"If god was a banker " by Ravi subramaniam is an interesting and gripping book.
It reminds me of Chetan Bhagat’s books giving insights into life in IIT & call centers. The book takes you into the realms of Multinational banks.It revolves around two main characters SWAMI & SANDEEP, both smart & brilliant products of IIM, one is from a poor & other from a middle class background. Supportive characters
Aditya Rao , Kalpana & Natasha & lots of bank people add up to make an interesting reading.
Sandeep is an Extrovert, brilliant, suave, handsome , brash and aggressive guy & achieves his goal at any cost.He is also a womanizer & exploits his female subordinates. He is always vindictive & scheming to stay ahead in the rat race and bed pretty women.
This goes on and on....
Swami on the other hand is a seeda saada aadmi not very flamboyant, a happy family guy, is brilliant, values driven and achieves his goal thru just systems & values thru hard donkey’s work.Aditya rao is their first boss, who discovers their potential.Both of their wives are thick pals, and work for the bank, and get to know of their hubby’s activities. The story is also around the gradual development of various banking services &
products in the country, the manipulation the unwary public are subjected to.the dishonesty of fund managers & greed of bankers in booking easy profits etc.
Ravi subramaniam has a simple narrative style & is himself a career banker with a MNC bank.
You can really feel the competition and pressure in today’s banking by reading through this book.You get to know the damage that is caused by managers "looking for Performance at any cost" & the stability and benefits of teams under system driven managers.
All together, makes very interesting reading.