Like any other 15 year old, I had a massive crush on one of my classmates. I used to walk into the classroom with his thought and leave the class later thinking about him. I wasn’t ever going to act on it, but in my mind there couldn’t have been a better love story. When I later found out that he had asked out the girl who sat next to me, it was like a punch in the gut.

The incidences of unexpected changes in life – be it the teen-age crush or crashing real estate value, are difficult to deal with. ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ helped me get over my first crush. And I am certain it will eventually help me deal with mid-life crisis too.

The story starts at a high school reunion where the former classmates sit down to talk about how their lives have change. The unpredictable grown-up version of the formerly predictable classmates forms the perfect prelude. Then one of the classmates begins to narrate a story of two mice, “Sniff” and “Scurry,” and two little-people, ”Hem” and “Haw.” These creatures live in a maze-world and thrive on cheese. The story begins when the regular cheese supply at the cheese station, where all four had been living, starts to dwindle. While ‘Sniff’ and ‘Scurry’, otherwise considered of unintelligible beings, put on their running shoes and get on with their lives and purpose, which is simple – pursuit of cheese. ‘Hem’ and ‘Haw’ on the other hand get involved in the over-analytic cribbing. Then begins their struggle. ‘Haw’ takes ages to deal with the fact that the cheese has moved and he should too. And the reader is left wondering whether ‘Hem’ ever quits sobbing about his reality and adapts. The author then brings us back to the high-school reunion where the old friends bare their hearts out about the unexpected hassles in their relationships and careers that they are each trying to sort. There is at least one story you could relate to and more than one advice that you would take with you.

What works best for the book is the ease with which the author drives his point. The book contains what probably is the most unique yet most simple allegory – life is a maze and an endless chase for delusional goals. The struggle that ‘Hem’ and ‘Haw’ go through while dealing with the vanishing cheese is so close to reality; it is moving to see reflection of one’s behaviour from a third person’s eyes. The conversation amongst the old school friends ultimately takes the cake for being as gripping as a narrative can be.

Big or small, personal or professional, there is no adversity that you won’t be able to deal with if you imbibe this book into your life.

With all the changes I ever face the only constant would be – reading ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’