Open- Eyed meditations - a book review

The moment I saw the title 'Open- Eyed meditations’ By Shubha vilas on blogadda book review program, my instinct said this could be my kind of book.  The word ‘Meditation’ itself has a calming effect on me and the authors previous books on Ramayana which I read and reviewed here had left me  pondering and contemplating even after I had finished reading those  books. I expected this book to have a similar effect on me and, I must say I was not disappointed.

Open-Eyed  meditations was not a breezy read for me, I had to read and re-read at many many places to understand, accept and absorb what was written in the book. With the exams of my son and so many other commitments, it took time for me to finish the book.  But, I enjoyed each and every page of the book. 

The book is actually a collection of thoughts about various aspects of  modern life , the situations we deal with and offers profound insights and solutions to those situations . The way the author has beautifully drawn analogy  between the situations we encounter in modern life to the stories  or characters or situations  from our epics The Ramayana or the mahabharatha is commendable.

The book is divided into 64 small chapters, each one dealing with a modern day problem like the art of communication, making right decisions in life, can talent be your enemy?, Are you scared to be offline?, can your success be your failure?, how to let go, art of leading leaders, Do ‘likes’  make my life?, quality vs quantity, making leadership last etc.,

Each of the  64 is independant , complete and offers nugget of  wisdom and action to be taken within the chapter to the modern day malady. At the end of each chapter is the summary highlighted in a box enclosure.

The language is very simple and   beautifully rhyming. Some of the lines can make great pin up quotes on  hardboard or can serve as our status to inspire us.

A few lines that inspired me are..

“A simple mind accepts the unchangeable reality, whereas a complex mind dwells on it indefinitely creating immense  negativity”

“letting go at the right time and in the right mood allows you to blossom without hindrance. Either that or you shrivel in self-pity”

“Real perfection of a man is to find joy in accepting his imperfections as potential for his growth rather than as a source of his fears”

Like I mentioned, the book has many short stories embedded and while the author has elaborated the stories, situations and characters in many chapters, he has also missed completing them or he must have taken for granted that the reader knows the story. For instance, in the chapter “ A story about communication”. He talks about Kanika neeti in which Kanika convinced Duryodhana to have faith by narrating the story of a fox that tricked its four friends to part wth their share of the hunt by its cunningness.  Elaborating the story crisply could have helped correlate the situation.  The author says this story was the inspiration for the infamous gambling match.  This passage left me curious to know what the fox story was.

Otherwise, this is a marvelous book  that takes us by the hand to deal with modern day situations. This book(279)  is certainly not a one time read and has to be a part of our personal library and has to be picked up from the bookshelf often to absorb the brilliant insights.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Shattered dreams - a book review

Many a times we wonder, if age-old epics have relevance to our lives in today’s space age. Many dismiss them as myth, folk-lore and not relevant to today’s life.   Shattered dreams is a 387 book which breaks that thought and brings out gently Ramayana’s wisdom and  teaches how to handle  the various downturns  and pitfalls of our lives positively.

Ramayana – The game of life, Shattered dreams is second  in a series of book from Shubha vilas , the first being Ramayana –the game of life  titled Rise of the Sun prince ( my review here) . 

This book deals with the attempt of Dasharatha to bequeath his throne to his son Crown prince  Rama and so preparations are on for the Coronation.  How the coronation gets thwarted through   the story of kaikeyi’s boons , the banishment of Rama into exile,  the steadfastness of Rama in the face of his people’s shattered dreams, the beautiful  12 year old husband-wife  relationship dynamics of Rama and sita, the misunderstood Bharata  who goes to Chitrakoot to convince his brother Rama to rule form the narration of the book which itself is retold from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana, Ramcharit Manas and with folk tales thrown in from Lokapramana.

