The incredible banker by Ravi Subramanian

"The incredible banker" by Ravi Subramanian. The book is published by Rupa in 2011 and is 308 pages long. This is his 4th book.

Deepak and Karan are two mid level managers in Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2) in Mumbai. Karan has always performed better. When Deepak is moved to head audit and compliance, he takes his revenge by finding inexistent deficiencies in Karan's department with the help of Savitha, a young beautiful widow in Karan's team and other enemies of Karan. Karan quits the bank. Later Deepak become head of credit cards division. He is not able to achieve his monthly targets for two consecutive months and tipped by his new friend, referee, in attempt to meet impossible targets and be always ahead of competition makes a block deal with a company called Symbiotic technologies.

Later Deepak is arrested after referee is killed in a naxalite encounter. Karan who has now joined media makes biggest exposé of the year.

What is the exposé? Is Deepak involved or is he framed? Is this Karan's chance to get even? How do naxalites come into picture? What role does CBI play? Who is the mastermind behind it?

The central theme of the story is cut throat competition in banking industry leading to procedural lapses and frauds with the backdrop of naxalite movement.

The story is a bit slow in first half but picks up speed as it goes. Fictitious GB2 is Ravi's brainchild and appears in his subsequent books. Some of the characters like Karan & Kavya also appear in subsequent books. I could draw parallels between this book and Ravi's  other book 'The Bankster' as far as the revelation of traitor and mastermind is concerned. I think author should have given better explanation about Karan's exit and why his management did not support him.

Ravi is a good story teller. The internal politics and rivalry in the banking industry. Misuse of position and power. Internal working of banking industry. Targets. Cut throat competition. Ravi paints a canvas of all this meticulously. Naxalite movement and how the banking system is milked by terror organizations is shown in great detail.

Ravi is called John Grisham of banking and he deserves it.

A very good book. Recommend reading.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

"The Lowland", by Jhumpa Lahiri. This book is published by Random House India in 2013 and has 352 pages. This book was shortlisted for Man Booker prize in 2013 but lost to Eleanor Catton's 'The Luminaries'.

Subhash and Udayan are brothers born 15 months apart and brought up in Tollygunj, Kolkata. Subhash is careful type and Udayan is daring. They are inseparable in their childhood. Subhash goes to America for higher studies and Udayan is drawn in Naxalite movement. While Subhash is still in America, Udayan marries Gauri.

One day Subhash gets a message that Udayan is killed. He reaches Kolkata and finds that he was killed by Police and that Gauri is pregnant. Sensing antipathy of his parents towards Gauri, he marries her and takes her to America.

Will he be a good husband and father? Will Gauri come to love him? Will Subhash love Udayan's child? Will the marriage work?

Author shows the transitions in the lives of Subhash and Gauri. The book jumps back and fourth in past and present and covers a  time period of 70 years. It's a tragedy all along.

The narration seems jerky. The story starts well, drifts for majority of the time and becomes interesting at the very end. Reader does not understand exactly what message author is trying to convey. Background of naxalite movement introduces a dark undercurrent but it is not the soul of the story.

Gauri's character is an enigma. Author had tried to decipher why she behave the way she does. Gauri appears to be an escapist and Subhash seems to be destined by faith to suffer. I found some similarities between the character of Gauri in this story with Moushumi in 'The namesake'. Author should have curtailed the book by about 70 pages.

At the end of the book, I asked myself what did I read? Did I get the satisfaction of reading something good? Did I understand what author had to say? The answer is NO.

AVOID.