Willbur Colaco’s new book meanders the lanes fraught with life’s daily struggles and tips to overcome them.
Adelaide-based Willbur Colaco has earned the distinction of being an Amazon #1 bestselling author in under six months of the release of his debut novel ‘Drops Of Wisdom’. This is no stroke of luck, for there is no such thing in an industry that releases a new title in your world library every hour. In the spirit of the theme of the book itself, this success talks to the pursuit of closing the gap between where one stands and where one wants to be.
Willbur’s tryst with books started on a torrid summer afternoon at the turn of the millennium, when a keen teenager explored the newly launched Crossword bookstore in his hometown of Baroda, India. Immersing himself in a sea of books, he discovered rich literature penned by highly successful industrialists and spiritual gurus. He took a fancy for Robert Greene’s 48 Laws Of Power and, quite literally pinching pennies he got off his piggy bank, he bought his first book. One purchase turned into a great habit and before he knew it, he was consumed by the geniuses of Dale Carnegie, Steven Covey, The Dalai Lama, Robin Sharma and Shiv Khera.
Dispensing drops of wisdom, though, takes more than just inspiration. It needs a gamut of worldly experience that Colaco has gained from a rugged journey that started with an Environmental Science degree in India and was soon tapestried with a Post Graduate degree in South Australia. His subsequent commissioning into localgGovernment jobs in Adelaide, and diversification into the real estate industry as a buyer’s agent, continued alongside his lifelong commitment with exercising and bodybuilding. Trophy holder of many a bodybuilding competition, he believes there is a strong interconnection between physical and mental fitness, the pursuit of both leading one to spiritual wellness and an ability to be one with God. ‘I look at my workout as a means to show my gratitude for what I have been given – in mind, body and wealth.’ As a young child he had spotted a poster of Lord Shiva and was taken in by his physique, his mystique, the grandeur. ‘He is so much handsomer than Jesus,’ he remembers telling his mother. The conservative Catholic family was aghast at the remark. But his fondness for Shiva stuck, and he attributes his merits to date to the direction his Lord has shown him.
But do we really have the stomach for a spiritual guidebook in today’s world that is obsessed with AI chatbots and Netflix-and-chill subscriptions? ‘All the more reason that the book is timely,’ he asserts. The current generation is so consumed by gadgets and their associated comfort that they barely have time to reflect upon their aspirations and what course they need to walk in order to meet them. Food apps serve their gluttony. OTT shows serve their sloth. Social media image filters serve their vanity. All of these are but various means to one end: a constant distraction from the realization of one’s ultimate goals. No matter how severe these distractions are, the penny drops for us at some point in life: what have I been doing? Let’s get working. Anxiety and confusion get the better of an unclear mind. Colaco hopes to assist such minds with nuggets of his own experiences and tribulations, life events he has either thrived on or survived, to get to his today – which he regards as fulfilling and secure, with a healthy lifestyle, a loving wife and daughter, and a debut book that was painstakingly self-published with the selfless help and love from creative artists that he collaborated with in Norway, India and Australia.
The book is available on Amazon and other online bookstores and is due to go into a reprint soon.
By Nishant Kaushik