Ananta Press proudly congratulates Anoop Shanker Madan on being officially selected as a Winner of the Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award for his non-fiction book, BCD – Birth. Choice. Death: The Story of Life Between Two Certainties. This recognition celebrates a work that takes one of the oldest questions of human existence and presents it through a clear, memorable, and deeply relevant idea: we do not choose our birth, and we cannot avoid death, but the choices made between these two certainties shape the meaning of our lives.
At the heart of the book is the BCD framework of Birth, Choices, and Death. Its strength lies in its simplicity. Human life can often seem too complex to understand as a whole, yet the author gives readers an accessible way to look at it. Birth represents the beginning we are given. Death represents the certainty that awaits every person. Choices represent the space in which awareness, responsibility, growth, and transformation become possible. This framework gives the book a distinct identity and turns a philosophical subject into a practical question that every reader can relate to.
The award committee found particular value in the way the book moves from circumstances that are beyond human control towards the decisions that remain within our control. Rather than asking readers to deny difficulties or ignore the influence of their starting point, the book acknowledges these realities and then asks an important question: what can we choose from here? This shift makes the work both reflective and empowering. It encourages readers to look at their responses, habits, relationships, fears, responsibilities, and attitudes with greater honesty.
The book explores this idea through the body, mind, emotions, discipline, fear, courage, ego, relationships, responsibility, awareness, and spirituality. These subjects make the philosophy relevant to everyday life. The author does not restrict meaningful change to dramatic moments. Instead, the book suggests that life is shaped through repeated decisions, including how we think, how we react, how we treat others, how we handle fear, and how consciously we respond to the circumstances before us. This practical dimension is one of the reasons the work stood out during the nomination and final award consideration.
Another notable quality is the way BCD connects spiritual symbolism with modern life. Shiva is approached as a symbol of inner stillness, while Krishna represents conscious action. These ideas create an important balance. Stillness without action can remain incomplete, while action without awareness can become directionless. By bringing these two qualities together, the author gives readers a thoughtful way to consider spirituality not as something separate from ordinary living, but as something that can influence everyday choices.
The originality of BCD also lies in its ability to make a complex subject memorable without reducing its seriousness. “Birth is given, Death is certain, but Choices are ours” becomes more than a statement. It acts as the guiding philosophy of the book. It invites readers to examine the distance between circumstance and response and to recognize that personal agency often begins in that space. This is a message with broad relevance because it can speak to readers at different stages of life and from different backgrounds.
The Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award seeks to recognize books and authors whose work demonstrates originality, meaningful thought, reader value, and a lasting contribution to literature and ideas. BCD reflects these qualities through its clear philosophical foundation, relatable structure, spiritual depth, and practical message. The award committee recognized the book not only for the subject it addresses, but also for the way it encourages readers to become more aware of the lives they are creating through their choices.
Anoop Shanker Madan deserves special appreciation for presenting this philosophy in a form that is accessible to contemporary readers. Without relying on unnecessary complexity, the book brings together questions of identity, responsibility, inner awareness, emotional life, discipline, and conscious action. It invites reflection while also encouraging personal participation. The reader is not simply asked to think about life as an abstract idea, but to consider how life is being shaped through daily decisions.
On behalf of Ananta Press, we warmly congratulate Anoop Shanker Madan on this well-deserved recognition as a Winner of the Ananta Press Sahitya Ratna Award. BCD – Birth. Choice. Death: The Story of Life Between Two Certainties offers readers a thoughtful reminder that although the beginning and end of life are not ours to decide, the space between them carries the possibility of awareness, responsibility, courage, and meaningful change.
We extend our best wishes to Anoop Shanker Madan for the continued journey of BCD and for his future literary work. May this recognition help the book reach more readers, inspire deeper reflection, and strengthen its contribution to contemporary non-fiction and philosophical literature.
Jury Member Feedback
The following feedback is drafted as requested on the assumption that each jury member has read the book. It can be reviewed or approved by the respective members before being presented as their official comments.
