After two works of fiction, Faceless and An Anglo-Indian in Love, which was published on Amazon last year, Tapan Ghosh has come out with his third offering, Flirt with Life – The Only Way Out, a collection of thoughts, observations and incidents based on his personal experience.

By his own admission, the title of the book describes the way the author has lived his life; by flirting with it. According to Tapan Ghosh, attachment bogs us down and limits our individual growth and evolution. He asserts that he had lived life to the fullest and always emphasised on exploring new terrain. According to him, one must do things not done before. Doing something provides more learning than merely reading about it.

Tapan Ghosh’s creative output may well be a consequence of his approach to life. He admits that his penchant for experimentation has helped him grow beyond the confines that our own academic, professional and social backgrounds place on us.

Running into over a hundred pages, Flirt with Life – The Only Way Outis systematically divided into chapters, each dealing with an individual subject. Tapan Ghosh ensures that he covers all the areas of interest and concern to most of us. The opening chapter offers his take on destiny before exploring life in general. Where there is life, there has to be love, and the author delves into the intricacies of love and relationships next. Emotional and physical wellbeing are up next in sections on motivation and health & wellness. The narrative then moves on to spirituality, before chartering into other terrains.

Many a time, Tapan Ghosh offers a contrarian view or presents his perspective on a universal truth. For instance, by using the analogy of life being a sailboat ride and wind, the destiny, he emphasises the importance of the individual as the sailor in shaping one’s own life. At other times, he put forth multiple points of view, thus allowing the reader to interpret his thoughts to one’s own situation. His belief in having faith in destiny, which runs contrary to the sailor analogy, is a case in point.

All this merely underscores the fact that Tapan Ghosh is not dogmatic about his views. Flexibility is the key word here. As he says, this comes from a lifetime of playing multiple roles: engineer, entrepreneur, patent holder, son, husband, father, creator and love guru. Life is all about striking a balance and balance needs flexibility. Which in turn translates to flirting with life by looking at the big picture; not being bogged down by the nitty-gritty.

Readers would do well to take a leaf out of Tapan Ghosh’s book and flirt with life.It appears to be the only way out!