Transition of Thoughts

Weaving thoughts into words

Tag: Citibank

Book Review – Half Girlfriend

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Chetan Bhagat (CB) is back with his first fiction title in 3 years since Revolution 2020 which came out in 2011. CB has always had a knack for numbers in all his titles and this one is no different. After Five Point Someone, One Night @ the Call Center, 3 Mistakes of My Life, 2 States, Revolution 2020, he’s come up with a somewhat uniquely titled – “Half Girlfriend”. Does it work? Let’s check it out.

The blurb goes like this –

Once upon a time, there was a Bihari boy called Madhav. He fell in love with a girl called Riya. Madhav didn’t speak English well. Riya did. Madhav wanted a relationship. Riya didn’t. Riya just wanted friendship. Madhav didn’t. Riya suggested a compromise. She agreed to be his half girlfriend.

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In conversation with Puneet Gupta: Author of The Suicide Banker


Puneet Gupta is a career banker with experience of over fifteen years in India. Presently working with one of the largest banks in the Middle East, he has retained his passion for writing, trekking and painting. ‘The Suicide Banker’ is his first novel.

1. What was your inspiration to write? When did you decide that you wanted to put your thoughts into words?

When I think of it, more than inspiration, it was my frustration that forced me to write. During one of my stints with a leading bank, I felt hopelessly frustrated with the way the business was being conducted and when nobody heeded to my voices, I took to pen.

Initially I had no plans of making it a commercial venture but when I read a leading Indian mass fiction writer, I suddenly realized that if he can become a successful writer, why can’t I?

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Book Review – The Suicide Banker

After “If God was a Banker” and “Devil in Pinstripes, “The Suicide Banker” is the third novel I have come across on the inner workings of the banking world. But this book was sent across to me by the author himself as he seemed impressed with my unbiased book reviews. So I began reading the book in the hope that I would find something different from the earlier banking tales. Does it succeed? Let’s see.

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Blog-o-meter: 2011 in review

My blog – o – meter for 2011 by the WordPress team!

Crunchy numbers

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 74,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 3 days for that many people to see it.

In 2011, there were 75 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 188 posts. There were 96 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 13mb. That’s about 2 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was November 24th with 2,305 views. The most popular post that day was Kolaveri di – A song which has brought the nation together! .

Book Review – Devil in Pinstripes

Devil in Pinstripes is Ravi Subramanian’s third novel after “If God was a Banker” and “I bought the Monk’s Ferrari”. But this is his second attempt at talking about his life and experiences at Citibank which he did pretty well in “If God was a Banker”. So does his third book manage to capture the interest of the readers? Let’s see.

At the outset, the reader is introduced to Amit Sharma, your usual IIM types and his wife of 13 years, Chanda. Amit is a high flying executive at New York International Bank – NYB (Read Citibank) and Chanda who though a biotechnologist but finally decides to shift her career because of marriage and moves to Standard Chartered Bank. Aditya Bhatnagar (A bit similar to Aditya Rao in his first book) whose his mentor and the top guy at NYB and Gowri, the head at NYB Financial Services (Read CitiFinancial) are other two main characters in the story. Boardroom politics, backbiting, autocracy, corporate governance, ethics in business – Devil in Pinstripes has it all.

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Book Review – Revolution 2020

Revolution 2020 is Chetan Bhagat’s fifth book after four successive best sellers. With over 5 lakh pre – orders you could be forgiven for thinking that his latest offering was keenly awaited by his fans after a 2 year drought with his “2 States: The Story of My Marriage” releasing way back in 2009. With a title like “Revolution 2020” and Love.Corruption.Ambition as its tagline / slogan, you expect something different from Chetan Bhagat this time. So does this book succeed? Let’s see!

Gopal is a relatively poor fellow whose barely making ends meet. He’s no stranger to struggles in life whether it is tackling the entrance exams of IITs and NITs or finding his ambition in life. He feels that only money can get you happiness. Raghav on the other hand is ready to mount a revolution against everything corrupt and wrong happening in the society. He believes that someone has to stand up against the system. Aarti is a happy go lucky girl who every guy would dream of having as his soul mate.

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Book Review – If God was a Banker

“If God was a Banker” is Ravi Subramanian’s first novel published way back in 2007. As an IIM Bangalore passout who works in HSBC, he seems to have the quintessential characteristics a young Indian writer needs in today’s world or so it seems. I wanted to pick up the book since quite a while and finally when I did, it took me few months to come up reading it. Not because it was boring but because I was busy.

It is about two guys – Sundeep and Swami. Both are as different as chalk and cheese. While the former is money minded and would even sell his wife to make some quick bucks, the latter is the idealistic man who would give his other cheek if slapped on one ala Mahatma Gandhi. And true to what you must be thinking right now, both are adversaries in the true sense of the word. 

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