Once There Was Me: The Extraordinary Life of an Unknown Indian

by Bobby Sachdeva

Caught in the web of communal violence repeatedly, Bobby Sachdeva stares at his burning house set afire by the bloodthirsty mob of the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. As a fourteen year-old, his world turns upside down, exactly at the age his father had escaped from Pakistan during the Partition of India.

Recovering from the trauma, Bobby re-builds his business and journeys across the US and China, experiencing a life unhindered by religious animosity. Having experienced both sides of religion—of immersion and detachment—he starts questioning the role of religion in our lives.

Based on his vision of an emergent India, Bobby finally submits a PIL in the Supreme Court for religious shrines to distribute their excess income for the downtrodden. What happens next as religious hardliners turn against him?

427 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2020

Reviews

[Ruchi Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s my second book by this author so I was excited to read because I really liked the first book. I picked up this book and couldn’t put it down for a minute. Indeed it’s an amazing book. I don’t know where to start the blurb and review. The book starts around 1984. The first chapter is about communal riots. The former prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi was killed and from that incident communal riots against Sikh community started. Bobby was around fourteen year old teenager back then. The riots killed many people, raped women and burned their houses. His house was one of them. He witnessed such incidents in his teenage life. His father escaped from Pakistan during the partition. These incidents impacted their lives. They faced many ups and downs in the life. The book is about growing up and his experiences. Read the book to unfold further plot. I loved the plot. I started reading first chapter and immediately fell in love with the plot and writing style. Narration style of the author is captivating. Author has used good vocabulary and language. I would definitely love to see a movie based on this. The writing style of the author gave the perfect pictures of riots and hardships faced by many families at that time. It was the best narration. Overall good one. I indeed enjoyed reading it. Recommended from my side.

[Dhwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Once There Was Me is the memoir of Bobby Sachdeva mixed in with some fiction. It surely takes a lot of courage to write about one's life, the highs and lows and present it to the world.

The assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 lead to some serious consequences for the Sikhs. For a 14 year old Sikh boy, what happens as a result of that assassination is what the book begins with. With your heart in your mouth you will read and be horrified with the trauma he and his family go through. This harrowing incident gives the book an engrossing beginning. The book mainly focuses upon the Mr. Sachdeva's upbringing, life and family with the background of communal riots and his family's altering financial conditions. His departure to USA, his struggles there and his return cover the middle third of the book. The last third focuses upon God and Godmen.

There are a lot of quotes in the book in regard to religion, country, life and people on general which I found to be quite true and relatable. I applaud the honesty with which Mr. Bobby Sachdeva has written the book. The first third of the book is fast paced and engrossing which is a feature that tends to taper off through the middle and last third of the book. The last few chapters are focusing on the same topic making the writing repetitive. I agree, it's the present that the author mentions towards the end and that it is to be written about in detail but the excessive details makes the reading a bit mundane. However, the writing style and language is good and doesn't make you pause the reading. I also applaud the creators of the cover of the book for its really creative and so is the title.

The book will give you an assurance about keeping faith in oneself.

[Yokesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a real eye opener and owing to his tagline "CHANGING PERCEPTIONS" ,he really introduce the readers to a whole new way of thinking and seeing the world. He drives the readers through a path very less taken to show the real circumstances of our country. It was very much a bold attempt by the author to show the true colours of the public related departments and their negligence in serving the people.

Speaking of the story the main protagonist, the author himself ,is a victim of various riots like in 1988 and 2002.And his parents have been a victims of partition of India in 1947.He himself facing two riots and hearing the story of 1947 riots rose a number of questions about the religion and its impact and division in the society.The story clearly potrays how a society force us to do things which we are not fond of.

His travel to America and China turns out to be an integral part to show where our country is truly lagging,and what different principles, when followed, could help us make a huge leap in development both socially and economically. And it also lightens the mood after hearing about all those riots.This story is must read for all irrespective of their believes and preferred genre. It worth every bits of your time you spend on it.

The story is a life travel of one common Indian man on the course of which the plight undergone by the same, is explained.The language of the story is so easy to understand and it does not require a effort to make sense.The cover of the book is so attractive and pulling us towards it to lay our hands on it. The title is so apt to the book which you understand on the course of reading. The way book ended kind of dropped me down.

I wish it could have ended differently.But on the whole it was a very subtle read with intriguing points and headtwisting perceptions....

