Corporate Atyaachaar by Abhay Nagarajan

Foreword:

The author has contacted me to review his latest release, The Paperback Badshah. The mail had a brief plot of the book and an introduction of the author and his other works.

When the author mentioned about his two prior works - Corporate Atyaachaar and The Off-site Tamasha, I couldn't help but notice the similar taglines of all three of his books. They all started with '... THE COMICAL JOURNEY OF' And not to mention, The Off-site Tamasha was lying in my wish-list since a long time, which I didn't get a chance to buy/read.

I replied back the author asking whether all three books were connected and expressed by inability to read his second-book.

The prompt reply said that though the first and the second books shared a little connection (the lead characters are same in both the books), but the third one bore little connection to other stories. He also offered to send all the three books of his over, if we agreed to review them, which we readily did.

So that is how we ended up with all three books from the author.

Frankly, the third book is more tempting than the other two books. I want to read it right away, but I want to take it slow, so I ended up completing the first book. The review of the second book is not very far in the queue.

Plot (from the jacket):

How would you classify an Experience of working under a dominating, obnoxious, boss who has no confidence in your intellectual abilities equating it to that of his small, five year old nephew?

Interesting?.....Challenging?.....uncomfortable?......unavoidable?

CORPORATE ‘ATYAACHAAR’ is the comical journey of a subservient, twenty four year old financial advisor, freshly recruited form campus as he assists his boss in managing the investment requirements for a set of high net worth clients in Bangalore through the initial stock market euphoria of 2007 and the subsequent turbulence caused by the market crash of 2008.

As an advisor, the subordinate encounters many ‘non-financial’ experiences including a dancing dog which suffers from a memory loss, a revelation that a client enjoys hog body massages, a client who paints nude art for charity, a curious case of a ‘stubborn’ nipple and a house hunt for a missing musical mobile!

Will work frustration make the subordinate step up and challenge his boss?

Will he get a good appraisal?

My take on the book:

Cover design & the title:

What is the first impression I got from the cover design and the title of the book? Well, the book is comical, of course. That is clearly visible from the tagline and the human-like character on the cover pic. The human-like character is a corporate (from title and the way he is dressed). The various aspects of a typical-corporate.

The overall impression from the deductions: It is the comical tale of a typical corporate.

But I think Srishti Publishers must decrease the use of 'A National Bestseller' on top of all their front-covers. They are pretty deceptive.

The cover design can't be more true about the story!

Publishers:

Srishti Publishers. What to say? I have so much about them on every other book from them, and also @ Books from Srishti, and don't have much to say. Though, I am disappointed by this book, I am loving their new releases. (This book was released in 2010.)

Story and other aspects:

The books takes off with a bright start. And then, it goes into the financial word and continues into the details of the protagonist's job and his financial adventures.

Well, the start was promising, but after the start of his job, it was a huge turn down. Or maybe it is only for me. It is when short forms set in and shook the very foundations of interest in me. There were so many acronyms used in the novel, I forgot their elaborations as new ones got registered in my memory. Every time I encountered a new acronym, I had to refer the previous pages for its elaborations!

While, I tried to try and overrun the abbreviations, the too much finance was making it a living hell to make a good progress. Maybe it could be because I am an Engineering student and don't understand much of finance. Maybe, people with financial background would understand and enjoy it better. Or maybe, the finance in the book is pretty basic and my lacking in the subject could be the reason for the disinterest it developed in me. Anyway, I completed the book with much effort.

On the other hand, the only positive in the book that undeniably should be considered is the humor. The author had this strange, belly-tickling sense of humor that made the book worth reading. If not for anything else, the book is worth reading for its humor.

Final Verdict:

On the whole, the book is readable. As I have said earlier, the book is worth reading for its humor, if not for anything else.

Recommendations:

Maybe people with better sense of knowledge about finance would understand and enjoy the book better. To top that, the ticklish humor of the author's narration. For others, the book is readable. Humor-lovers, you could try this.

                                

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Title: Corporate Atyaachar

Author: Abhay 

Tagline: ... The comical journey of an office doormat

ISBN (edition I've read): 9789380349237

Genre: Humor, Drama

Rating: 

Read between: 27-08-2013 to 30-08-2013

Publishers: Srishti Publishers

Reviewed for: Abhay Nagarajan (the author)

Pages:  212

MRP: ₹ 100

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