Excerpt
Life is miserable for Hitesh Shah, despite his coveted job in a
top accounting firm. Labeled a nerd by colleagues, ignored by women and rebuked
by parents, Hitesh cannot resist when offered a lucrative job as the CEO of an
off shoot of the failing automobile company, Supreme Motors. So what if the
owner Venugopal Reddy, a sleazy businessman with political connections,
actually wants Hitesh to fix the company to save his skin? Hitesh’s drive and
quest for success helps turn the Company’s fortunes around; he is seen a rising
corporate star, he begins dating a model and is pampered by parents.
Championed as the poster boy of emerging India, Hitesh’s fairy
tale ends quickly. As his cursed luck would have it, he is soon on the run from
the law – allegedly as the perpetrator of a financial scam and accused of
defrauding thousands of investors! With his back against the wall, and growing
public and media opinion against him, will Hitesh come out of the mess he finds
himself in?
Author
In
the book, the author’s name is given as Anonymous.
However, who can escape Google? So I found who he is – Ahmed Faiyaz. He is a Chartered
Accountant... Management Consultant... a civil servant and also a writer by
night...
Characters
Hitesh,
the protagonist is a technically sound accountant who knows his job. Yet fails
miserably in climbing up the hierarchal ladder because he don’t know to play
the dirty office politics. His transformation from an ignored professional to
an important personnal such as CEO is commendable. The character evolves. His
shades are essayed nicely by the author.
Sushma
is selfish and knows to use others for her personal benefit.
Payal
is the hope that we still have. Though she is introduced within the first few
pages of the book, her role is established towards the end. And we fall in love
with her.
Hitesh’s
parents are conservative and the way they deal with their under-achiever son is
common and clichéd. But then, that is how parents are, aren’t they? All they
pray and wish for is their children’s well-being.
Then
there are several others like Venugopal, Mehta, Suresh, Mohan Babu, Mahinder, Sohail and
Rajesh.
What I think
A
brilliant attempt from the Anonymous writer, I would say. It throws light into
how Corporate scams originates and how it affects the careers of many innocent
professionals.
I
loved the first 20 pages the most – detailing the less-spoken yet pitiable
condition of qualified accountants and auditors in India. The office politics
and the way performance appraisal works is penned in an unabashed manner.
The
author has taken ample care in ensuring that unnecessary details are given and
that the reader is kept glued to the book. And hey! The author undoubtedly wins
there.
But...
I
don’t see any flaws at all. No, I am not biased. This book has only 175 pages
and it is an assured page turner. Because the editing is swift and the author
maintains a great pace in the narrative, you will not get bored. As a result,
no ifs and buts!
Should you read it?
Oh
yes! This is a very different book. It intimately discusses how corporate
scandals unravel. After all, the author is a Chartered Accountant. A welcome
change from all the Engineer’s love stories!
Rating
3.5/4
PS: Being a Chartered Accountant
myself, I am feeling proud that someone from my professional community has
rendered such a gripping tale. And I would like to confess that I have not let
this professional pride affect this Locomente’s review!
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