[Neelam Mungekar · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Once There Was Me’ by Bobby Sachdeva is a book wherein the author has shared his experience throughout his life. We get to see a glimpse of the communal riots and how it affected the common people including the author’s family. Be it any sort of riots or violence the real culprits are never held or punished rather innocent people who don’t have any part to play become victim. We also get to see how the author had an experience with the medical field and what all goes around in the field. The struggle that the author had throughout his life and how he overcomes all these difficulties is exceptional. We also get to see how a religious person turns into a complete atheist. To know more read ‘Once There Was Me’.
I must agree that this book was an emotional rollercoaster ride and the author has expressed his feeling beautifully. It was really painful to see a small boy getting to experience communal riots and the fear of getting caught. I liked the relationship that the author has with his father and how his father always supported him in all his decisions. I am sure the readers will get connected to all the characters of the book. Language was simple and lucid and the narration is excellent. The cover page and the title of the book are apt to the plot of the book.
Overall, I must say that this is a book wherein the readers will actually get to see the ‘The Extraordinary Life of an Unknown Indian’. I would surely recommend this book to all.

[Mrunal · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Once there was me" by Bobby Sachdeva is a gripping semi autobiographical book that takes us back to the aftermath of partition, the 1984 sikh riots and it's impact on the Sikh community.

The book begins with a little insight about the happenings post the assassination of Late Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1984 that led to killings of Sikh and many riots that caused the author and his family to flee from Delhi to Amritsar.

The book further talks about how the people treated the Sikhs, their financial struggles, incidents that made him question his faith in religion, the treatment of migrants in America.There are also some parallel stories like Harbir talking about the guerrilla war in Afghanistan, Shambunath a fellow worker and how Muslims were treated post partition.

We Indians are all aware of the gut wrenching incidents our forefathers have been through during the partition and the riots followed by it. This one was one hell of ride looking back to our history and the suffering of the people. The author has poured his heart out, the narrative is extremely gripping. Highly recommend this one.

[Aarti Arora · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Once There Was Me’, written by ‘Bobby Sachdeva’, is an intense and foreboding page-turner set during the 1984 riots in Delhi and Punjab. The story is of a guy, Bobby Sachdeva, who was one of the victims of that violence and terror in the country.

The protagonist goes through many phases and explores the different cultures of India and America through his journey. The story depicts the dark side of how official work is done in India. The bribe culture, religion, and caste prejudices and the abandonment of someone who needs help. The author has pointed out the traditions in the Sikh culture.

The narration is easy and really helps to present the correct image in front of the reader. Halfway in the story, I couldn’t able to put down the book. The curiosity aroused because of the unexpected turn of events.

Read the full review on:
https://readreactreview21.wordpress.c...

[Sourav Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the whole book, I must say that its really a very well researched book. Written on the background of Petition. We all remember, how thousands of people had suffered during the time of petition, so many people lost their lands, home and their loved ones during that time. The author naarated all the miseries and the helplessness of people through the story properly. The narration of the book is really amazing. The emotional ride and the ups and downs and the a  life full of struggle can touch the readers heart. The book also narrated many issues regarding religion and many belief system of that time that had a great impact on people's life. 

The title of the book subjective and totally appropriate with the content.

The language is lucid and simple.

The cover is really beautiful and creative.

Over all , a good one.

[Vaishnavi Vaishu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book name: Once there was me
Author : Bobby Sachdeva
Format : Ebook
Ratings :4.5/5
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-A semi autobiographical work which explains the life of the protagonist who struggles along with other people during the time of partition.  

-He explains the life of people who suffered very badly because of the partition, as a witness of partition himself he explains the loss of their lands, loved and the beloveds.

 -A well-researched book about the tough time in India with a wonderful narration made the book so live.

 -The work explains how hard life can be but we should work hard every day to overcome it till we reach our ultimate goal.

-A motivational book very much recommended to all readers and treat for book lovers.

- A suitable title for the book with simple and lucid language.

[Manisha Mahanandia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens with Sachdeva waking up to loud voices yelling 'Indira Gandhi amar rahe'. He and his father hide in their apartment until the riots go away. At some points it became horrifying to read. This book is fast paced with small chapters, the book discusses religion in India and the tragedies of partition. Being a history buff, I found this book moving. The writing style was straightforward. There were a few parts where I felt a little lost, things that I felt were unnecessary but overall this is truly a good book. I liked this book much better than the previous one.

3.5 stars.

[Aditi Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting from the cover, it's pretty cool and the title is catchy too.

This is the second book of the author but honestly speaking, it either hits you like a sledgehammer or slowly creeps on you. The story begins with the heartbreaking assassination of our beloved prime minister Mrs.Indira Gandhi and retaliatory killing of Sikhs in 1984.

It is basically a memoir, loaded with author's personal experiences of his life and packed in humour, exaggeration and socio-political commentary. Through a vortex of extreme adversities and life-threatening danger from his childhood as well as painful self-realisation, author bravely fights against the odds for justice and equality.

Sometimes I found myself often struggling to connect and construct, but
it never lets me tempted beyond its first few pages! Eventually the story will beat all your expectations. You ignore the signs in the beginning and hope that it will go away, or at least get better. But it only becomes monotonous.Author's writing style is convenient and engaging but plots may be come off as planted rather than organic.

