Book review - The Bankster

 

 

The Bankster by Ravi Subramanian

Published by Rupa Publications

ISBN: 978-81-291-2048-9 

No. of pages: 358

Price: 250 INR

Genre: Fiction

 

 

Synopsis: Three different plots in three different cities namely Angola, Kerala and Mumbai are intertwined with few of the employees of the Greater Boston Global Bank (GB2). In Angola a covert CIA agent is about to exchange weapons for blood diamonds whereas in Kerala an elderly man will do whatever it takes to fulfil a promise made to dying son. And in Mumbai an international bank is stunned by the mysterious deaths of its key employees.

 

Bankers build their careers on trust, or so everyone thinks, till a series of murder rock the GB2 putting it's reputation at stake. Who is behind these killings? What is the motive? Is the banker at GB2 fast turning into a bankster? Or was he always one? In this maze of puzzles, questions and murders the John Grisham of banking takes us through a gripping thriller in the quest of solving those puzzles, questions and murders.

 

Review: The book cover bears the tagline 'Meet the John Grisham of Banking'. So when Ravi Subramanian is referred as the John Grisham of banking the expectations from the book gets doubled even though I have never read any of his previous publications.

 

So with much expectations and excitement, I started reading the book. There are three stories set in three different cities with a prologue on things happening in Angola and Kerala. The main plot is in Mumbai whereas the other two parts are smaller although forming an integral part of the story.

 

The pace is set and there is not a single dull moment in the entire read. The easy narration and style of writing coupled with use of Hinglish makes it a comfortable read. Not even for a once you feel like taking a break from reading, it's that interesting with unpredictable twists and events gripping you page by page.

 

The climax is the best part of the book for me as it is even more gripping with lots of twists and turns leading to answers from the maze of puzzles.

 

For once the facet of corporate life mentioned within the plot which exists not only in the banking sector but almost everywhere seems so real and can relate to.

 

The book is a must read for some edge of the seat thriller as it has all the ingredients for it. It is highly advisable to read it at one go to understand the plot and characters better else have to flip over the pages again for better understanding on the plot.

 

There are slight glimpses of poor proof reading noticed which could have been easily avoided.

 

But overall, The Bankster is simply an entertaining thriller not be missed!!

 

My Rating: 4.5/5

 

This review is a part of Book Review Programme at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

 

 

 

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The Shy Baby

It is said that, “Parents are their children’s first and best teachers.” It is only through the watchful guidance of parents, the child learns to speak properly and behave appropriately in front of everyone. But what happens when the parents start becoming too protective of their children, when the watchful eye becomes too possessive and are always worried even for the petty things?

 

Read the rest of this post on Parentous, the latest initiative by BlogAdda. Looking forward to hear from you soon....!!

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Gazing Through the Window

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Watching through the window pane sipping through a cup of coffee

Gazing through the things around I let my mind take control over me

 

Cool breeze blowing making the leaves to sway, dancing to its tune

Just as Life makes us dance through its tune with or without grace

 

Flock of birds flying higher and higher with the aim to stay united and enjoy

Asking answers for questions still unanswered...

 

"Why can't we stay united and enjoy life?

Why do we need to fight even on the petty issues?

Is it difficult to forget things and move on in life?"

 

 

Children enjoying even the smallest of the small success while playing

While we ignore to celebrate even the biggest day of our lives

 

A young couple sitting on the porch talking incessantly with smiles in between,

Enjoying a quality time

Whereas we see the emoticons on our Apple or BBM,

And in between share a few words face to face

Making us too close to the gadgets and far way from the people in our lives

 

By gazing through the window, I got answers to many of the questions

Which life throws upon us

But it is up to us to understand and catch those answers

Before Life itself becomes a big question to us

 

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That Night

Eyes stared at eachother
Speaking more than few set of words

Lips pressed against eachothers
Bringing out the desire to love

Stroking eachothers hair
Feeling the warmth generated

Hands exploring the curves
With kisses and more kisses

Wild passions and emotions ran deeply
With desire to love and to be loved

Nothing could stop them today
As every touch, every kiss felt insufficient

That was the night to be remembered
The night when two souls became one

 

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The Antenna Mamma

Being a Mom is a tough tough job. You have to be on your toes all the time 24*7. What does the kid need, how to make them understand what is right or wrong are few of the many things a parent needs to do. The antenna has to be always on and strong so as to catch the signals of the child.

