my views

Beaten but not Broken by Vanessa Govender I voraciously consumed Vanessa Govender’s story ‘Beaten but not Broken’. I hung onto her every word. Vanessa is an amazing storyteller, a journalist by profession, (you will probably remember her as the eTV news reporter). Her story is well-written, eloquently articulated and she weaves the intricate tale with such detail that it transports you to that place and memory, where you feel what she felt and experience her hurt, heartbreak, disappointment and longing for love and acceptance. I saw the book on my friend, Kim Langley’s Instagram post and she offered to borrow it to me. When she handed me the book, I asked her if it was going to bring me down. If it was difficult to read about Vanessa’s experiences even though I had no idea what the book was about. Kim assured me that it would not.  The title alludes to one of abuse but it also speaks to the strength of the human spirit and our innate ability to survive and even thrive.  This is

A modern fable on real success in business and in life by Robin Sharma  I attended Robin Sharma ’s presentation at the Cape Town Convention Centre in 2013, which was part of his promotional tour for his book The leader who had no title . I first encountered Robin as one of the ‘talking heads’ in Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret and again when a very close friend of mine gave me his earlier book The monk who sold his Ferrari as a gift. But meeting Robin, when he autographed the copy of my book, was surreal as he embodies what he ‘preaches’. He is unbelievably humble, easy to talk to and has no sense of self-importance. Much like The Monk who sold his Ferrari, The leader who had no title is written as a fable. Although the characters and story are fictitious, the lessons and learnings that are shared are true and 100% applicable to anyone’s situation. The leader who had no title is told through the journey of Blake Davis, the protagonist from New York, who had a good upbringing but