31 - Upendra Namburi

Fiction --- As known to mango people, it is a story or an imaginative narration. The reason as to why a normal person would like to spend a few moments of his life devouring fiction is to escape the grims of the everyday reality. Divorce problems, marital blues, governance issues, office problems etc etc are the themes that decorate most of the non- sleeping moments of an individual. And since, in reality he has no option but to acquiescence this, he turns to fiction.

In the world of fiction, he dons himself as one of the troubled and victimized poor soul who rises from the ashes and redeems himself. Okay ! Maybe I overstated it. But the fact, is that fiction is supposed to be a redeemer from the banalities of life, and isn't supposed to thrust you more in its murkier part.

Unfortunately 31 by Upendra Namburi does just that. The entire story (if it can be called so) is set out across the 31 days of March, and covers the ups and downs in the life of the protagonist -- Ravi Shastry, a senior sales manager of the fictional Imperial bank. 


The premise of the story is that Ravi Shastry is a regional marketing head in Indian-Bangalore office of Imperial Bank and despite his team having showed a stellar performance, they are in the probable firing list as the bank undergoes the trauma of downsizing due to some poor show in the Brazil office. Co-incidently, even his wife undergoes a corporate trauma at the same time. To add some stupid spice to the story, they suddenly realize that they are expecting a baby. So how Ravi handles (or screws up actually) all these blues along with the hawks who are eyeing every possible pie in the shakeup makes up the story.

At the start, the biographical narration starts off on a promising note, as different relations are revealed through a series of conversations. But as you continue turning the pages, all you see are only conversations followed by more inane conversations. There is no description at all. For someone used to the good- old story narrative, it becomes quite a drab to carry on. 

As you continue your journey trying to keep up with the increasingly insane conversations spoken between an uncountable number of characters penned by the writer, (and this does not include the tweets spread throughout the book), you grow tiresome with each passing page. At many a points I came close to keeping away the book, but trudged along to simply complete it.

The lowest part of the book comes with its description of the protagonist. Ravi cannot seem to have a handle on any of his drives in his life. Being a manager, there should have been some semblance of managerial ability with him. But the author paints him off more as a street goon who kind of likes losing control of everything in his moment of crisis. All that you hear through the 350 + page narrative are cries of groan, ass- licking and stupid survival techniques that will make you cringe about the banking industry.

I am not saying that banking industry is all good, or for that matter even the corporate life is. Anyone who will even have a second glance at this book, will have some idea of what the corporate life is about. My only request to Ravi and his tribe is that, you don't need to force the same thing down their throats again.  Usage of corporate slangs does not in any way make you a good writer and your book a good thriller ......

To wrap up ---- Please do not go for this book. Sheer waste of time.

Mumbaistan -- Piyush Jha

Mumbai has been the heartthrob of many a story tellers. Each painting up the canvas of this Maya Nagari in their own light with their own instruments. Bollywood has been the torch bearer in this race, and with the recent revival of Indian English writers, the literary work hasn't been much behind.

More than the glamour and the glass facades which entice many a naive souls to this city, the artists celebrate the dark underbelly that actually keeps the engine of this megapolis going. From Maximum City to Narcopolis to Shantaram, all critically acclaimed literary achievements have basked in celebrating the underbelly which we so much abhor on the surface. Mumbaistan is one more addition to their tribe.

Piyush Jha, true to his Bollywood style, has woven stories of the city's underbelly like a true Bollywood potboiler. Anyone who has spared some moments of his life traversing the metropolis, will have live images running down his eyes as he devours the lines penned by the writer. As for the others, the writer has thrown in enough description to form a workable image of the entire setting.

The novel traverses through three different stories -- Bombday, Injectionwala, The Coma Man. Each of the story eulogises the lost ethos of the city. The edge of the seat thrillers would make you refuse to rest the book down unless you have reached the end of the story.

Bomb day, as is evident from the name, takes the reader in the murky prostitution -- terrorism -- crime branch -- underworld mashups, A few steps away from the end, you kind of know who the terrorist is, however I have only adulations for Piyush Jha for the way he manages to keep the reader hooked. Though, I must admit that the revelation at the very end was an unnecessary addition and according to me didn't serve any purpose.

Injectionwala is a story of a vigilante laced with sexual romps and a commendable police investigation procedures' description. However, it was the worst of the three. The end was sudden and without any hints. The revelation is plain and kind of leaves your sense of thrill betrayed.

However, the crown comes with the final read --- that of  "The Coma Man". As the name suggests, it makes the reader travel along with the protagonist from Navi Mumbai to Bandra to Colaba with their stark contrasts very magnificently written. The supporting role that of a politician is more intriguing as you keep wondering if his character has been painted black or white. The end though was quite obvious after you had read through the two preceding stories. However till then the author does a laudable job to keep the reader hooked through the pages.

Simple language, simple story telling, an elaborate though still limited description and an edge of the seat story telling, the book is surely going to be your money's worth. However, for all looking to find another Shantaram or Maximum City, please look elsewhere. The book is meant to evoke thrill and does that just fine. It uses the sharp contrasting characteristics of the city to deliver the story and makes a decent attempt at that. The best part of the book is that it does not take sides. Unlike the other books which so much celebrate the underbelly while condemning the affluence, the book just steers clear of that.

There aren't much shortcomings, though a few grammatical errors were spotted. Also, the author tends to paint one gender in a typical way, which if had been different could have had some better effect.

To surmise, if you are looking towards simple thrillers without having to remember a lot -- the book does a good job.