While I have read many books on Ramayana and have even watched the TV series, what made the read interesting was the unknown details of the great anti-hero Ravana.  The first few pages deals with the  birth of Ravana , his acquiring the pushpaka vimana and his international conquests.  Then it was  heart tugging to read the  love  of a royal father, Dasharatha when he is snatched the coronation rights and is forced to send his loving prince to exile. 

In between, I found certain chapters very preachy and too philosophical but the book turned dramatic with the meeting of Bharata and Lord Rama at Chitrakoot.  Rama offers his footwear to adorn the imperial throne and gifts him a set of five management mantras which form the base of vision based leadership leading to Rama Rajya.

The book finally ends with the exiled trio of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana moving ahead of chitrakoot down south towards Dandakaranya  with a visit to Sage  Atri’s hermitage.

There are interesting little folk tales embedded which makes it a fascinating read and also there are footnotes on each page which correlates the Ramayana situation on that page to our modern life.  While these footnotes help you to reflect and ponder at the same time, it  breaks the continuity of the story.  Some of the footnotes were  simple yet  profound like

 “when you focus on things that you have gained, you become grateful, when you focus on things that you have lost, you become hateful.”

Overall, a very interesting book that connects the human struggles and  power strategies of the world’s revered epic to modern day struggles.

Written in simple English, it may be a worthy read for people who love reading self-help motivational books and mythology.

 About the Author

Shubha Vilas, a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in Patent Law. His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses. He also helps individuals deal with modern-life situations by applying the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other dharmic traditions.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

God is a Gamer - a book review

Touted as the world’s first bitcoin thriller, Ravi Subramanian’s novel God is a gamer   is woven around the lives of a few politicians,bankers,crooks, gamers with ‘Bitcoin’ and an  anonymous online  market place for shady deals called cotton trail playing a crucial role in the story. The plot  moves from Washington's congress to Delhi's finance ministry, the beaches of Goa to the corporate boardrooms of Mumbai.

The book starts with a high profile meeting  in Washington DC between Vijay Banga, president of Master card international and Joseph saunders, the CEO of visa international regarding a routine meeting by the head of a country which could shake the very foundation of their business model.

What follows is an explosion killing a US senator,  An ATM heist in US linking a vendor in India, Bitcoin scams,  Death of two high profile international bankers, FBI investigation etc.

Who kills the US senator? What is the mystery behind the death of the bankers?Who is the brain behind the ATM heist and Bitcoin scam? Is everything interrelated?Will FBI, CBI and Mumbai police get to solve the puzzle?  That forms the 310 page thriller.

Unlike his previous books, banking does not play a major role in this book, instead the book is high on online gaming on facebook and  “Bitcoin” which is touted as the currency of the future. It is very clear from the book that the author has done extensive research on facebook games/online games, bitcoins etc.,After reading the book, many gamers will understand why they are stuck at a particular level in certain online games. I had never known so much went behind a gaming console.These details were very new to me.

There are so many twists and turns thrown along with many emotions like romance, revenge, greed  that the pages turn by themselves. As one reads the book,the investigator in you comes to many conclusions only to be proven wrong in the climax. Another plus in the book is  the narration divided into many small chapters and most of them end in cliffhangers which maintains the suspense and whets the appetite of the reader.

 Editing and proof readingwise, another book in recent times which has many goof ups and I had to re-read at many places  to  grasp and see if I was reading right. For instance on pg 278(chapter94) The pseudonym  of the bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto is said to be derived from 4 japanese companies  Sa from Samsung, toshi from Toshiba, naka from nakamichi and moto from motorala. Now here, neither Samsung or Motorola are Japanese companies. Samsung is a Korean company and Motorola is American. There are also many confusing situations in the book which might rise as a doubt once you read the climax like in the place where Varun picks up the Wasabi nuts from Tanya’s kitchen shelf and Tanya advises him not to eat as they have expired their shelf life. So many such minor loop holes and proof reading errors.

Also, pages are wasted on parallel plots like Sangamner and confessions of a hooker and these are like speed breakers to an otherwise  entertaining book. 

