“When Breath Becomes Air” – it is fair to say that I have not read a book like it in my life. There are multiple reasons that the book resonates so strongly with me, not the least because the protagonist (also the author) was of my present age when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. He was a Neuro-surgeon, just completing his residency at Stanford and like his accomplishments speak for themselves, he was all set to be a very, very good one. Paul Kalanithi’s insights into life as a neuro-surgeon and his ability to talk candidly about everything, starting from his childhood, to his medical studies, to his realization of terminal cancer, is simply stunning and though provoking. The parallels in his story line were simply too much for me to take. This was a book that made me stop reading many a time, if only to contemplate what Paul had written and ruminate over it for a bit. He talks of patients suffering from neurological diseases and throws up a multitude of questions tha...
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