-help books do fly off the shelves but what happens to the readers once they finish with the book? Do they succeed in their careers? Do they get a nice partner for themselves? Or do they get the much-longed-for fame in their friends circle?
Reshma, a student says, “I like reading self-help books as they give you a certain type of confidence. But you cannot use their ideas in real life as they do not always work in the long term. In the end, only you can help yourself.”
It is much debated that if these self-help books really helped people, there would not be a lot of problems in today’s world. Self-help books cover all topics in life, from pregnancy to combating depression to dating to financial success.
These books are considered as a light read for some and taken very seriously by many. The question is whether they do really help by acting as a second help in a person’s everyday affairs or do they just give one the solutions for tackling certain problems.
Maitri Bhatt, a banker says, “I do not like reading self-help books because they do not really help people. It feels good when you read them but once you are done with them, they are of no help at all.”
A section of people would agree that self-help books cannot take the place of a friend or a guide for getting solutions for problems.
But many people do read self-help books for the little bit of confidence that these books bestow on them.
Mayi Gowda, the owner of Blossom Bookstore says, “There are a certain group of people who only purchase self-help books. There is a section here specifically for self-help books. They always like to purchase the books that cover the different phases of life so they come specifically for them.”
Whether self-help books really help or not, it differs from person to person. But the underlying fact is that self-help can best be provided best by oneself and not through any book.