Book Review : God is a Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

It is worth the hype! (No spoilers here)

​Ravi Subramanian is one of my favourite writers and I had extremely high expectations from his latest novel “God is a Gamer”. 

Both his immediate preceding novels, 'Bankerupt' and 'Bankster' have had parallel story lines which meet in a fantastic climax. God is a Gamer carries this model forward and does a fantastic job with it. We have a story unfolding in the USA where the FBI attempts to connect the dots between the murder of one of the President’s closest associates and an online darkweb drug marketplace, CottonTrail while investigators in Mumbai are baffled by the apparent suicide/murder of a bank CEO and the possibility of scandalous political involvement.

The story in the US starts off with the assassination of Senator Gillian Tan when he is on his way to meet the US president. (It can't be a Ravi Subramanian novel if there isn't a murder within the first ten pages.) This is soon followed by the largest ATM heist in New York carried out using skimmed cards. The FBI faced with intense pressure to solve the case seems to be getting nowhere initially till an attack on the senator’s wife gives them more clues and suggests that the crimes could have an BitCoin and CottonTrail connection.

In India, the story is much more complex. Malvika the backstabbing CEO of NYIB India dies in mysterious circumstances and the investigation threatens to reveal her dark secrets which could implicate even the Finance Minister in a major scandal. At the same time, Aditya Rao, head of his own BPO and gaming company is reunited with his son who takes over the gaming business and turns it around. Soon enough though, Aditya's companies start to face a multitude of problems which could be linked to the events in the US. To all this Subraminum adds a quirky plot element of a mysterious blog - 'Confessions of a Hooker'. 

While we are enthralled by the story of how investigators across the globe connect the dots, we are also treated to a side show of how Aditya's son Varun chases love and at the same time surpasses every challenge coming his way to ensure that his company becomes a major player in the gaming sector.  At every point through out the 310 pages the story seems very relatable because of the obvious use of several real life incidents which have been in the news for the last couple of years. CottonTrail is an obvious reference to SilkRoute drug network which was in the news not long ago and Ravi Subramanian has also incorporated events in the novel which are inspired from other real life happenings such as the advent of facebook gaming, success of the book 'Confessions of a New York Taxi Driver' and obviously, the controversy surrounding BitCoins.

The story is extremely fast paced and keeps you guessing about how each of these extremely diverse elements are going to come together at the end. However, even though there are several clues which make it easy to guess the killer well in advance of the end of the novel, nothing can really prepare you for the actual climax. The climax is a saga of never ending twists and turns which had me literally at the edge of my seat. It seems like the shocking revelations shall never end but the actual end nicely ties up all the loose ends to finally present a coherent albeit shocking conclusion. However, that the shock ending is going to contain some element of revenge is unfortunately given away by the tagline 'Is revenge a crime?' sitting right there on the cover page.

I found it interesting though that Ravi Subramanian has resisted from having a perfect fairytale ending. He even treats issues of political-commercial nexus and political interference in investigations, with a level of pragmatism and that realism that I had not expected.

However, the pace comes with its downside too. Unlike his previous books, none of the characters in 'God is a Gamer' particularly stay with you. There is barely any scope for character development. I wish there was atleast one memorable character in the book. Another downside I thought was the cover and marketing of the book. It has been heavily promoted as "The World's first BitCoin Thriller" when infact the novel is about a lot more than just BitCoins and even a lot more than just a novel about gaming. I honestly believe that the publishers could have come up with a title better title and cover. This is the third time (after Bankerupt and Bankster) that a Ravi Subramanian cover features a silhouette of a man standing in some overseas setting. That is getting a tad bit repetitive considering that these novels aren't a part of a series.

However, all this slight shortcomings are easily overcome by the strength of the excellent plot which keeps you hooked and eager to turn the pages like a good thriller should.

Rating : 8/10

Once you have read the book, do comment and let me know what you think!

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. 

Disclosure : I was supplied with a review copy by Blogadda.

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God is a Gamer and other books by Ravi Subramanian are available at a discount on Flipkart.com and Amazon.in! Buy them now!