It had potential but somehow it didn't make sense to me. Nevertheless, it was fine.

[Suchi Shukla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rightfully disillusioned!
“Indians like to portray their country as a picture of unity in diversity, which was a sentiment proposed by the Sikhs’ first guru, Sri Nanak Devji. But neither Sikhs nor Indians lived by this any more.”( location 456) sums up the disillusioned state of mind of the protagonist Booby during his journey from a high spirited 14 year old boy to a 20 something worldly wise man. In the recent past I read and reviewed another book by the same author titled ‘Stories of Us’ and was remarkably impressed by the lucid narrative and a deep sense of awareness and insight into the lives of commoners.
This book has a background of repeated and prolonged communal riots initiated by the murder of Late prime minister Indira Gandhi in October 1984 by her Sikh security guards. A poignant picture of devastation, misery, greed, selfishness and rare sights of empathy are etched in this book with great finesse. How true is Bobby when he says, “Are Indians so hard-hearted that they cannot feel the pain of the poor and needy around them?’ ( location 197). A young boys heart is crushed repeatedly after one or the other incident or accident where he stands helpless with his father, two elder sisters Lovey and Daisy and younger brother Gagan. But there also come in his life some small but significant episodes in Amritsar or Delhi compelling him to utter, ‘Blood is thicker than water,’ I had often heard, but now I knew this to be true.(location 155).
The book also touches upon the radicalism infiltering all religions thereby killing the real spirit of empathy and concern for all. How easily young minds get tarnished by the polluted mindsets of these extremists has been prominently discussed in the protagonists journey ultimately leading to his realisation that, “religion was not for display. True religion is a belief system to be internalized, not imposed externally.” (location 941). He does go through a roller coaster ride in his life transiting between his schools and then college and the factory owned by them. His forgery at the passport office, his visit to America, his harmless friendships with two Sandeep Guptas or Harbir Singh etc touch upon various crucial topics in a subtle way.
What happens to his extremist ideas when he sees one Sikh looting another? What happens when he proposes that religious shrines do not need money; the poor do? How does he live up to the teachings like, “Sikh boys are told from childhood that they are the bravest of men and can never show any sign of weakness under any circumstance.” (location 406)? In order to find answers to these and many more misconceptions do give this book with a suggestive cover a read. A straight forward, transparent yet descriptive journey of a family rising from rubbles to glory. Recommended for all with four star rating. Congratulations

[Nandini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, I've never read an autobiography and I didn't even know that Once There Was Me is a semi-autobiography but I was hooked from the beginning itself. A thought-provoking book that talks about Bobby's life and his vision about religion.


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It's the story of Bobby Sachdeva, who caught in the web of communal violence repeatedly, staring at his burning house set afire by the bloodthirsty mob of the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. The riots killed more than 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi and estimated 8,000 across India. Women were raped and killed brutally. As a 14-year old, his world turn upside down, exactly at the age, his father had escaped from Pakistan during the partition of India. Bobby was petrified because of the 1984 riots in Delhi had hastened back to Amritsar along with his family so that they can be safe among their own community. Recovering through trauma, he had gone through a lot of ups and downs in his life which had made him more confident about himself but the trauma had deeply impacted him mentally. Nobody can imagine the trauma it created on part of the survivors and the general public. No matter how broken you are you'll always find a way to rebuild yourself. Bobby had tussled a lot to gather all of his energy and rebuild his life and business across the US and China, experiencing a life unhindered by religious animosity. A full-time believer has become a complete atheist. Having experienced both sides of religion – of immersion and detachment, he starts questioning its role in our lives? He really contemplated a lot and finally submits a PIL in the court for religious shrines to distribute their excess income for the poor and needy.
What happens next as religious hardliners turn against him?
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One thing I've not been able to understand is the exact motivation of the rioters. Was it communal? Maybe for some but you did not see so many religious symbols on the attackers, no Hindu slogans and most significantly nobody reported a case of neighbours attacking neighbours. Delhi, in fact, had many stories then of Hindu neighbours protecting the odd Sikhs in their locality, even at risk to their own lives.
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Although in the ending, I was expecting something different at different moments which kept me hooked, still it truly left me devastated and filled my eyes with tears throughout the book.
The extraordinary life of an unknown Indian – Bobby Sachdeva has been trying to raise the concerns of the society in a very direct manner. This book will give you goosebumps when you will read about the extent that Bobby went through to improvise society.
Highly recommend!!