Glenville Ashby
B.C.D – Birth, Choices, Death presents a thoughtful idea in a very simple and accessible way. What I appreciated most is the way the book takes two realities that no human being can control, birth and death, and places our attention on the choices that exist between them. This gives the reader a clear point of reflection without making the subject unnecessarily complicated. The discussions around the mind, emotions, relationships, fear, responsibility, and awareness make the philosophy practical rather than distant. I also found the use of Shiva as a symbol of inner stillness and Krishna as a symbol of conscious action meaningful because these ideas are connected with everyday living instead of being treated only as spiritual concepts. The BCD framework gives the book a distinct identity and makes its message easy to remember. It encourages readers to examine their own decisions with greater awareness. In my view, the book offers a useful and sincere contribution to reflective non-fiction.
Kavya Pandey
This book stands out because it begins with a truth that every reader can immediately understand. We do not decide where or how we are born, and we cannot escape death, but we do have a role in shaping the life between these two points. The author develops this thought through subjects that are part of ordinary life, such as discipline, ego, courage, relationships, emotions, and responsibility. I liked that the book does not ask readers to separate spirituality from daily life. Instead, it suggests that awareness can be practiced through the choices we make each day. The references to Shiva and Krishna add a deeper philosophical layer while remaining connected to modern concerns. The language of the central idea is also memorable. Birth is given, death is certain, and choices are ours. That message can stay with a reader long after finishing the book. I believe B.C.D has value because it encourages personal responsibility without becoming harsh or overly complicated.
Apeksha Gupta
While reading B.C.D – Birth, Choices, Death, I found its strongest quality to be its structure of thought. The author takes a very large subject, the meaning and direction of human life, and gives it a simple framework that readers can easily follow. The movement from what is beyond our control towards what remains within our control creates a natural sense of responsibility. The sections dealing with the body, mind, emotions, fear, courage, ego, and relationships show that meaningful change is not limited to major life events. It can begin through small decisions and conscious responses. I also appreciated the balance between philosophical reflection and practical life. The use of Shiva and Krishna as symbols of stillness and action adds depth to the book without removing it from everyday experience. The book does not offer an escape from difficulty. It asks the reader to become more aware within difficulty. That makes its central message relevant, constructive, and capable of encouraging genuine self-reflection.
Kavita Kaushik
B.C.D is a reflective book with a clear and meaningful purpose. Its central idea is simple, but the author uses that simplicity to open a much wider discussion about how a person lives. I especially appreciated the focus on choice as an everyday responsibility. Many books speak about change in broad terms, but this book brings attention to the repeated decisions involving thought, emotion, discipline, relationships, fear, courage, and ego. This makes the message useful for readers who want to understand themselves more carefully. The spiritual dimension also feels connected to life. Shiva is presented through the idea of inner stillness, while Krishna represents conscious action. Together, these symbols support the book’s larger message that awareness and action need to work together. The BCD framework gives the book originality and helps readers remember its philosophy. I feel the book can encourage people to stop seeing themselves only as products of circumstances and begin thinking more seriously about the choices they still have.
Neel Preet
The most effective aspect of B.C.D – Birth, Choices, Death is that it turns an abstract philosophical question into something personal and practical. Instead of trying to explain life through complicated theories, the author begins with three clear words and builds the discussion around them. Birth represents what is given, death represents what is certain, and choice represents the space where a person can participate in shaping life. This approach makes the book easy to enter while still giving the reader many ideas to think about. I found the chapters on awareness, responsibility, discipline, relationships, fear, and courage especially relevant because these are areas where people regularly face decisions. The spiritual references are also handled in a way that supports reflection rather than distracting from it. Shiva and Krishna become symbols for stillness and action, two qualities that are useful in modern life. Overall, I found the book sincere, clear, and purposeful. Its message has the potential to remain with readers beyond the final page.
Deepak Seth
B.C.D offers a strong reminder that the value of life is often created through choices that may appear small at the time. The author’s framework is effective because it is both philosophical and easy to understand. Birth and death form the two fixed points, while choice becomes the active space between them. I appreciated how the book expands this idea through the body, mind, emotions, relationships, responsibility, fear, courage, ego, awareness, and spirituality. These subjects give readers several ways to connect the philosophy with their own lives. The book also avoids presenting spirituality as something that belongs only to special places or special moments. By using Shiva to represent inner stillness and Krishna to represent conscious action, it shows how spiritual ideas can guide ordinary decisions. The book’s originality lies in making a complex question of existence memorable through the BCD model. I believe its greatest strength is that it asks readers not only to think about life, but also to examine how they are actually choosing to live it.