This review is a part of the biggest Indian bloggers book review program  at blogadda Participate now to get free books!




Ashwin Sanghi & James Patterson's Private India - A book review

Private London, Private Games, Private Berlin, Private Down under, Private L.A., Private Vegas and now  it is Private India.

Private India  is the latest book in the ‘Private Series’ of the most popular thriller writer James Patterson.   Ashwin Sanghi , the author of "The Krishna key" who has a fascination for history and Indian mythology has added the Indian elements to the book and so this is a collaborative effort of the two authors. The result is a racy, unputdownable thriller book with some historical and mythological leanings set in Aamchi Mumbai.

Nine unconnected people belonging to various fields like medicine, journalism, a singer, school principal, a politician, Film director, the chief justice of Mumbai high court, a yoga guru etc.,  are killed/strangled with a  scarf. Although the people are unconnected, there are a few  common connection. All the victims are women and are strangled with a   yellow cotton scarf around their neck. Along with the scarf there are a few more strange objects left by the killer which forms the clues for the puzzle.  

Who is the killer? What is the motive and why does the killer tie them with yellow scarf? What do the strange objects signify? 

The murder mystery   solved by  Private India, the Mumbai Branch of the world’s finest investigation agency, which is also the target of a massive bomb attack,  forms the plot of the book.

  

 I found the initial chapters disconnected, but once I got into the groove  I turned page after page. I finished the  470 page book  in  4 hours spread over two days despite many work priorities.  That should speak for the racy pace of the book.

The clues and leads in the narration  made me  suspect so many characters in the book. One of them being the software decoder of the detective agency Hari Padhi, then after a few chapters I suspected  the Attorney General and so on.  This is what made the book interesting. Lots of twists and turns but ultimately the killer is  somebody whom the reader never suspects. The book ends in a cliffhanger.

There were many learnings for me in the book like the strange objects left by the killer were related to the nine avatars of Durga and so there are some mythological references in the book, the yellow cotton scarf is a signature of  the  ‘Thug’ cult of ancient india and so there are some historical information about the cult,  all of which are typical Sanghi style.

The best I liked about the book is the vivid description especially of Mumbai city.  A Mumbaikar will relate to the places in the book easily. It is the same vivid description at some places I disliked.  I found it spooky especially where the morgue is described. I skipped reading a few paragraphs describing it.

Overall,  I would label the book a racy page turner, worth giving a pick especially if you like thrillers.

That said, I found lot of grammatical and bad sentence formation. For instance on page 31 The para began

“ At the Regal Santosh turned toward Colaba causeway,………”

So many such sentences made me re-read the lines to connect the link properly.

A note to the proof readers and publishers:

I am no grammar Nazi or have no authority over the  English language. Even I do mistakes and found many errors in my old posts while re-reading. Of late, I have found  editing lapses in famous newspapers and other books too.

 Many  readers like me treat such written books and newspapers as reference for English spellings and learn from such books. Please take care to avoid such grammatical and spelling errors, people. Your work is   our reference. 

This review is a part of the biggest Book review program  for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!




Rise of the sun prince by Shubha Vilas - Book review

JAICO's  Rise of the Sun prince is the Bala kand of the revered and famous epic Ramayana.

This book is the first of the  6 part series titled Ramayana:The game of life  by the author Shubha Vilas. The book draws extensively from the Valmiki Ramayan and Kamba Ramyan (another version).Interesting mini stories and poetical analogies from the above books form   Rise of the sun prince.

 The book retells the story from the times  when Valmiki was Ratnakar and how his angry curse turns into glorious verse Ramayana, the base meter for the composition of Ramayana. It narrates the leadership model of Dasharata, the birth of Rama, his growing and learning  years with sage Vishwamitra till he gets married to Sita. But most of all the highlight of this book is the story of Vishwamitra from the time of he being a King from a royal lineage to being conferred the title of Brahmarishi by Sage Vasishta. Interesting mini fables, folk tales and stories form the lifeline of this book and keeps the reader captivated throughout.

