The Zahir

This one is the recent fiction novel, written by Paulo Coehlo, which I finished in last few days. I liked his work regarding the dreams and to follow them. Especially the work in Alchemist was amazing where a shepherd leaves everything just to follow the path shown by his dreams. The Zahir is also on same lines.

Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable, of going unnoticed. It is someone or something, which, once we have come in contact with them or it, gradually occupies our every thought, until we can think of nothing else. This can be considered either a state of holiness or of madness.

The story is about a successful author who founds that his wife has disappeared while covering for a war, leaving no trace. He gets disturbed, whether she is alive or dead or is kidnapped, or has left him due to the growing violence in their lives. He became successful because of his wife and he didn’t cared for her. He realizes that he is missing her wife and not able to concentrate on anything since she left. His search for her - and also for the truth of his own life- takes him to various countries. It leads him to discover the understanding of nature of love, the power of destiny and what it really means to follow your heart.

I found this an amazing piece of work especially the way author describes the story in captivating way and also with an extraordinary insight into the heart of a human being. We can find Zahir in our common day lives, the person whom we love very much and has constantly occupied our every thought and leave us thinking of nothing else. We realize these feelings when he/she is not with us. Where is my Zahir? I hope my Zahir is reading this one :-)