An Amazing Weekend at the TATA Lit Fest!

TATA Literature Live, one of Mumbai’s foremost literary events went bigger this year and in addition to NCPA (its regular venue), this time it was held at Prithvi Theatre as well! With the venue so close to my house, I was definitely not going to miss it! The star studded line up (see schedule) was also a big draw.

The first session that I attended was The Changing Idea of Romance in India at Prithvi Theatre, where Astha Atray Banan who has authored a Mills and Boon novel and Sathnam Sanghera (British Writer famous for his novel Marriage Material) were joined by Ashish Shakya of All India Bakchod. I honestly didn't expect much realism from a panel discussion on romance but what ensued was a really interesting and pragmatic discussion. Surprisingly enough an author of a Mills and Boon novel was convinced that romance was on the decline while the guy from Britain was making the case about how arranged marriages could be a good idea after all! The discussion veered between various issues ranging from the influence of the internet, moral policing, influence of Bollywood and the changing mindsets of the youth, to much more serious issues such as the institution of marriage, sexism in romance writing/movies and eve teasing. As you would expect when one of the panellists is from All India Bakchod, the discussion was interspersed with great dollops of humour.

A big fan of military history myself, the session that I was looking forward to the most at Tata Lit Live was ‘An Indian Army in Afghanistan’, a talk by William Dalrymple. The great historian is also a master storyteller who effortlessly transported us back to the 1837 and the first Anglo Afghan war. The talk was his short retelling of the story of his book ‘Return of a King’. He manages to weave together into his story-telling the big macro events such as the backdrop of the Great Game and also funny tales of the vanity of the British Army generals who while trekking 4000 miles across the subcontinent, had 40 camels carrying their wines and liqour. In his crisp voice he managed to hold the attention of the crowd and an hour felt like ten mins. While the story was indeed fascinating, his descriptions of his process of research were also interesting and to an extent, even thought provoking. Dalrymple has gone beyond the British accounts while researching for the book and has delved extensively into the Afghan accounts. He spoke at length about his research and travels into the heart of Taliban controlled Afghan countryside where ordinary people were well versed with the history of the Anglo-Afghan war which they had received orally from their elders. On of the most interesting things about the ‘Return of a King’ is how Dalrymple manages to draw parallels between the Anglo-Afghan conflict and the modern day US led invasion – “It is always possible to conquer Afghanistan but difficult to finance a continuing occupation.”

Dalrymple also emphasised how for several centuries in India including some periods of Maratha rule as well, ‘Persian’ was the language of administration. He expressed his dismay at the fact that very few Indians know about this and that today only a handful of persons who can read and write Persian, survive today in India. He urged the amateur and aspiring historians in the audience (and I am sure that after his talk, many were considering it) to not restrict themselves to colonial historical accounts in English but to read local primary source materials as well! While he was signing his books for fans, I managed to ask him regarding his next project and it is a topic that Indians shall be even more interested in – The East India Company. In hindsight I could have guessed it myself because even while talking about the last book and the story of the Anglo Afghan War, Darlymple who now must be well into his research about the East India Company, could not help himself from making repeated references about the marvel that the company was and how it was a astounding and absurd phenomenon that the fate of a subcontinent was in the hands of a public corporation run for the shareholders’ interests from a single block in London. All in all, it was an amazing session, the only negative point about which was that the venue, Prithvi House was so small that several people had to be turned away