The book is a light and breezy read in that the  narration is uncomplicated and in simple language. The situations and locations are beautifully described that I have paused at many places to visualize them. One worthy of mentioning is  the description of Mithila city. Another interesting and special aspect of this book is the foot notes in each page which beautifully correlates the stories on that page to dealing with modern day life situations.

Situations as in dealing with the relationship of our lives between parents and children, between husband and wife, between siblings, between a leader and follower and all those values required for a happy, righteous and contented life. 

My verdict is pick up the book even if you know Ramayan, because this book is not just about the Balakand of Ramayan. It is about Ramayan - the way of life,  many life lessons in those 250 pages priced at Rs 250. 

As for me, can't wait for Book 2 of Ramayana: The game of life - Shattered dreams. 

About the author: Shubha vilas, a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker holds a degree in engineering and law with a specialization in patent law.

His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses.  He addresses their crucial needs through thought provoking seminars on themes such as 'Secrets of lasting relationships', 'Soul curry to stop worry' etc.,

 This review is a part of the biggest  Book Review Program at blogadda

for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

A very Indian approach to management- Business Sutra by Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik

Book review of

                                          Publisher:Aleph Book company
                                                        Pages: 437
                                                                        INR 695

Modern Management science taught in business schools world over is based on Western beliefs. In this book, Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik  wonders and writes what it would be like if management science is based on Indian Mythology.

According to him there is a premise in Indian mythology where it says if there is no intellectual growth, there will be no economic growth.  
Why we do business impacts how we do it and what ultimately gets done. “Jaise vichaar vaise vyavhaar, jaise vyavhaar vaise vyapaar”. As is belief, so is behavior, so is business. This is Business sutra, a very Indian way of doing business which he calls as 3B framework. The sutra(like the dots in a rangoli(kolam) connects Indian beliefs to business. Every idea in this book is a dot that the reader can join to create a pattern like in rangoli and will help expand your mind. 

He discusses this in three  main chapters:

The first chapter “Connecting business to belief”  gives an introduction on 3B framework, about beliefs, myth and mythology, decodes culture and connects management to mythology.

The second chapter “From Goal to gaze”  Decodes western, Chinese and Indian beliefs.

 Apart from their beliefs on their business approach,  It relates how Europeans came to India first to trade, then to convert and eventually to exploit.  Indians became exposed to the western ideas as they studed in missionary schools to become clerks in the East India company and complied with the western ideas, language and templates. Whenever a local orientalist tried to explain,  the colonists tried to point out to the Indian social issues like caste, sati and idol worship. Indians became apologetic.

So what’s the difference between the East and the West? 

When we look at Indian mythology — be it Hindu, Buddhist or Jainsim — we find new ways of looking at business. Our approach changes. Indian approach is both profit-related as well as people-centric, while Western approach is profit-centric, thus turning people into mere resources and relies more on vision and mission statements says Pattanaik. He elaborates this argument when he says that in India, you can get away by breaking rules because we value people and are more than willing to adjust. Also, this country, unlike Western countries is so diverse that one rule can’t be good enough for everyone. “In the West, which is homogenous, rules are paramount and can be implemented strictly. If you don’t follow rules there, you are in trouble. But India is complex. As one goes through the epics of India, there are rule-following heroes (Ram) as well as rule-following villains (Duryodhan), the rule-breaking heroes (Krishna) as well as rule-breaking villains (Ravan). Thus, here goodness and righteousness has nothing to do with rules; they are at best functional, depending on the context they can be upheld or broken. This explains why we don’t value rules and systems in our own country, but adhere when we go abroad.”

The third chapter is the heart of the book and I found it more interesting and enriching. “Business Sutra- The very Indian approach to management”

Here he connects nearly 145 business sutra(principles to mythological stories drawn from Indian culture(Ramayan, Mahabharatha, Vikram-vetal, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism etc). He believes that mythological stories along with symbols and rituals are the tools through which our ancestors shared their wisdom, wisdom that is relevant even in modern times. 

