The Last Post………

…………..of 2012!

The last few months have not been good to me. Much of it was of my doing. Call it procrastination, mismanagement or just plain ‘I-want-to-run-away-from-it-all’ phase!

To say that I could have handled it better, would be an understatement. I could have done a WHOLE lot better. But the truth is, I didn’t. And somehow, I let people walk all over me.  I let my work affect my personal life. Obviously, it wasn’t taken to very kindly at home. I became even more irritable. The children sensed it and became all the more cranky. It was terrible.

My method of facing it all was unconventional.  I moped a bit. Fell ill. Had an accident (purely unintended 😀 ) . And I came through it all. The only reason I stopped posting was because I was disillusioned. Nothing seemed good enough to write about anymore. Yes, even about the kids. They were the shining, bright lights in my life, yet I couln’t bring myself to write about them.

And then, 16th December happened.

It was painful, just imagining what the girl must have gone through. And somehow, that put a LOT of things in the right perspective. Here I was, struggling to get through the silliest (in retrospection) troubles in life , whereas there was someone out there struggling with a much bigger battle. Alone. It seems so futile now, all those worries and bitterness that I harboured for the last few months. It hasn’t helped me in the least. Rather, I lost some really precious updates on my children. I could have posted, but I didn’t. My self-imposed exile has hurt no one more than me.

2013 is at the door step. Though not all together easy, my one and sole resolution for the new year would be to keep family as my primary goal and work secondary. When I look back now, I realize that all the extra hours and efforts I had put in at work, were useless. I lost the precious time when my kids were learning new things. I wasted the precious time when my entire family was in town after 2 long years. I wasted the time by not being around for a dear cousin’s wedding. I wasted the time when the In-Laws came back from Hajj, all exhausted and gaunt and I wasn’t around to help them with the hordes of guests. Yes, I wasted a lot of time. The work that I did in office, just wasn’t worthy of the sacrifices I made.

Not anymore. Its going to be straight nine-hours of work for me and not an hour extra 🙂

And I promise to blog more often 🙂

 On that note, have a GREAT YEAR people! Let 2013 have fewer calamities and more joy, fewer deaths and more birthdays, fewer vehicles (I wish 🙄 ) and more trees. Let us all cherish what we have today, be content and be happy 🙂

Ameen.

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Book Review : “The Bankster” By Ravi Subramanian

Author : Ravi Subramanian

Publisher : Rupa Publications

Price : Rs.250

To be truthful, I haven’t read any other book by Ravi Subramanian. But a quick Google search indicated that he has quite a few books behind him along with a good fan following. Frankly, I chose this book because I liked the cover 🙂 . There was something dark, broody and mysterious about a man standing with his back to us against (what I presume) the Mumbai skyline.

Anyhow,  about the book.

“The Bankster” deals with three different storylines which are brought together by a fourth. The narratives run in parallel before they are beautifully merged towards the end.

The first thread is about the life in a private sector bank of international repute. The second story deals with a father’s vow to keep the memory of his son alive. The third story is about the illegal deals of armaments and diamonds as blood money.

The bank is faced with the sudden demise of four important employees,  who supposedly committed ‘suicide’. All is not what it appears to be, everyone is suspicious and it is difficult to keep tongues from wagging.

The father in Kerala wants to do all he can to prevent the set up of a nuclear power plant in his neighboring town. Little does he know what he was getting into when he actively takes help (and money) from a local MLA and a NGO.

A CIA agent, who has infiltrated the arms and diamonds market must do all to keep his identity a secret.

Surprisingly, the main protagonist who brings these different narratives to a closure arrives much later in the book (almost half-way). Till then, along with the regular suspense of these three threads, we also have the suspense of how exactly are these three very different tales connected?!! The character of Karan Punjabi is a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Poirot. I was a little miffed that the character took so little time to figure out the links. It was the only thing that struck a false note in this otherwise gripping book. Minor quibbles aside, “The Bankster” is a book that is difficult to put down after halftime. I’ll confess that there were some sections in the first half which dragged a little. But once you reach halfway, the book simply runs on full throttle 🙂

It is nice to see how beautifully Ravi has taken the current events in India and abroad to string together this book. I admire the thought process and research that must have gone behind bringing this book together.  The current anti-nuclear plant protest in Kundankulam becomes the backdrop for the second thread in the book ( the nuclear plant protest in Kerala).

For people like me who have no finance background, it was nice to know what happens within the walls of private banks. How customers are fleeced and how cover-up are made. It all came as an eye-opener, actually. I had some problem getting through those pages initially, but the language of the book is really simple and clear and it made for easy reading. One grouse that I have is that usually in English novels, when local language is used, the words are printed in Italics. Not so here. I’m sure if any non-Indians read the book,  they will look for the words in a dictionary and not find them there K. Also, proofreading and spell-check is needed in a couple of places.

But these are very minor quibbles . The book is fantastic and a definite page turner.  I wouldn’t like to compare Ravi with any other international author because I believe his style is unique and his own. It fills me with pride to read Indian authors who can produce such quality work of truly international standards.

Do pick up your copy of “The Bankster”. A definite must-read.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books

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