Executive Summary

Irreverence and Satire are the buzzwords for Indo- Anglian writers these days, it seems. And Anurag Mathur's "Scenes from an Executive Life" has both of these in abundance. Unfortunately, there is nothing more in store for the reader!

The initial chapters are fun- anybody working in a private company in post- liberalization India will be able to identify with Gambhir and the kind of crap that he has to put up with- the notes from the cost- conscious propreitor, the General Manager Mukul whose only aim in life is to show Gambhir the exit door and Singhal and Himmat who are interested in pleasing Mukul all the time. Anurag gets it all right when it comes to portraying these characters. He is in fine form when he makes fun of the elite party crowd of Delhi- their complete lack of punctuality, throwing parties for no reason and showing off their grandeur at every opportunity.

However, he goes terribly wrong half way through the novel and especially towards the climax. The intelligence with which Gambhir plans the sales strategy for tooth picks and the herculean efforts that he puts in to make it a success are convincing. However, one finds it difficult to digest that while meeting Kapila in Mumbai after his promotion has Deputy Managing Director, someone like Gambhir would let his lust rule over his head leading to his inevitable exit from the organization!

It is to Anurag's credit that at no point the 200 odd page novel slips into sheer boredom. However, there is no denying that Anurag could have thought a little more before wrapping up this one so predictably and abruptly!

The author of "The Inscrutable Americans" is sadly, out of form here!