Ramendra has once again proved his skill as a master story teller, this time straddling the world of real corporate life and fiction with apparent ease.
Going through the “unputdownable” book, I was engrossed in the “real to reel” life characters, happenings, incidents, et al.
The working of a corporate comes to life via the author’s imagination and teaches us several management lessons as the story unfolds. The play of words, including names, startling facts and figures makes the faced pace book worth a read.
Ramendra has covered different aspects of a mammoth steel plant with ease: the Plant itself, the administrative set up, township and even personal relations between senior executives in a no offense meant style. The inside story of a giant steel plant, behind the scenes activity (as in the PM visit preparations), the power play all give a peep into the deep insight he had of the things around him.
Borrowing from ancient Indian thinker Kautilya and his “Vish Kanya” to the recent pandemic where a senior corporate executive’s untimely death due to Covid was hushed up, Ramen goes back and forth giving the reader a taste of the goings on inside a PSU.
A discerning reader can see the “layers” in the book , ranging from ego problems due to correction of a preposition in a brochure to interference at the highest level by politicians and bureaucrats, the arrogance of a politician’s better half and her whimsical demands which had to be catered to and what not.
Humour at its best in the exchange of planes and suitcases and witty repartees are a delight to read. Empathy to a junior staff who wasn’t getting his salary due to a minor glitch show the humane face of the organization. The demands of the Ladies Club headed by the top executive’s wife seem to be real.
The media and press have been given their share of space in the book including the rather shocking “bumping off” of a seemingly upright media person who was not willing to bow down.
Sexual harassment of women, a mostly taboo topic has also been dealt with delicately, hinting that it is not totally absent even though women number very few in the total workforce.
The Crisis Management protocol devised, the Mass Contact Exercise as well as the presence of mind exhibited during the Minister’s visit, narrowly escaping a potential catastrophe are points to ruminate about.
On the whole a well written book, written in a lucid fast paced style, where the author’s imagination intertwines with experience, facts with fiction. The book is worth reading for all.
Chronicles of a Corporate Executive
Ramendra Kumar
Published by: Blue Pencil, September 2021
ISBN: 978-8195297825
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 199
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Dr Anjana Maitra is a class 1 Gazetted Officer in the Govt of Orissa and teaches in a Govt College. A writer, orator, news reader she is also an active Rotarian and conducts soft skills training all over India.
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