[Bookishalley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is an autobiography of the author. Most of the story focuses on communal disharmony and the Operation Blue Star under which Sikhs were targeted. It also covers the unexpected demise of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The author reminisces the difficulties his family had to go through during the time when Hindu community avenged the death of the Prime Minister. Most of the Sikhs were brutally burnt, stabbed, suffocated, looted, women raped. Some thankfully managed to flee. The author and his family had to face innumerable difficulties in the aftermath of the unwanted massacre. We follow his life throughout the book.
It's really difficult to judge a memoir because you can't point finger at someone's story. There's a big difference between fiction and memoir. Generally, I rate out memoirs on the basis of the writing style.
🌼The writing style of the book is smooth and it's easy to comprehend.
🌼Through the story, we understand how perspective changes with respect to our company.
🌼Religious differences also play a major role in diverting our minds. How, in the name of religion, we feel obliged to kill, stab, asphyxiate. The author has yearned the story well enough for the readers to feel his plight.
🌼The narration is strong. At some point, I felt heavy hearted while reading the atrocities faced by the Sikhs. At some points, I was angry at the idea of so-called Extremism. At others, I felt the pain suffered by the oppressed in the past and at present.
Through this book, the author has indirectly tried to display the ill repercussions of communalism. The message is clear - 'HATRED POISONS OUR HEARTS.'
Also, using Religion as a weapon is the shittiest thing one could ever do.
Religious impulsivity is another issue we get to understand thoroughly in the book. The story is nicely written and the coherence of the plot is remarkable.
Through the author's father, we learn the art of perseverance and never-give-up attitude.
The story serves many other purposes. It's not just a memoir. From the story, mainly the impression of religious impulsivity and communalism is highlighted.

I definitely recommend it.

[Olivadivu Pazhanirajan · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a long time, I read something that is totally relatable to me and my character and my ideologies. I am so happy I picked up this book. I usually skip one or two pages of the books just like fast-forwarding but I read this book by each and every word and sentence. I wanted to grasp every emotion that is dripping through the words of the author. I don’t want to miss any of them. I already read his previous book ' Stories of Us'. I very much liked that book and I modified some of the stories from that book and tell them as bedtime stories to my son.
This book is an autobiography of the author with some added fictional events and stories. But he wrote the book in such a way that we can't find which is real and which is fictional except for the climax. Even though he wrote mostly about the Sikh community, this is very relatable to every community in India. We Indians always proud of our country, of our brotherhood with our other religions, of our oneness as an Indian. But we too know that it's not always true. We are always divided by our religions, by our castes, by our community, by our status, and whatnot. In this book, the author tried to change our perceptions about humanity, about our religions, and more likely about our faith in God and godmen.
Now, Coming to the story, Bobby lived in Delhi with his family, but riot after the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi brought them to their native, Amritsar. His grandfathers were escaped to India at the time of partition from Pakistan. Even though they came to their native, the continuous occurrence of violence made their life miserable, and finally, he decided to go to America. When he came back, he wanted to give all the prosperity to his family and his hard work made him a respectable businessman. Then he realized that these godmen were exploiting the people and collecting large amounts of money as a donation and fooling around the people. So he filed the public interest litigation to expose those godmen's income and make the money to use for the welfare of underprivileged.
I recommend this book to each and every one. This book moved me so much.

[BooksAndBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the first book of the author ' Stories of Us ', a few days back, which is a collection of short stories. Once there was me, is a semi-autobiography where the author talks about his life journey from childhood days. During school days, I used to read lots of autobiographies, as my father used to get them for me and my sibling,since past few years haven't read any, that must be the one reason why I took my own sweet time and more time to write down reviews for this book !!!
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Book starts from the time Mrs. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh guards in 1984. Author describes how he and his family had to suffer through communal violence.Having seen his house burn in front of his eyes, to his father losing their business, to shifting back to their home, their struggle, opening up a new factory, the troubles they had to face and struggle the author faced in his school life, to his life in America, he had described single minute details. Having seen , the worst and best side of religion, author had really pointed out important points, which were thought provoking.
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Interesting part of the book was getting to know about the PIL that he has filed for religious shrines to distribute their wealth among poor people. In the last few pages, the book author had quoted this briefly. Godmen and their crimes are serious issues now-a-days. I was really intrigued to read that part, it was an eye-opener.
Reading the author's perspectives on various issues, be it religious or political, then him standing firmly by his roots, gives one a glimpse about his life and his learnings from his struggles.
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Book is an life journey, is an inspiring journey and an motivational journey, which I enjoyed reading. Writing style is lucid with engaging narrative and incidents, my only issue is that the book was lengthy as at few places, it was stretched a little.
Other than that, the book was a wonderful read for me, which I enjoyed reading thoroughly! Am I recommending it ? YES !! YES !!

[Ekta M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once There Was Me by @ibobbysachdeva
Published in - 2020 by @panmacmillanindia

I have read the first book by author ie 'stories of us' and liked it so i didn't think twice before picking up this one. One thing common in both the books is that he highlights the problems in lives of common man and society.
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This book is part autobiographical and part fiction. It chronicles the author's life during the anti sikh riots of 1984 in Delhi and the hardships he faced thereafter.
It documents his life of hardships, friendships, family, love and loss.