The following morning, I turned up two hours early at Prithvi to ensure that I got a pass for the most awaited panel discussion of Tata Lit Live – “Gone with the Gandhis- Will the defeat in the 2014 elections leave an impact on dynasty politics in the Congress”. The panellists were Shashi Tharoor, Pranay Gupte and Shekhar Gupta in conversation with Barkha Dutt. I had expected the panel to express significant agreement with the motion express but surprisingly enough it was a rather balanced discussion. Shashi Tharoor began by rightly pointing out that we also see a dynasty effect not only in other political parties but also in other walks of life such as Bollywood (and even the legal profession). The other panellists also for a while seemed to suggest that dynasty is a media favourite hyped issue which doesn’t matter much. They seemed to all agree that the performance of a candidate matters much more to a voter than the candidate’s dynasty. However Barkha and Shekhar Gupta were also quick to point out how Congress is especially addicted to the family and there was a funny moment when upon being asked by Shekhar Gupta, Shashi Tharoor had to admit that he did not know all the members of the Congress Working Committee. While Shashi Tharoor was eloquent as always despite having the unenviable task of having to defend the dynasty as the rightful head of the Congress, it was Shekhar Gupta who really brought the house down with his jokes and very quirky anecdotes about everything. My descriptions really cannot do any justice to how amazing this session was. I just hope everyone gets the chance of hearing these great folks talk atleast once in a lifetime!

While I spent the weekend at the TATA Lit Live’s Prithvi events, there were also a lot of great sessions happening at the NCPA which culminated with the annual TATA Lit Live Awards. This year, ‘Arctic Summer’ by Damon Galgut bagged the Book of the Year Award for fiction writing while ‘Capital - The Eruption Of Delhi’ by Rana Dasgupta won the prize for non-fiction. What I particularly like about the TATA Lit Live is that they also have a Best Debut Award to encourage new writers. The Smoke Is Rising by Mahesh Rao was adjudged to be the best fiction debut while in the non-fiction category it was  ‘A Southern Music: The Karnatik Story’ by TM Krishna.

I hope I shall be able to participate for the all four days next year! Hope it remains as awesome!

Was Modi at Madison a good idea?

Recently, the Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel toured Mumbai and addressed a group of industrialists and investors on the 108th anniversary of Indian Merchants’ Chamber. Her address which was partly in Gujarati and which implored the industrialists to invest in Gujarat which she alleged was less congested and has better infrastructure than Mumbai, has become a major political flashpoint in Maharashtra with all major parties such as the ShivSena, MNS and Congress criticising it.

Interestingly during her speech, Anandiben said "Jyare Narendrabhai US maa jai ne Hindi maa bhanshan aapi shake, toh hoon Mumbai maa avi Gujarati maa boli shaku chu (When Narendrabhai can speak in Hindi in the US, I can certainly speak in Gujarati in Mumbai)"

Now this brings up the question about how Modi's show of strength in the US is going to be perceived in the US. He addressed a massive rally in Hindi!! Just as Anandiben's remarks were unwelcome in Mumbai, it would not be wrong for many US citizens to feel betrayed seeing their Indian origin fellow US citizens flock to Madison Square Garden and showing their allegiance to Modi and India.

It won't be a surprise if the more conservative US politicians now urge lesser immigration from India since Indian origin immigrants shall be seen to be less loyal and less assimilative. Similarly, a case can be made that though 'Make in India' is undoubtedly a much needed and welcome initiative, it could have been done in a more subtle way in industry meetings and smaller closed events rather than a public push.

If a major US company actually moves some significant manufacturing facility from the US to India, causing job losses in the US, I am sure the Modi in US euphoria shall die down real quick.

In his broadside against Modi Govt's foreign policy in an Indian Express Op-Ed, Salman Khurshid has articulated this stance well and I shall end with his words -

Diaspora is a blessing in disguise but it may sometimes need to remain disguised to be a blessing for itself.

Modi should keep this in mind in future...

Delhi Street Food!

With the moot court competition turning out to be much less satisfactory than what we expected, my teammates and I were left with almost two and a half days in Delhi (well NOIDA actually) with nothing to do but explore its culinary delights.

Though like any true blue Mumbaikar I believe with all my heart that Bombay/Mumbai is the single most awesome city in the whole wide world, after a couple of days of sampling Delhi street food, I must admit that Delhi street food does hold its own or even slightly outdoes the VadaPav-PavBhaji-Bhel dominated Mumbai street savouries.

