If God was a Banker

It was a tough choice - "Guns of Navarone" or "Breakheart Pass". I had almost picked up "Breakheart Pass" because I have seen the movie "Guns of Navarone" but I wanted to sample
a book by Alistair MacLean.

Then I noticed the title of another book - "If God was a Banker" by Ravi Subramanian. The story woven against the backdrop of an entry of an international bank in India sounded interesting! I had liked the book "One night at a call center" by Chetan Bhagat. Thought this might be similar so I took home "If God was a Banker". Alistair MacLean can wait!

That was 3 days back. Now that I have finished it, I have a mixed opinion. Sure, I got quite a sneak peek at the workings of an International bank. And also at the ugly underbelly
of banking industry. The book definitely delivers on its promise on this front.

But beyond that, the lead characters seem very black and white - no shades of grey in between. Swami is always right and Sundeep is wrong most of the times. If that is so, then
Sundeep's change of heart at the end of the story sounds more like a villain's remorse just 5 minutes before a typical Bollywood movie ends. :-)

The sleaze fests between Sundeep and various ladies are described in graphic details - quite unnecessarily. At the risk of sounding puritan I must say that I cannot understand the author's intent in doing so.

One can understand the predicament of girls like Priya who don't have an option but to fall prey to such advances because they have pressing financial reasons. But a girl like Karuna who does it to advance the career of her husband and also maybe because she liked the personal perks that went with granting such favors doesn't merit an ounce of sympathy. She is as much of a guilty party as Sundeep is.

The author would have done well to avoid comunity specific references like the one made as "gujjubhai" when introducing the character of Ram Naresh. This makes one wonder why the author (who is a South Indian) has made all the good guys (Aditya Rao, Swami) South Indians while all bad guys (Sundeep Srivastava, Ram Naresh, Nidhi Agarwal, Anindyo Roy, Amit Bhalla) are from non-South Indian communities.

Oh and frankly, I found the epilogue bit about Ram Naresh struggling to make both ends meet quite funny.....totally in tune with "evil doesn't go unpunished" - the way it happens in stories we tell children at bedtime :-)

It's going to be "Breakheart Pass" next for sure :-)