At the age of 14 he became a victim of religion (anti Sikh riots) which forced him and his family to move from Delhi to Amritsar. Loss of business due to the riots had created financial problems and he had to leave his studies and revive his fathers business. Even in Amritsar the riots due to religion didn't stop. He faces lot of hardships....moves to America so that he can do something for his family....fails to do anything and lands back in India. Again strives hard to make money and then gets married. He does not believe in god because he only sees sufferings around him. There was always something bad happening in the name of religion and he starts hating religion so much so that he wants an atheist identity for himself and family. Read the book to know more.
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#myreview - I picked up this book blindly without reading the blurb because I had loved the author's first book. Another reason was the cover and the title attracted me. It's a thick book of around 400 pages. Right from the starting the book is captivating. Its fast paced because the way the author is narrating the story seems so natural. The details were quite tantalizing. There is so much of pain and emotions oozing out of the words. I got to know so much about sikh religion from this book and also the conditions in Punjab. Now I know why majority of Sikhs go to canada 😄. I never knew I would love reading an autobiography so much. This book is unputdownable.

[Abhijit Chakraborty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Title: Once There Was Me
Author: Bobby Sachdeva
Publisher: Pan Macmillan India
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Pages: 427
Book Rating: 5/5

I read Bobby Sachdeva's Stories of Us a month ago. In that book, he reveals our society's behaviours towards money, love, gender orientation and relationships. I became a fan of the author after finishing off the novel. His brilliant writing made me choose to pick this novel, Once There Was Me. He is widely praised for this novel by other popular authors, journalists and film producers.

Bobby Sachdeva is a narrator by preference and a businessman by livelihood. In this non-fiction novel, he narrates the deadly riots and retaliatory killing of Sikhs in Delhi the next day after the assassination of the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi by her Sikh guards. The assassination took place on 31 October 1984. A bloodthirsty crowd gathered at the gate of the writer's house as 'Jabir Sing' was written on the nameplate of his house. The name belongs to his father. Rest of the narration faced by the author and his father will blow the minds of readers. At that time, author was fourteen years old. Their survival story numbed my limbs for some time. Readers will get to know the brutality of our civilized society.

Although I had never faced any of the riots, but I felt the pain of losing someone's family members by his writing. Author's narrative after the riots will make readers sob, mourn and sympathetic. It is not a cooked story, all the skirmishes were solely faced by the author, Bobby Sachdeva. The story is very simply written in easy English. After reading the book, two things can happen to the readers. First, they might feel ashamed to be Indian. Second, they will definitely lose faith in religion. My rating for the book is 5 out of 5. This book is going to leave a deep impression in the minds of readers.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

👤Once there was me revolves around the story of a common man. I won't reveal the name of the protagonist coz I feel that the story is not a one man side story but the story of all the common folks.
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👤The story when the protagonist and his family fall victims to the riots that took place after Indira Gandhi was assassinated by one of her Sikh guards and a general hatred cropped up towards the Sikh community.. The family escapes to Amritsar and starts living there. I have never experienced riots in my life but the descriptions of it are really horrifying,I had goosebumps while reading them.
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👤Even after moving to Amritsar their struggles aren't over ,the family suffers from financial crisis.After the narrator grows up he moves to the US in order to find a job and establish himself and also because of the growing terror in Punjab. After he moves there,he still finds difficulties in his path in the form of finance , religion etc,but he still continues his struggle. The protagonist files a PIL in the court for himself and his family that they would belong to no religion but unfortunately that was rejected. His second PIL included points regarding the Godmen . Did he succeed in his mission?I live to the readers to find out.
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👤The book is a lot more than what I said ,when i find a book to have an impact on me ,I find it hard to put it into words to describe it but it is just the outline of the entire plot. There were times when I hated him coz of his hasty decisions that landed the entire family in trouble and there were times when i sympathized with him. In short I would say that book is a mixture of emotions.
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👤I didn't like the way it ended.As for me ,there were questions that were left unanswered. The narration is simple, Lucid and highly appealing. I would definitely want an adaptation of it on the screen.

[S.Readss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books give us happiness, some make us sad, some keeps us thrilled throughout. But some leaves an impression which stays with us throughout our life. This was the last kind of book.
This book was beautiful in so many ways. It made me cry, smile, made me feel inspired.
It talked about the struggle of life, about undeniable efforts by a man to sustain and live life through riots, bad times, betrayal, crime and corruption.
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What touched me most was the explanation about riots. How raw those emotions were? How real riots are? How it can destroy families? How many innocent people get killed in protests and riots?
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There have been many destructive protests and riots in India as well as world which have caused utmost destruction.
I know and understand protests are important, raising the voice against wrong is important. But the moment it kills an innocent person, the moment an innocent person is looted and public property is burned, the group of protestors turn into a mob. And as the author said in the book " A mob has no religion", no cause and no right.
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Another instance that broke me was when the author described his father's struggles with cancer. About how some doctors try to take advantage of patients. About how poor and middle-class families still have to struggle to get proper medical treatments.
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This book is part autobiographical and part fiction. And anyone who needs insight into how the world has worked for years in name of religion, caste and in the obsession of money needs to read this.
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I would like to believe that the world is changing for better 🌻
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Hum kyun chalein us raah par
Jis raah par sab hi chalein,
Kyun na chune woh raasta
Jis par nahin koi gaya… ❤️

