A simplified guide to understanding the five elements through the story of nine kids growing together while discovering how the five elements mirror their experiences.
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Have you ever wondered why rains bring joy to some and makes others gloomy?
Have you ever wondered why some kids tend to throw up right before a tough examination?
Would you like to learn to interpret the message Mother Nature sends us with natural disasters like landslides, floods, cyclones, and forest fires?
Would you like to understand how your experiences with the elements could help you decode behavioural and lifestyle factors contributing to your diseases?
My Shape answers all these questions and more by helping you understand how the five elements—Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Space—mirror our reality and experiences.
The book, divided into two parts, explains the creation and role of each element in Part I. Part II teaches how elements impact human lives and how we can learn from our experiences with the elements through a tale of nine cousins and friends navigating the complexities of life together.
The part that stood out for me in My Shape was when the book talks about how elements can turn destructive when we are being rigid.
My Shape by Shivi Dua maam and Gaurav Dua sir is a deeply profound book explaining five elements. It shows how these elements exist within us and shape our experiences and evolution. One part that touched me deeply was when Aditya explains as understood by Saira ,that Soham, as our Sookshma, makes choices that later manifest as our reality. This made me realise how our subtle self keeps changing, and when we outgrow an old reality, it naturally deconstructs to make space for a new one .
The example of Aditya building an educational institution, (from ‘ The Farewell ‘ ) learning from it, and then outgrowing it beautifully shows how life keeps reshaping as we evolve within.
Also It beautifully explains that even death is part of this process – when our Sookshma has changed so much that even our physical senses and system need to be deconstructed to be rebuilt anew, allowing us to live, perceive, and learn through a completely new body. This perspective made me see death not as an end but as a renewal.
What touched me further was Aditya’s realisation that he was also just a witness to everything that was created and managed through him. Reading this made me see that life is about learning, unlearning, and reshaping ourselves with trust.
For me, a paragraph in the chapter, Byar. About how we often think that we want to resolve a particular situation whereas in fact we have created an identity out of it and hold on to it
The poem which talks about letting go. Often times when things don’t go our way we feel drowned in our emotions and as if that is the end of our existence but this poem is a beautiful reminder that we always exist no matter what.
Chapter 14, Wisdom around waterfall- "Similarly , there are no mistakes that we make Raja, We just learn through our experiences. We don't know how things could have been or would have been. We can only know how they are and that is the divine order."
For me these lines reminds us that any choice we make in a momemt is the only experience which we have chosen to grow beyond our limited boundaries and preset notions.
I like the finale of Aditya's visit in India, The farewell, the most. In the end so many things were better left unsaid, So many resentments were still there, Not everything was solved in the best possible way. Imperfect people, Imperfect lives. They all were incomplete in their lives and yet complete at the same time. It beautifully delivers the message that even though life isn't a garden of roses, Life is difficult , harsh challenging and incomplete. It still has got nothing to do with the feeling of being complete. We are always complete.
Another thing that comes to my mind when i read this chapter is that each character had a different life than the other. Surprisingly, How the same wisdom that they received from Siara in their childhood was implemented in their life uniquely. It made me think how the wisdom evolves uniquely through each one of us. And this life, Whether it feels like a blessing or curse, is beautiful because the wisdom evolves through each one of us uniquely and that's evolution.
My favorite part of My Shape is this beautiful quote: "The river that moves isn’t doing anything to flow. The droplet that was once a glacier becomes the ocean one day, only to become a new glacier again, on a mountain that is yet to be formed.”
To me, this reflects the quiet power of evolution and the natural unfolding of our journey. Just like the droplet, we are also changing our form and shape, without needing to force the process. It is a reminder that growth doesn’t need effort; it comes with surrender and trust. Even when we can’t see the destination, we are always in movement, part of something much larger than ourselves.
My aha moment came from Sairas letter to Aditya where she she talks about challenges at work. In particular “challenges came to help you understand something new about your on-going work. The current challenge tells you that you have learnt what you were meant to, in following this path. If you continue to fight it, you will get more and more miserable”.
In viewing these challenges as our failure we judge our self and forget to embrace the reality of the moment. By rejecting the new phase of life judging it as a downfall & not renewal, are unable to experience the renewed passion for that new phase. A simple acknowledgment of our transformation is enough to renew us
Though the entire book keeps giving me goose bumps and sometimes tears in eyes … One of many favourite parts is When Aditya stood transfixed outside his house… the memories of childhood rush back to him in contrast to his present state of mind , the mixed emotions - reluctance , vs nostalgia. The scene very beautifully explains his inner conflicts and realisations about life . Also I felt as if when we are about to enter a new phase of life same inner conflicts arise within us