Business Sutra is an attempt to make the wisdom of mythology accessible and applicable to the corporate world. Management and business principles like brand value, attrition, hierarchy, short term goals, long term vision, governance, politics, economics etc.,   The stories are short and is followed with a case study ranging from a street side vendor to the board room of a corporation.

An example to showcase the gaze-oriented value of business sutra is how we see the world and our relationship with Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth, whose image adorns Hindu homes and Jain temples.

IF we believe that wealth needs to be pursued we turn the workplace into a rana-bhoomi(battle ground)  of investors, regulators, employers, employees, vendors , competitors etc., If you believe that wealth has to be attracted, we turn work place into a ranga bhoomi, a play ground where everyone is happy. He correlates this to the story of Playful Krishna in Vrindavan( rangabhoomi) and that of the Krishna in ranabhoomi(kurukshetra).

Many such interesting myths of Indian mythology which India seems to have forgotten and the world has overlooked are  decoded by  Pattanaik. Like he says  “ Myths aren’t always to be taken literally. They have to be decoded to understand the real meaning. When someone says that ocean parted, you can take it literally. Or you can see it as an idea of something impossible happening”

The fourth chapter is actually a  decoding dictionary of Business sutra and this is very important to understand the book  and you have to refer often. In fact this is what I disliked about the book. Every now and then I had to flip over to this page to find the meaning of the various  business sutra words. For instance, the word ‘Yagna” which according to Indian  mythology means  ‘vedic fire ritual’ is actually “the process of exchange” in this book. Similarly ‘Krishna’ means  he who breaks rules to help others grow on their terms and not the ‘yadava cowherd or Vishnu avatar’

The fifth chapter is the index of sutras which are discussed in the third chapter.

With India making its presence in the International market, this could well be India’s offering to the leaders of the world. Apart from the management and business schools , I highly recommend this book to every body .  And  also  a few principles of  this book to be a part of school  syllabi to  help expand the thinking of young minds.

Like Pattanaik says in the closing lines , when the mind expands, Lakshmi(wealth)  follows. This is the essence of Business Sutra.

Overall an uplifting and enriching read, though I found the first two chapters little cloudy initially and read it a second time to understand better.

 The author Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik

Trained in medicine, he spent 15 years in healthcare and pharmaceutical industries first as a freelance content provider and then in organizations such as SIRO clinical research, Good health n you, Apollo Health Street and Sanofi Aventis, before joining Ernst & Young as Business Advisor.

That is when he met Kishore Biyani of Future Group (Big Bazaar, Pantaloon, Central) who convinced him to turn his hobby into his vocation.For over 15 years, Devdutt wrote and lectured extensively on the relevance of mythology (not just Hindu mythology) in modern times.Since becoming Chief Belief Officer of Future Group in 2008, he has specially focussed on Mythology and Management and is currently leadership coach and inspirational speaker to many organizations besides Future Group.

He consults Star TV on storytelling techniques and patterns. And is a regular in the management seminar lecture circuit. His columns on management and culture that appear in Economic Times, Sunday Mid-day, Tehelka, Hindustan Times, and Times of India, are a hit with general and specialist readers. He has written over 25 books for everyone from adults to children, for youth to business executives.

This review is a part of the biggest indian bloggers book review program" for blogadda.com Participate now to get free books!




Chanakya's new Manifesto - to resolve the crisis within India

A non-fiction

by

Pavan K. Varma

Publisher : Aleph book company

We have exercised our franchise, voted them to power but many of us are not happy with the way our country is shaping up. Everyday, we read in newspapers about the ineffective governance in the form of dynastic politics, coalition government, corruption in the implemention of developmental policies, insecurity in the form of cross border terrorism, blasts, human outrage etc. and feel helpless and frustrated.