[Mugdha Mahajan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a Punjabi myself, I could somewhat feel the pain of the author and of his tragic past. I had heard of stories about the Blue star operation which started in Punjab, killing innocent people. I was shook and very much emotionally connected to this book from the beginning.

" That neighbour said that only the women left the house in the morning. This statement broke Papa's heart. One of our own neighbours, with whom we had lived in harmony for so many years, had betrayed us."

The book follows the journey of the author himself. It's a non fiction but since some of the names are changed, the genre of the book is written as fiction. We are taken to the tragic past of Bobby, where he witnessed some of the gruesome moments of his life. The anti-Sikh riots were at peak after the death of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which led to the death of many innocent people. Even Bobby's house wasn't spared, it was burnt down and the whole family had to move from Delhi to Amritsar in order to save their lives.

Once in Amritsar, Bobby still had to face religion based barriers, he was surprised when he got to know that there was discrimination based on different castes also within the religion. He went to US in order to get free of all the religious bonding because he was an atheist. But due to some situations he had to come back to his family. Once in India, he was married to Jasmina and they were living happily but destiny had different plans. He lost so much in his life because of the religious issues in India that he finally submitted a PIL in the Supreme court asking for all the temples to help the needy with their collected funds instead of fooling people. But these things didn't go well with the hardliners.

What happened with him after he submitted the PIL? Was it accepted by the court?

" People imitate other people. When one person comes forward to help, many others follow suit. It is the first helping hand that is often difficult to find."

I enjoyed reading this book. The story got me emotional. I have always been afraid of wars and fights and riots, and imagining this happening with a person felt really bad. It was not just a story but author's life written into a book, which spoke of how religion has divided us.

I loved the characters, especially Jasmina, Bobby's wife - she was so sweet and caring and a perfect mother, daughter and a sister. Also the humour element in the book was good too. The language used by the author is simple and understandable. The narration is smooth and the book is well paced. Also, I felt that the second part of the story was a bit too dragged, and I somewhat felt bored while reading the last chapters. Because of which I skimmed a few chapters.

But overall It was a good book.

[Harsh Agrawal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once There Was Me
Author : Bobby Sachdeva
Genre : Autobiographical Fiction ( Fiction with events based on authors life)

The author has been a target of religious riots since the beginning of his life and even before his life. He describes his life during the Sikh Riots , being a Sikh in Delhi , when the government supporters were rebelling against the Indira Gandhi assasinations and how he had to shift to Amritsar. He and his father worked very hard to establish thier buisness during the tough times and even then , he was not feeling safe in the country due to several reasons . So he decides to leave for the US of America , where , supposedly , life was to be easier , as he had seen his friends . He is surprised when such is not the case. After many hardships he decides to file a PIL in the Supreme Court for religious shrines to distribute thier excess income for the downtrodden.

What I liked about the book :
The book discusses the role of religions in our lives.
The story is gripping and well written.
The Character Arcs were really good , whether fictional or not.

The Underwhelming Aspects :
Some cringy writing like " In India , my experience has been that when girls said no, they didn't really want you to stop , but obviously , in America , No means no" . This is seriously worse than Chetan Bhagat's " Deti hai toh de , warna katt le".

It seemed too easy how he got a working permit and drivers license to stay in America.

The book is easy to understand and beginners can also read it easily

Keetabi Keeda Ratings
1)Plot: 4/5
2) Character Arcs :4.5/5
3) Language /Writing Style :4/5
4)How much Did I enjoy Reading it : 4/5

