In an age defined by acceleration—of ambition, information, and expectation—stillness has become a rare achievement. , the debut novel by , engages directly with this condition. It is not a spiritual manual, nor a conventional coming‑of‑age narrative. Instead, it is a reflective exploration of how ordinary lives stumble, often unwillingly, toward deeper questions of meaning.
The novel centres on a figure who could easily be overlooked—a colleague at work, a neighbour, a stranger briefly encountered. Through this deliberately familiar lens, Sharma traces a struggle that feels widely shared: the search for clarity in a life shaped by pressure, routine, and unanswered questions. The journey toward spiritual awareness here does not arrive through discipline or design, but through disruption—through circumstances that unsettle comfort and demand reflection.
A Journey That Resists the Obvious Path
Being Yogi does not present enlightenment as a destination earned through ideal conditions. Instead, it portrays spiritual inquiry as something that emerges from confusion, loss, and unexpected turns. The protagonist’s search for answers unfolds in what the book itself describes as “the most unfortunate conditions,” challenging the assumption that growth requires preparation or intent.
This is where the novel’s subtitle gains its force. “Accidental serendipity” is not a contradiction, but a governing idea. Life’s most significant insights, Sharma suggests, often arrive uninvited. Meaning is not discovered by planning alone, but by remaining attentive when certainty dissolves.
The narrative questions reality itself—how we define success, how we measure fulfilment, and how easily we mistake motion for progress. Spirituality here is not doctrinal; it is experiential, grounded in doubt as much as belief.
Writing Rooted in Lived Contrasts
Shivendra Sharma brings to the novel a life shaped by apparent contrasts. With an MBA and credentials as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, his professional career took him from Delhi to Hyderabad, where he worked in strategy consulting and business transformation with global organisations. That analytical discipline, however, coexists with a long‑standing artistic life.
A storyteller, poet, singer, reader, and traveller, Sharma has been writing since 2001, beginning with Hindi poetry and later publishing his poetry collection Dweat (Duality) in 2007. This dual engagement—with structure and introspection—finds its way into Being Yogi. The prose is reflective rather than ornate, philosophical without becoming abstract.
Writing, for Sharma, is not performative. As he notes, it is an act of truth‑telling—sometimes quiet, sometimes raw. That sensibility shapes the novel’s tone, which privileges sincerity over spectacle.
The Ordinary as a Site of Inquiry
One of the novel’s strengths lies in its refusal to exceptionalise its protagonist. The struggle for meaning is not reserved for ascetics or seekers by choice. It belongs equally to those navigating offices, cities, and everyday obligations. In this sense, Being Yogi situates spirituality within the texture of modern life, rather than outside it.
The book asks readers to consider whether the questions they postpone—about purpose, identity, and existence—are already shaping their lives in unseen ways. It suggests that the search for peace is less about withdrawal from the world and more about learning to see it differently.
A Thoughtful Debut
Being Yogi – An Accidental Serendipity announces Shivendra Sharma as a writer attentive to the inner lives of ordinary people. The novel does not offer answers neatly packaged. Instead, it invites reflection, recognising that understanding often arrives slowly, and sometimes only after disruption.
In its calm, questioning voice, the book speaks to readers who sense that beneath the noise of modern life lies a quieter inquiry waiting to be acknowledged. It is a debut that values recognition over resolution—and in doing so, leaves a lasting impression.
Book link:
https://amzn.in/d/0Js337F
