Dork by Sidin Vadukut

Dork

ISBN: 978-0143067115

Pages: 242

Genre: humor, fiction

Synopsis:

Robin Einstein Varghese, a typical engineering student, enters a top MBA institute and is about to start his professional life as a 'management consultant'. The book takes you through his goof ups and miraculous make ups. 

Excerpt:

Okay, now let me describe everything that happened after I updated you last week and told you I’d been shortlisted for interviews by Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Co., JP Morgan and Dufresne Partners. I know I haven’t written entries since then, but you know how it is with placements and the pressure to get a job on Day Zero.

Oh! My fingertips tingle with earnestness.

At the time, I may have told everyone that I was all set to join Goldman Sachs, the greatest bank in the world. I may also have suggested that Dufresne Partners was my ‘safety application’ and I had no intention of joining a ‘second-grade consulting firm of questionable pedigree’.

Diary, I was deeply mistaken. Little did I know that Dufresne Partners, despite the lower revenues, lower profile, and near global bankruptcy in 2001, stood shoulders and head above the others when you considered the job in a holistic fashion. Especially with that exciting and sensible ‘performance and global marketplace dependent variable bonus payout scheme’ that was introduced earlier this year.

Nightflier Speaks:

It is always a pleasure to read an author whom you have followed through their blogging days to twitter glory! And Sidin is a seriously funny guy. So having seen him grow, rather his sense of humor grow, I picked up the book for a light read. Also I wanted to end the year on a laughing note. So.

Needless to say, the book is not a literary genius or something which will make you stop dead in your path and ponder over your life. But it surely is a funny book. Evokes some genuine laughs and is full of naive idealism, young graduates from college have.

So our protagonist, the over optimistic and self aggrandizing, Robin Varghese, joins a reputed management consulting firm with stars in his eyes. From pre-joining mess to post joining silly mistakes, Robin's life is full of adventures. Some moronic enough and some ethical enough with a dark side to them. But our hero prevails. And the story is about his triumph. Sidin who was a management consultant himself, seems to have picked up a lot of his personal experiences and weaved them quite nicely to mirror the 'consultant' way of life. Moreover his language is fresh and palatable.

The book provides a really good insight into 'what consulting is', in case any of you are looking to move over to the darker side. So the MBA types can really relate with it.

Nonetheless a breezy read. Finished it in 3 hours. Always a feel good!

Rating: 3/5

Price: 199 INR (Penguin India)