Keetabi Keeda Rating : 4/5

[Sukaina Majeed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once There Was Me a semi-autobiography by @ibobbysachdeva starts on Bobby's own memories with the 1984 riots in Delhi after the assassination of Smt.Late Indira Gandhi. The book traces his journey through his education, his youth experiences and the system he faced at every step of his life which turned out to be quite a dramatic one. He writes about his own experiences in his school, college and his own turmoil with extremism in his younger days.
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The autobiography when first started on the riots it gave me the impression it is all going to be about how he suffered as a Sikh in Delhi after the riots.
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But then slowly moves on to the issues outside his own bubble and brings us to a ground reality which many would deny they didn't know about but I believe they are all aware of it.
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Bobby talks about his identity as a Sikh,his relationship with religion and incidents in his life which at one point destroyed him and his family.
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The book is a story which not only outlines the country's situation in the business sector but of how social issues of the country involving caste, poverty and inequality that persists.
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Someone wrote in their review calling the book "Bobby's naivety" to which I disagree because had he not written it in such layman language almost as if oblivious of what is happening around him, the book would have been tagged as "heavy", "too much to take in".
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That's the brilliance of his writing. He talked about such grave issues in such simple manner that a 18 year old can understand what he is trying to say in his own story.
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This is a brilliant narrative of one's life without complicating things any more.
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I recommend it to all age groups.
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[Sneha Rani · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Once There Was Me" is a semi-autobiographical novel by Bobby Sachdeva narrating his remarkable life experiences withstanding shattering and traumatising incidents alongwith a journey of being a religious fanatic to becoming a atheist and acquiring a true sense of religion.
Set against the backdrop of Operation Blue Star, killing of the former prime minister which led to the communal riots, this whole book is an account of 14 year old boy who had to suffer gruesome circumstances due to these riots and the communal hatred and how his life moves on further and even after many years, his life still largely affected by those incidents, encounters other such incidents which dosen't fails to remind him of his past which resultantly compelling him to take some stern action. Many of the decisions he took in his life was reasoned with religion on the whole.
Coming from the victim himself, the gravity of some mentioned occurrence is reflected which shook me to my core. The author has also given some very descriptive information about Sikh religion also that how some details are told to us in a forged way so as that create dissonance among religion. This and other course of actions throughout his book narrated by the author was according to me also an attempt by the author to make people known about what actually the true essence of religion embodies.
He also points that the hard times gives us the realization of our actual well-wishers. The dishonesty and corruption which is so deeply rooted in the system is clearly presented by him. Comparison to life in India and other countries is exhibited inclusive of the actuality which is different from what we have preconceived.

[Mohan Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book shows the journey of life of the author Bobby Sachdeva. Here we will witness the incidents happened in his life along with how he deal with it. 1984 a year which will always be remembered in the Indian history. At that year being a small kid life of his was changed. We have read about the struggles of many humans and how did they come forward and changed their lives. Here, we will find out about the life of Bobby sachdeva what did he done and changed everything after the year of 1984.

Book is filled with unexpected turns and twists happened in his life. What would you do when everything you have is lost and you have to start all again and make the things around good for it. We lose hope and start to lose faith in ourselves. But here he didn't lose hope and come up back again in his life and changed everything. 1984 the year when the riots happened and brought an unexpected change in the life of Bobby. Book shows the journey of him from failing to reach to the level where he has done every possible thing and achieve success. Here, we will witness the amazing journey of his life where what changes have taken place in his life, along with family and friends, relations and the struggle he had face in his life to reach success. Struggles faced by him changed his life and brought a different person from within.

Language of the book is simple to understand. Story of the book is very amazing as it shows the journey of the author and how did he managed to reach the level of success and the struggles done by him. Cover of the book looks amazing and eye catching. Read this amazing book where you will find about the life of author and what next will happen in his life.

[Aritra Bikash · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyteller is the victim of the partition...we are familiar with the partition story from various documentaries and subjective films and whoever wants to know about it can simply search for it on the internet from various sources but amongst all the stories out there, the heart-melting stories which will touch your heart practically are the story of the person who is the actual victim of that occurrence and somehow severely damaged by the emotional roller coaster he experienced. This story not also not an exception to the fact as stated above. Who better than the writer can express his grief about the incident.? He also pointed out the religious beliefs, constraints and suffering being a refugee and trying to make a place in a new direction and adjusting with the circumstances. He directed us towards the evil revenue generated by most of the religious institutions in the name of charity and the reform of the society turns out to be a utopian concept. The author aka the storyteller took us through the road of all evils of a major part of the society concerning religion, partition, superstition and dishonesty etc. to make us realise the actual face of the world..this story is well depicted in all its sense and the words are not tangled for a good understanding. A good book for everyone at this point of time..the chapters are oriented with the proper name and also a conclusion is also provided by the author with the alarm of the present period..a good book to go through to know the practical circumstances and practices at that point of time.

[Periwinkle Wisteria · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing piece of work. This book has shaken me to the core. It is commendable that the author has chosen to write so boldly about such sensitive issues.
The book is a semi autobiographical deep personal account of the narrator's life. The story starts with detailed glimpses of brutal communal riots and how it affects innocent people including the narrator's family. Some accounts of partition have also been mentioned as the narrator's father was a victim of partition. The story exposes to us the ongoing violence, brutality, division and differences because of religion. Having experienced both sides of religion - immersion and detachment, the narrator changes from a full believer to a complete atheist. There are also mentions of how the narrator faced discrimination both in his own country and abroad based on religion and colour. The story also brilliantly portrays the money making business in the medical field. This is a story of a man's extraordinary journey of breaking free from the shackles of religion and finding out his identity, exposing the raw truths at every step and voicing against the injustice.

