Book Review: On The Way, They Gave a Hand - By Payel Dutta

This is a book review post for the book ‘On The Way, They Gave a Hand’ written By Payel Dutta.

Life is amazing when you get to live your dreams, and it only happens when you are around the right people.

Payel Dutta, On The Way They Gave a Hand

One of the Blogchatter Ebook Carnival’s recent releases is a book that got me hooked the moment when I read the title of the book - On The Way, They Gave a Hand. This book by author Payel Dutta - a solo traveller - does indeed live up to the title. It’s not just a travelogue, it’s also about stories that unfold when you are travelling.

When you visit a new place, more often than not there would be moments that leave lasting marks on your hearts and minds. You meet new people and the time spent with them occupies a corner of your heart for eternity. And you can choose either to keep these memories and stories to yourself or you can share these with the rest of the world. And if you know how to recreate those moments and eloquently express them through your pen then you should definitely go ahead and do that.

About the Author

Payel’s love for travel made her break the shackles and drove her to pursue her dreams, which was being a solo traveller. Life has given her new surprises at every turn. Collecting moments from journeys hither and thither, the writer has finally decided to voice her thoughts and make them open to the world. Her book compiles a few short stories on meeting new people from her travel diaries.

Book Cover

Photo ©The Blissful Aura

Cover (c) Payel Dutta

The book cover features a girl and travel accessories filled with rainbow colours, justifying the Authors’ words

Everywhere you go, what you see, how you feel, all these combine to a rainbow story of your life.

It is said that one should not judge a book by its cover. But you know what -Payel’s book cover will sure give you a hint of what you will going to find inside her book.

My Review

True to its title, On the way…they gave a hand, each chapter of this book will tell you a story of her meeting with people that became part of her journey and later in her story. No matter what the place is, it is evident that she lived an unforgettable moment.

You get to read stories about spending time with her brilliant host in Kerala, sharing a car with the Belgian couple, and meeting with her Dutch host in Bali, conveying a simple message that leaving your comfort zone and going out to other places will certainly change your perspective in many ways.

Other stories like a little chat with the gentleman on the cruise to Netherland, a delightful encounter with some amazing people like a talented tour guide, and the tourists from other countries during her Cambodia trip are also the good ones to convince you to travel the world and meet some wonderful people.

Stories like An encounter with lovely Japanese lady in Fort Kochi, getting help from a Russian tourist, lucky to have an angel host in Otres (Cambodia) whom she never met are the ones full with positivity and hope, compelling me to believe that there is still a lot of good that exists on this planet.

Getting to know why Indonesians are so fond of Indian culture and why half the people she met in Bali had the name ‘Wayan’ was surely the enriching experience for her. Solo travelling is fun but who does not enjoy a trip with old friends, a funfilled Bishnupur trip with friends was also an unforgettable experience for her. I must say that all stories and incidents are pretty engaging and will keep you hooked until the end.

Her stories surely convey that after every trip she returned home with a heart full of mixed memories. And her book is nothing but a collection of those striking moments.

My favourites from the book

Although all the stories are amazing, these are my favourites among them:

• ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’, based on her Kerala trip where she learned how to better her hosting skills from her brilliant host who treated her like a family.
• ‘The Knowledge Trader’ where she met a talented tour guide who impressed her with his extensive knowledge of culture and history.
• ‘Host in Otres’ where her angel host paid three times more than the original booking amount as her own place was undergone emergency maintenance. That host arranged her stay in a luxury resort just to ensure her comfortable stay.
• ‘Learning Sensibility’ where she learned a valuable lesson from her tubby host in Sanur.
• ‘Russian Pomogite’ where a Russian tourist not only offered help but a delightful company too.
• ‘Zany We Were Together -A trip with her friends to cherish for the future.

Final words

Her book reminded me of some of the travel moments that I still cherish. The conversational narration style is easy to read and is engaging which made stories even more interesting. The title of each story aptly complements the whole story. Overall, this book is for all the travel freaks out there who believe that travelling is not just packing bags to go to some places for sightseeing and relaxing but it is way beyond that.

This book will show you how travelling gives you the life lessons and moments that you have never otherwise learned or lived, and how it helps you to discover yourself and your skills from which you were not aware of.

Book Details

Title

On The Way…They Gave A Hand

Author

Payel Dutta

Genre

Travel / Story

Format

Ebook

Pages

83

Download this book for FREE (for a limited time) from here.