Sunaina Luthra ON  Oct 17, 2023, IN BOOK REVIEW,BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE BY JEFFREY ARCHERTOSHIKAZU KAWAGUCHI–FICTION

Rating: 4/5

Let’s pick up the thread from where we left the last time.

What if you are given an opportunity to fly back to your past and future? Whom would you like to meet and why?

Let’s refresh our memory of ‘The Time Travelling Café- Funiculi and Funicula’ .The visitors who are regular to this café are well versed with its legend of taking one to the past and its baffling rules.

For journey to the past, one needs to acquire the seat where a phlegmatic ghost in the café is comfortably ensconced. To add to this bafflement, one can meet people who have visited the café and no matter what, present remains unaltered .These rules surely deterred many forunder taking this daunting task head on, yet in an effort to relive the memory of past they adeptly maneuvered around these rules with courage.

However, despite its prevailing enigma and conundrum of perplexing rules, the café again welcomes new visitors; an obsessive archaeologists who  needs to say something important to his wife, a pet lover struggling  to say her final goodbye to its departed faithful companion, a bridal planner  finds herself  unable to accept the proposal from her lover, and  finally a prodigal daughter driven by anger drives her father away with a prevailing desire to meet him again.

What was the inner turmoil that troubled their heart and coaxed them to visit the café?

Will they ever reunite with their loved ones?

Will regrets find a way out to be buried forever?

‘Before We Say Goodbye’ by Toshikazu Kawaguchi is yet another feather in the cap bringing across more heartfelt stories, and emphasizing the ephemerality and vulnerability of human life. Toshikazu has beautifully retained the characters from its prequel ‘Before the Coffee gets cold’ and blended them seamlessly for continuity.  The book explores poignant yet pivotal moments of life offering reconciliation and closures.

TAKEAWAY

The self-help section has evolved in paramouncy in the leading bookstores today.  The pick ‘Before the Coffee gets cold’ is one of them. Simultaneously, various social media platforms   are also stormed with self-help practices revolving around four key dimensions- mental, physical, psychological and spiritual in order to lead a healthy and a peaceful life. The trend has indeed gained significant attention in recent times within realm of literature and popular culture.

This makes me wonder!!

Is it the vanity among people, or accumulation of wealth and greed that has engulfed our lives and clouded our minds? It therefore becomes imperative to promote some of the positive practices such as gratitude, positive affirmations and mindfulness techniques to foster a perfect balance of good and bad required for society’s growth.

Toshikazu Kawaguchi ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’ series is an earnest attempt offering profound life lesson of making use of the opportunity at hand as there may not be second chances in life.

Emotionally empowering……