To counter this and take stock of the situation Pavan K varma a former IFS officer has proposed Chanakya’s New Manifesto. This 248 page book analyzes the many challenges our country faces and proposes clear and unambiguous solution to them.

The author clearly states in the prologue that this book is inspired by Chanakya’s s great work The Arthashastra, which he studied at length and spent considerable time thinking about the subjects he would tackle and approach.

His reason for the inspiration is that in the course of one life time, Chanakya groomed a king, deposed another, helped to throw the mighty Greeks united a fractious territory  and help consolidate the great Maurya empire. He crowned all these achievements by writing India’s  and perhaps the world’s first comprehensive treatise on statecraft called Arthashastra much before Machiavelli wrote ‘The prince’.

Along with that he cites several reasons for why he titled his book “Chanakya.” “He (Chanakya) was a man who was capable of exceptional clarity of thought and rigour of intellectual discipline. Firstly, he believed in understanding the problem in order to prescribe the right solution. Secondly, he believed in understanding, unsentimentally, the psyche of the people. Thirdly, he believed in leadership. Fourthly, he believed in spotting talent. Fifthly, he believed that no state is of any consequence unless it works for the welfare of the people. Sixthly, you must have, in order for a functioning state, a functioning treasury. Seventhly, analyze systems, not individuals. Lastly, he believed national interest has primacy for a nation.

To begin with  he discusses the crises that loom large in the first chapter’The Crisis’  and then the second chapter ‘1947 and after’, here he discusses the 5 legacies which our founders of our nation like MK Gandhi formulated after august 15,1947 like democracy, planned economic development like 5 year plan, secular society etc., and the next few chapters he segregates the current looming crisis which requires immediate attention. They are the Governance, democracy, corruption, security and the the building of an inclusive society. 

What would chanakya do if confronted with the above crises that beset contemporary India? Using this as the starting point, the  author begins each chapter  with a quote from arthashastra, and then the author with his experienced intelligence discusses each topic with the issues plaguing the part, supporting them with specific examples and statistics citing the names, details and dates precisely.  And thereafter bullets his manifesto which could undo the damage and suggests some possible and pragmatic solution which he believes could bring a change.

The book as the author humbly  claims is only a blue print for change to resolve the crisis and may not be flawless. It has to be debated and modified to suit our country’s best interest. But all the changes that it seeks is attainable within the four corners of the constitution.

What I liked about the book was firstly there are many of us who armchair criticize and find loopholes in the governance, very few offer panacea. This book offers one. Secondly the author illustrates each crisis with specific examples and statistics citing names and dates which sounds authentic. Some of the facts are startling and shocking. Thirdly, it is  not a very complex book and I had marked many places to quote here, but I find there were too many of them and the review is already lengthy.

This book is not a light read but an attentive and definite read for anybody who has a stake in India's future.

  

About the author: Pavan K. Varma studied history at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and took a degree in law from Delhi University. He has been press secretary to the president of India, official spokesman of the Foreign Office, director general of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and India’s ambassador to Bhutan. Having taken premature retirement from the Indian Foreign Service, he now seeks to be actively involved in public life.

He has authored several acclaimed and bestselling books, among them, Ghalib: The Man, The Times;Krishna: The Playful Divine; The Great Indian Middle Class; Being Indian: The truth about why the 21st century will be India's; Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity and When Loss is Gain. He has also translated into English the poetry of Gulzar, Kaifi Azmi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

This review is a part of the biggest indian bloggers book review program at blogadda.com.  Participate now to get free books!

"The Bankster" by Ravi Subramanian

  I have not studied and don't  understand economics or finance but I have interest in the field of economics and banking. This made me  pick up Ravi subramanian’s ‘The bankster’ for review.  I had read his  book “If God was a banker” and was mightly impressed with the book. He had so beautifully narrated in the book how the corporate sectors/banks work. I am sure anybody who works in corporate world  would be able to relate to  the book where you find people with various colors. Associates who are manipulative, scheming, straight forward, aggressive,assertive, sincere, dedicated with integrity etc.

