Author – Dubai based Dr Ruchi Chopra Nasa is a Pathologist by profession. She loves to scribble on her blog, and you can find her writings on website: https://thevagabond.me/.

Plot – Neha, a doctor, is happy and secured in her loving little family comprising her college sweetheart turned husband Akash, also a doctor, and her son, Pihu, till one day she comes to know that her husband had cheated on her. Though Akash confesses to the extra marital affair being long over and apologises for his mistake, Neha finds it difficult to come to terms with this breach of trust and runs away from home. However, she realises that she still loves her husband and running away is not the solution. She returns and both husband and wife make an effort to work on their relationship. This is also the time when Neha decides to quit her job as she is not happy in her profession and takes up studies again. Both her husband and young son encourage and support her. Years later, Akash’s past knocks at his door once again.

Review – The story is written in the form of a personal journal. Though Ruchi took part in the A to Z blogging challenge, the book’s chapters are not titled alphabetically. It’s neither here nor there; it’s just something that I happened to notice.

I will tell you a few more things that caught my eye while reading the book.

Firstly, Neha gets married when she still wanted to enjoy life, gets a child because her parents and parents in law told her it was the practical thing to do and quits her job to take care of the child because that was the right thing to do. She has always bowed down to the pressures of the society and is therefore bitter about it. This is a very pertinent subject as more or less every Indian girl experiences this in her life and questions it at some point.

Ruchi has given a glimpse into the world of medical doctors. Instead of glorifying it as it is usually done, she has indicated that how when their peers are already into the family way, have a car and are steadily paying towards their home loan, MDs who have recently post graduated have not even thought of starting a family and have zero bank balance for having lived on meagre stipends.

The premise of the story is so relatable because every woman at least once in her married life asks herself what she would do if she ever finds out that her man is cheating on her. Would she leave him or see it as a signal that her marriage needs to work upon? Neha once tells Akash that she would definitely leave him should the situation ever arise in their marriage. However, when she is faced with it in reality, she is not able to run away but sticks by her husband.

Ruchi has woven a lot of wisdom in her story.

“It is so surprising over the years, we humans accumulate so much of unnecessary egos, negative thoughts, and negative people. An excess baggage of all sort as we age! Yet we never bother to do that cleaning in our lives.”

“You don’t get old when you are certain age, you get old when you start resisting the change. You get old when you stop celebrating the wonderful gift of life. You get old when you start waiting to die. You get old when you stop believing in love.”

And my favourite of all – “Love is not about candle light dinners, and precious gifts. Love is not just going around each other arm in arm. Love is holding the other when they themselves are not able to.”

That Year I Found Me is not a love story, but much more than that. It talks about marriage, the highs and lows that a couple experiences and their struggle to keep the relation-ship afloat. It is an eye opener for couples who think of taking the easy way when their marriage hits choppy waters. It is also inspirational for women as it shows Neha quitting her high paying job because she was not happy in it and finding happiness in studying again.

Download Ruchi’s book here – https://www.theblogchatter.com/download/that-year-i-found-me-dr-ruchi-chopra-nasa/

BTW, I have released my ebook too. It’s called Tara – https://tinyurl.com/y8gvc5gr

Do download and show it some love, love!! –