‘All that glitters is not gold’- This quote is not oblivious to a socially conscious and educated person. Despite the Shakespearen awareness any ‘dream-chasing’ denizen might found one to be entangled in the Illusionary desert of relative ‘gold’ in one’s momentary life. How? Why? When? Where? ‘Chapter Eleven’ by Amit Shankar seems to hold nerves to answer evocatively.
The cover of the book is composed of yellow background, black sketches of skyscrapers and a semi stature of a person with a Hindi subtitle of ‘kissa corporate bankruptcy ka’ brings out an metaphorical picture to one’s flamboyant ‘spring’ in corporate career; compilation of dreams, whims and fancies with Shahrukh Khan’s ‘Jo Main Chahoon Woh Main Payoon’ from the movie ‘Yes Boss’ playing in the subconscious mind; vehemently followed by ‘black’ uncanny, capricious typhoon trying to grab everything and anything; plausibly ending one’s mellifluous dream to unscrupulous corruption with nepotism.
The fulcrum of the story highlights around the life and its consequences of VVS aka Virendra Vikr am Singh. Being from Udaipur, small yet historically powerful town, blossomed under the patronage of posthumous glory of Rajput; he bears a burning urge to experience the opulence provided by contemporary ‘cozy corporate’ empire. Hence, joining a posh MNC like ‘Comm Tech’ makes him feel ‘on cloud nine’ at the very inception, until a cumulus ‘pall of gloom’ in the form of corporate ‘chapter eleven’ pertains a hara-kiri to the pent-up ambitions of his modest soul.
Then there is Sandy aka Sandeep Khandelwal, often found to play a role of plausible ‘Corporate Chanakya’ to certain topsy-turvy circumstance of VVS ; How does it feel for a blue-blooded Rajput to seek favor and guidance in nitty-gritty from a person(Sandy) who is diagonally placed opposite to him in the ‘human nature’ grid? How does VVS lose his self-image in the corporate money making desert? Is his only emotional solace Ambica an odyssey or mirage in this illusionary desert? How does a honest, diligent person finds him/her vindictive at the cost of attrition behind the gloves of mean-minded business policy?
The author articulates paranoid picture of a bankrupted MNC, it’s relative impact on different rank of employees with incertitude having a ubiquitous presence. In some context, introduction of multiple characters pertains an pretentious anticlimax but their penultimate integration with eventual inter-relationships do not seem frivolous at the end. He does not give any filmy solution to the problems which he states vociferously in the book, despite knowing that his book can represent a holistic ‘filmy’ atmosphere of contemporary ‘rat race’ era. This might be because he wants his beloved readers to perceive a pie of corporate incertitude and subsequently implement independent decision in his/her instinctive life.
My Rating
3.5
The author articulates paranoid picture of a bankrupted MNC, it’s relative impact on different rank of employees with incertitude having a ubiquitous presence.