And so when ‘The Bankster’ offer from blogadda came, I picked up the autographed book offer.

                                 The Bankster  by Ravi Subramanian 

                                      Published by rupa publications

                                                       INR 250

"The Bankster" as the name suggests is the story of a banker and  two  gangsters. The trio  are involved in illegal trading of  blood diamonds and arms, money laundering and nuclear power installation politics. How the three work and use the services of  a famous bank called Greater Boston Global Bank( GB2)  is the story.

 There are three stories which run parallely  in Angola, Devikulam(Kerala) and Mumbai as bases, they finally converge as one.

The story begins in Angola, where a CIA agent Joseph Braganza trades arms for the famous blood diamonds.

The second story is at Devikulam in Kerala where a retired NRI Krishna menon now  runs a homestay & protests against the installation of a nuclear plant in his village. He has lost his only son and DIL in the Chernobyl disaster and so has taken a vow that a similar incident should not occur in Devikulam. Here he is helped by a NGO worker Jayakumar in his anti-nuclear protest rallies.

The big story of the three has its base at Mumbai, The greater boston global Bank. The bank which is known for its integrity suddenly finds its reputation tarnished when a series of its sincere employees are killed in  accident and suicide.

A former employee of the bank Karan Punjabi who has now turned journalist finds something fishy about the deaths,  investigates and finds out the employees were murdered. He unravels the mystery  behind the murders and then out tumbles the scams like money laundering, illegal trading of arms/ diamonds and the relation to nuclear protests, thus uniting all the three plots. The climax has an unpredictable twist. At many places, the investigation reminded me of the CID serial.

What I liked about the book was the simple language used.  There were no financial or banking jargon used which would have wanted  a non –finance person like me to google the word. In fact, some of the terms like hold instruction were beautifully defined so that a lay person like me could understand. I liked the i-cloud explanation too, a facility of ipad which I was not aware of. 

Regarding the characters,  I am sure every corporate associate will encounter many Raymonds, Harshitas who are sincere in their work  balancing the scheming Zinaidas and Ruthless Tanuja’s.  For me the story picked up pace after Harshita’s death in the book. From then on the book became unputdownable that I finished at the stroke of 1  knowing very well that I have to get up at 5 next morning.

What I disliked about the book was  the beginning few chapters.  The chapters were toggling between The 3 plots and so I found it difficult to connect. Many a times, I went back to read the story especially the Devikulam  plot.  Similarly,  the description of the bank affairs in the book  somehow  sounded familiar may be because I had read “ If god was a banker”.  The  description of the sewage pipes connection in the Vienna base was too elaborate like a lesson on plumbing. It could have been simple.

I have a mixed feeling about the language Hinglish used in between the conversations. I found them natural as that is how  two colleagues/buddies  speak  in most Indian work place.  At the same time, the dialogues may be difficult to interpret for a person illiterate in Hindi , considering this book is read  around the world. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hinglish though.

The narration is so realistic at places that you may start doubting your own  bank and your banker friends around you :)

Jokes aside,  Pick up the 358 page banking mystery if you like this genre and it is not a financial  crime thriller as many have  touted it to be. There are no financial jargon that can scare you but a banking thriller  with an unpredictable twist in the climax and a racy second half. Wish he had maintained the first half with good pace too. This book is one of the top 10 bestsellers now. (Courtesy: The Hindu)

About the author:

This  book is  by a banker and finance professional, Ravi Subramanian who began his career in 1993 in Bangalore with the Tatas and IBM and shifted four years later to Chennai, where he worked with ANZ Grindlays Bank. Moving to Delhi, he was with Citibank for five years before shifting his base in 2005 to Mumbai (Shriram Group), where he resides with his bio-technologist wife-turned-banker. He won the golden quill readers choice award for his debut novel "If god was a banker" and he is hailed as the "John Grisham of banking"

                           This bookreview is a part of blogadda book review program.