So what do you think is The Antenna Mamma?

Presenting you a post by me on The Antenna Mamma written for Parentous - An initiative by BlogAdda. You can continue reading it here.

Would be happy to see your footprints. :)

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Two Gifts

What should I buy? From where to buy? How much should be the budget? Will the gift be appropriate for the occasion? Is there a better option to gift? Will the person like it? Will it be useful? Well, these are some of the questions that run in my mind with respect to purchasing the gift. This makes the shopping and gifting experience a bit tedious and a task. So what to do? Asking, consulting will only give an idea but not help in buying the final one. So, you take along your spouse hoping that both will come to a good conclusion in deciding which one to gift. And here we go.

Day1 (Buying a gift for Mom on her birthday)

Him: Let's gift a nice Punjabi suit. What's say?

Me: That is so common. And she has many dresses. So this is out.

Him: Ok. Then what about a Saree? She looks good in sarees. (Said in affirmation as to put weight on the said option)

Me: Will you please give me a unique idea? All these are so common. (Getting irritated)

Him: Why don't you tell? You always make a perfect choice. Right? (In the context of marrying me)

Me: Yea, but that was just a one off (giving a wicked smile)

The discussion continues being in the mall, roaming from shops to shops and then coming out with a huge bill. He decided to gift himself a formal shirt and a jeans. Bravo! That was the least expected. Going to buy a gift for someone else you end up purchasing  gifting all for yourself! Me, not even into consideration. And the day ended with a not so ugly but a small fight.

Day 2

So after a complete fiasco yesterday, I decided to go out all by myself and look out for that unique gift which will bring a huge smile on mom's face and will be liked. And there I was in a mall different than the one visited yesterday with eyes wide open, looking for that 'gift' material. It was almost 3 hours after which I came to a conclusion of gifting a hand bag. And not to forget the long stops at various stores, eyes looking desperately for a good gift, legs asking for a pit stop and stomach craving for nutella. And alas a black hand bag was purchased, gift wrapped and gently kept inside a carry bag.

 

And since it was festival season, I just 'thought' of looking for some stuff just for me. In the end when I could not find even a tiny little space in my hand bag, I realised how much I had purchased for myself. A clutch, a kurti, a punjabi suit, few nail polishes, lipsticks, eyeliner, kajal (list will go on and on). I told him in the evening when he returned home from work that the gift had been bought but didn't reveal what it is. You will come to know on the day itself, I said. But I didn't tell him about those so called unwanted things according to him which have been purchased and kept safely.

Day 2 (around same time when I was in the mall)

Being feeling guilty of not helping me yesterday in buying me a gift for mom and selfishly gifting things for himself, he decided to buy a gift for mom. He too thought of buying a nice handbag but this one was made of jute rather than leather. And a birthday card placed inside. On hearing this news I laughed like I had never before. It was like 2 gifts which were almost similar had been purchased to gift it to mom.

(In the evening)

And there we were all in a grand birthday celebration for Mom, waiting for her to open the gift and to capture her reaction on getting not one but two gifts and that too almost similar. Though we had a good laugh at it, somewhere I felt it would have been better if I checked it online at Badhai.in where it would have been easier to gift a voucher of a specified amount and redeem it later with a gift of her choice. Anyways better late than never.

 

This post is a part of the contest at BlogAdda.com in association with Badhai.in

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Save water. It doesn't grow on trees

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

 

 

Pre 2012 & Till Date

Post 2012

 

 

 

 

 

I will not say much as the above pictures are self explanatory and well understood. This is soon going to be a reality. A grim situation that the entire world will face sooner than later. Many people don't understand the importance of saving and conserving water. Most of the times taps are left open, buckets are over flowing, house maids keep tap open while washing utensils and so on. Moreover for our sole purpose of having fun and enjoying the festival of Holi we use water in a completely careless manner. Lakhs of litres of water is being wasted in the name of celebration. All this has to stopped. What is concerning me and makes me sad is that the so called educated class of people do such things. Inspite of creating awareness among people, the most educated class of people indulge in wastage of water. A time will come when there will be wars fought for the sole reason of getting their hands on water.

 

 

If I had the power to change something, I would change this callous attitude of people in conserving water. It is high time people start taking it seriously as it is rightly said "When you conserve water, you conserve life."

 

Spread the word. Educate the most educated and literate class of people first and more importantly educate yourself. Even a small drop of water counts, so put a stop to a drop.

 

 





This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

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