I finished reading 'If God was a Banker' by Ravi Subramanian today. I had been reading this book for a while now - few weeks, that is, ever since I finished reading the extremely well-written 'The Kite Runner'. I think I will write a full-fledged review of The Kite Runner some time soon.It took me unusually long to finish If God... Partly because of lack of time in the past few weeks and partly because the book failed to grab my attention/interest for over an hour at a stretch. Today I made a resolve to finish it as I needed to start George Orwell's Animal Farm. If God .. is a forgettable kind of book - a fiction about the professional and personal lives of young and ambitious bankers working for multi-national banks in India. The writer himself is a banker and his characters & storyline are pretty much reflections of his own life. In fact Vandu & CD, who know the author personally, say that Subramanian has portrayed himslef as the all-good-no-evil character of Swami and another of his peers is the 'inspiration' for the other protagonist smart-but-slimy Sundeep.
The author goes on an on about the nitty-gritties of sales in banking industry, describing each selling campaign & business operation in great detail. This may appeal to someone from the industry, but to an outsider (like me), it's nothing but boring stuff. And when he is not writing about banking/sales, he is writing sleaze. It seemed to me that I was reading a Shobha De piece with some banking jargon thrown in. The point where Subramanian scores is the narrative - it is simple and the conversations are very real.
But overall, this book can be better left unread and that wouldn't be any loss at all!
22 comments:
I kind of agree with your view on the book. As a MBA student I do find the details of the campaigns interesting though the plot was seriously hackneyed. Also the end was a mite too hindi picture-ish with the prodigal son forgiven and taken back into the fold.....
Can't agree with you more.."a Shobha De piece with some banking jargon thrown in."
I got it yesterday from the library and after a few pages, I was in dilemma to continue reading it or not. I have finished 100 pages and the whole style of writing is very cliched.
-PK
am mid way on this book..not encauragin to read your feedback :) ne ways..have time to kill..will soon my impression on this book
I just got done with the book. Agree with your views...it was like watching a run of the mill bollywood movies..so cliched..jus missed the songs every twenty mins...that would have completed the movie.
But I did have a thought to ponder...In this story I felt..maybe sundeep didnt really lose out...I mean..look at it this way..he had all the sex, enjoying power throughout his tenure in the organization and finally got another job too. Now, dont say his conscience got hurt...I dont think he felt guilty about it; he was just upset having got caught, but not really guilty...so there you go..he is a clear winner!
Yes, it was like a Bollywood movie and definitely a B-grade one at that. I, too, found Sundeep's character far more human than Swami's (who is annoyingly Mr Perfect). The problem with the book on the whole is that it lacks depth - in characters, storyline, narrative. Everything in it is so predictable & cliched .. just like our Bollywood movies :)
dont be too quick to judge. The books a true story. Heard of jerry rao a.k.a aditya rao? Had always admired the guy.
ravi is actually an auditor and thats how he knows the whole story. (he has mentioned this in the book - if you are quick to catch on)
a truly gripping book, hard to believe, but is just about 2 bankers and their experience...doesnt mean thats how all bankers are or are not.
remember the harshad mehta crash and the bank that got screwed for withdrawing 20 cr w/o permission?
I just finished reading this book. Right from the title, the book interested me and it was when i read the preface i found that this is a book that I had to read. Lately ethics in business and corporate sector has been catching my attention and thats how i got interested in buying the book and read it . I must admit I found it very entertaining and informative.
However, I must say that it is not giving the right message or ended without doing equal justice. After all that had happened, the real sufferer was Natasha. She was the one who got sexually harasses by her boss, she was the one who was cheated by her husband, she was the one who went through all the hardships of raising the kids while her husband was away humping multiple chicks. What does she get in the end. That poor little thing just cried to her misfortunes and did not even come to know the reality of her own husband who had been using her.
Is that justice to her. The story ends with the message that if you are a male you can get through anything and if you are a female you have to bear whatever the dominant male does.
