Cultivating our better selves
ASHNIE Muthusamy’s recently published Live, Love, Learn – The Power of Authenticity is an insightful addition to the growing list of books rolling off the presses by South African writers of Indian origin.
The book’s niche is the wider motivational genre in which personal mastery gurus like Deepak Chopra and Robin Sharma have earned international reputations.
Muthusamy’s home is Merebank where she grew up with a rich cultural heritage as an active member of the Hillside Andhra Sabha, participating in annual Telugu eisteddfods and cultural dance festivals.
Like many of her generation, she migrated across the boerewors curtain to Johannesburg in 1996 after completing an Honours degree. With a strong corporate background in human resources, she is also a registered counsellor with the Health Professions Council of South Africa in the field of psychometry. Adding gravity to her further postgraduate qualifications is that she has a Master’s degree in leadership, is a Master’s Practitioner in Neurolinguistics Programming and an accredited change management practitioner.
“For the past 20 years I have worked in the field of talent management in various large-scale organisations and presently head up Talent Management at Sun International,” adds the happily married mother of a 4-year-old daughter. The close bonds of family are an essential part of the make-up of this second of four children.
She gushes: “I am grateful for the unconditional love of my parents, who always held a light in front to help navigate my future.”
Her mother, her greatest role model, has played a pivotal role in her life by teaching her the value of continuous growth and resilience. She credits her little sister for teaching her the difficult lesson of sharing, which has now become a fundamental belief. Her entrepreneurial education came from her older brother who allowed her to spend her early childhood in his shadow “as an eager assistant in his adventurous escapades”. Her younger brother brought a dash of good humour to her personality.
The spark for the book also came from intensely personal but testing life experiences. “It was a seemingly ordinary day except I was sitting in the doctor’s office listening to the most distressing news I could ever imagined – my father who was the centre of my universe was dying.”
Last July, she watched her seemingly invincible mother collapse in front of her and was determined not to lose another parent without saying the important things we each feel we have the need to say. Earlier this year she was confronted with her own mortality as she anxiously awaited results from an oncologist.
Live, Love, Learn started out as a love letter to her daughter and as she wrote it she realised that these were lessons that can impact everyone’s life.
“I took my four decades of life experiences and downloaded it over two months this year to write this book with the support of my husband, my greatest anchor,” adds Muthusamy. It is a thoughtprovoking personal mastery book that the author says can be read from the age of 16 up, irrespective of culture, gender or ethnic background.
Feedback from younger and more seasoned readers have encouraged the author. Chief financial officer at Bankservafrica, Parusha Gajathar takes the view that: “Living authentically and with gratitude towards a greater purpose is everyone’s right and duty, and this book contains simple, effective, practical and timeless advice to do just that.”
Similarly positive sentiment came from corporate leader and company director Shirley Zinn.
“This book will enable you to positively progress your relationships, your health, your happiness. It is brimming with tips, tools, strategies and reflections to enhance your self-development journey, to improve your quality of life, to equip you for the challenges and pressures of daily living,” said Zinn.
Award-winning 5FM radio personality Sureshnie Rider calls the book “insightful, enlightening and extremely helpful in navigating the emotional environment around us”. Kele Mazwai, group executive at Wesbank, has committed to using the book as part of their mentoring and coaching programme.
Rich in personal anecdotes and common sense advice, Muthusamy hopes that her book will enable people to create extraordinary lives by changing their focus and making different decisions about their lives. She also expresses deeply patriotic sentiment about contributing to building a better country by helping young people “reframe their personal challenges and optimise the potential in their lives”.
The book focuses on lessons about changing one’s thinking, managing emotions and realising dreams without letting emotional baggage impede growth.
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