The title is really unique and suits the story well. The cover is attractive. The language and vocabulary used has provided an extra asset to the story. The narration is so well that it brings incidents to life. The chapters have been well organised and well named. Certain parts towards the middle of the story felt a little diluted and dragged.
Title - 5/5
Cover - 4/5
Language - 5/5
Narration - 5/5

Overall this is a really good book. Recommended!

[Gaurav Varshney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend.
A real life story of some extraordinary events. the extraordinary life of an unknown Indian who marked his presence globally.
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Pages start with the mayhem happend in Delhi after the death of the prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi who had been assassinated by her Sikh guards followed by the retaliatory killing of Sikhs.
Betrayal from the neighbors cost them desertion of their own house and force them to move to Sikh majority place.
As the pages turned following events happened.
● life in America and China.
● coming back to India.
● asking for large amount of money as donation.
● PIL application to expose real faces.
● Religion discrimination.
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Throughout my read I felt some phrases more relatable. Attaching one here from the sub title  'The Gentle Harbir'.
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Political groups often try to polarize Hindus and Muslims. India has a large Muslim population, and if they were not patriotic Indians, if they were anti-India, our country would have been a hotbed of terrorism and would have turned into a failed state.
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This book is an inspiration. There is so much more to offer, more to learn. Those 419 pages described the social evil that is destroying people's mind and converging them towards religious discrimination.
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Narration is easy, nothing hard to understand the language. Cover is the plus point and it provides some type of intensity in you to understand it more.

[readers creators · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fourteen years old boy’s life turned upside down, when he witnessed most horrifying incident of his life one night. Seeing his own house on fire, fear for the lives of his loved ones, left him with plethora of questions; of whose answers he kept on finding throughout his life.

A happy, rich family of six members, couldn’t have the normalcy of their lives back after political cum religious riots. Bobby had to jump in business at an early age to help in elevating the curve, which went down due to frequent relocation and religious fear.

Being a Sikh in Hindu majority class, gave him hard time at school; and that’s when he realized the division of human on base of religion. But at the same time, he perceived from his friendship with two Hindus & company of Sikh hardliners, that this division is more of the mind sets than religion.

Bobby’s lifelong search for happiness and peace, his minute points about religion, his critique elaboration of India’s deformity, his observation towards rich & poor; are the best thing about this book. Writing is thorough, narration is exquisite. Journey of a boy from startling past to a story writer is inspirational.

Though, the length of book would feel exhausting, but the completion of it, is enough to compensate. Overall, an informational and must read for every Indian to know the root cause of their country’s under development and try to take a step against that. Author told us through this cognizant story, that each person can bring change, if he/she wants to.

[Urja Gandhi · Rating 5 out of 5]

BOOK NAME: Once There Was Me
AUTHOR: Bobby Sachdev
GENRE: Semi-autobiography
FORMAT: Kindle

Qotd: On the scale of 1-10, how religious are you?

REVIEW:
India is a country where religion plays a very important role in the lives of people. People express through their religious beliefs most of the time and they abide by them. But, troubles come up when people do not understand the difference between beliefs and prejudices.

In this semi-autobiography, the author describes his own life experience as a part of the citizen of this country, and how being a part of the communal differences, he took up the charge of a change. Being a part of the communal riots in his childhood to him being an atheist is a journey well understood.

As time passes, you generally make peace with your past, but it doesn't leave your side. And this time, the author takes  a courageous step of filing a PIL- Public Interest Litigation, with initially the first one getting rejected, but he doesn't give up his efforts and files another PIL, this one against the  GODMEN, to use the money of religious offering for the welfare of general public, an issue quite debatable.

This book gave many answers to my unanswered questions about the actual importance of religion. A journey worth inspiration is what makes this one special!

P.S. : I am not an atheist, but I have a certain take when it comes to religion

[Venkyarasu · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Once there was me' is a part autobiography of the author, with a fusion of fiction. The author highlights the troubles he went through in his entire life due to religion, faith and corruption. He shares his understanding on blind faith through his various journeys in life. He even makes his share to make the world a better place through his bold actions.
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A lot about Sikh tradition is shared in this book and it opened my mind to a whole different society in the country. This book is very unique and expresses the main problems faced by our country, but is ignored like many others. He explains how religion affects kids and our community and the way it deprives people. He shares his thoughts on how blind faith has affected our nation. There were many instances and sentences in the book that made me pause to read it a couple times. Some of them are noteworthy and here they are : "If there’s place in the heart, a place in the house can always be found", "People imitate other people. When one person comes forward to help, many others follow suit. It is the first helping hand that is often difficult to find", "Ego is man’s greatest enemy" and "Faith seems to override intellect." If you are an atheist or are against the unfairness due to blind faith, you will love this book more than any other! This book leaves a lingering feeling and lots of thoughts.