All said and done, it is still not clear who told about the loo incident of Sandeep and Natasha to Sandeep's boss? IF it really was Aditya (which I was not expecting), his heroic image seems tarred... I want Ravi to clarify this! :P
http://www.youthpad.com/blogs_detail/recent/666/If_God_was_a_Banker.html
My review of the book..
i think this book refers to some learnings also like
1) short cuts wont pay in long run
2)Networking is very reality of corporate culture so use it to your best
3)Frauds happen in corporates but typically starts and sustain only when seniors are involved
I just finished reading the book and realized that the author has conveyed exactly what he wanted to! The fiction travels at a good pace only to be slowed down by needlessly boring descriptions of sexcapades of Sundeep. The author needs to work on the sleaze part of the story or all together ignore it in his future works.
As an outsider I am clearly presented a detailed picture of the corporate banking world which is what I bargained for when buying the book. Guys like Swami do exist in every industry but not all Swamis get to grow like the one mentioned in this fiction. All said, the end is definitely felt like loss of steam. Having portrayed Sundeep's character in detail, one expected the author to present an interesting verdict for him but the end reminds one of the 90's movies.
Pretty badly written book.. A poor quality fiction.
I agree with your review. Ravi is Swami in the plot. Bechara jindagi bhar Sundeep se peeche raha and I think he wished a life that Sundeep lived. Also wondering why he named the character as Sundeep instead of Sandeep. A B grade Bollywood plot indeep. This book should be taken off from the bookstores and the author should try writing porn.
Folks, this is a true story and events are well captured to the hilt .. People are repenting / paying the price now .. I am sure these events are taking place even now in more volumes as Corporate India has "grown" .. we might witness few more "true stories" making their way soon ..
Dear Vineeta
Here is another banking fiction 'The Suicide Banker' by Puneet Gupta.
The book has just been published by Rupa Publications. Inspired by the real (and shocking) events that happened in one of the largest banks in India.
This is an interesting read,
easily available in all leading bookstores and through various websites.
There is yet another book which I found very interesting PUPPET ON THE FAST TRACK. The book challenges all the jargons and stereotypes that fresh MBAs are made to live with. It is a satire on the poor leaders of today. Quite a clean book but slaps back on product and strategy roles, the lack of depth of knowledge in leaders of today and the ending is very realistic, a call so many of us are forced to take. Recommend the book. The begining and the end are quite impactful however excessively descriptive in between.
Vineeta...you seem to be the usual no-brainer modern girl. This book has no details about banking apart from the department names. You talk like the usual illiterate literates moving around these days. Or may be you're so used to the happenings described in the book at your own workplace that you found this boring! Lets see if you atleast have the guts to approve criticism on your blog.
Also, the fact that it took weeks to finish this rather small bookm which one can read in a couple of hours speaks a lot about your reading abilities
The Mr. Unknown posting above me sounds like the author's tam-brahm cousin.
Anyway, I agree with the review... another thing everyone overlooked was the limited vocabulary and quite a few spelling and grammatical errors. Below par by any yardstick...
For those hailing it as a bold description of real life events with Ravi being Swami, then so cruel of Ravi to publicise Sundeep's plight to make money. He's certainly not as good and kind hearted as he thinks he is.
The Mr. Unknown posting above me sounds like the author's tam-brahm cousin.
Anyway, I agree with the review... another thing everyone overlooked was the limited vocabulary and quite a few spelling and grammatical errors. Below par by any yardstick...
For those hailing it as a bold description of real life events with Ravi being Swami, then so cruel of Ravi to publicise Sundeep's plight to make money. He's certainly not as good and kind hearted as he thinks he is.
I read this book today in 4 hours flat! That much for the blogger's reading skills!
Names of most characters in this book are from real life....all of them EXIST in different MNC banks today. I could even relate some of these characters' real life story with that portrayed in the book by Ravi.
The story seems to be hardly any fiction or imaginative....most of the incidents have happened in Citibank!!!!!
The mutual fund fiasco incident has happened long after the book was penned in Citibank. Perhaps this happened earlier in a different bank before 2007.
Only the End was dramatic and unrealistic! We do see Adithyas and Swamis in the banking world....but not those who root for saving a maniac!
Whether the story was true or not does not matter. The character have no depth. Surely, you can't say that sleeping around is Sundeep's only quality. The writing lacked any real quality. Sure, he described a lot about the various plans, but nothing else was described. The author seemed to be in a rush.
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