 

Chole-Kulcha / Chole Bhature

To start off with, Delhi has a lot more variety in even vegetarian street food. Apart from the samosa and pani-puri (which the Delhites call Gol-Gappas) vendors who are probably ubiquitous all over India, Delhi (and much of north India, I presume) also has a lot of paratha and chole-bhatura / chole-kulcha vendors everywhere. Every street that we travelled to had atleast one of these chole-kulcha carts with their unique copper (or brass maybe) vessel full of chole placed at an angle! 

Mr. SV and I sampled and completely enjoyed both the dishes! The chole served with the kulchas were mashed together with onions and chillis into a thick paste which managed to achieve that just right level of spicyness. Though I enjoyed the dish I do admit that I was hoping for the freshly baked type of kulchas (i.e. the type that restaurants in Bombay serve) and was disappointed to see that the roadside kulcha was simply a special bread heated on the tava and served. The chole bhature combo however was just perfect and left no room to complain. I am dreading the moment when I shall have to have the college mess chole again. I am sure they are going to fall way short of my increased expectations.

 

Connaught Place Momos!

Momos! This is another north and east Indian street food delicacy that you would be hardpressed to find on Mumbai streets. When we went to Connaught Place, which by the way no one can find on a metro map because it is officially called Rajiv Chowk (Read This if such things anger you). The momos were tasty and interestingly served with not just a a spicy red sauce but also with an additional mayonnaise dip! (unfortunately not photographed) While we waited for the steaming hot momos to get ready, Mr. SV also managed to get a bowl full of fried potatos and masala which is another simple dish which I haven’t seen on Mumbai streets. He also chose to have a bowl of bhel but that is an area in which, Delhi can’t match up with Bombay. We also had the Keventers Milkshake at CP which tasted pretty good. I am told that it isn’t as legendary anymore as it used to be in its heyday. I can only imagine how good it must have tasted then …

 

Rolls – Nizams and Rolls King

Since Ms. AM had raved about the place so much, Mr. SV and I also visited Nizams which in addition to their awesome tender soft mutton rolls also had this interesting sign saying -

Regional, Racial, Religious Discrimination, Apartheid & Outside Food is prohibited in the restaurant.

While Nizams rolls are delicious, I must say they are also slightly expensive and lacking in quantity. Value for money and awesome quantity we found at Rolls King in Noida!

 

      

Non Vegetarian Delights – Tangdi Tandoori and Gulati Kababs

Indirapuram’s famous Winsdor Market reminded me of Food Courts from Singapore with a lot of stalls/shops selling various delicacies. I opted for the Mutton Gulati Kababs and Ulte Tawe Ka Paratha, which is again something that I have never seen in Bombay. Watching the vendor make it was also very fascinating! Apart from it we ordered Tangdi Tandoori but due to some miscommunication we were served Tangdi Stuffed Tandoori which wasn’t bad either.

 

Good Food tastes better with good company!

The Delhi food hogging journey was especially fantastic because of the company that I had. In search of the best street food they travelled with me by air, rail and cycle rickshaw. Ms. AM and Mr. SV - you guys rock! Hope we get to go hog more often!

     

 

 

What Next!?

Delhi is so full of culinary delights that I am sure I haven’t tried even close to all of the good places yet… So please comment and do let me know which are the other great places in Delhi and I shall cover them the next time I go there!

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An Apple Watch! It's beyond what we expected and imagined!

As per this readwrite article, Apple CEO Tim Cook had told an audience of journalists on Tuesday—literally—what he has up his sleeve:

“An entirely new product. We believe this product will redefine what people expect from its category."

And guess what, it has truly redefined what we expect from this category!

It is called and Apple Watch. Yes. You got it right. An Apple Watch. Without the pesky 'i'. Expecting an iWatch, werent you? It is not an iWatch, it is an Apple Watch!!

Also this time around, even if you are ready to pay Apple's ridiculous prices for its gadgets, you still have to wait till 2015 to get an Apple Watch!

Well done Apple! You have truly redefined our expectations.

As for everything else announced yesterday, larger phone screens and addition of NFC support, it is all Apple trying to catch up with Android. Just what we expected...

Photo from : http://www.apple.com/watch/

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