RAVI  SUBRAMANIAN

Don’t Tell The Governor by  Ravi Subramanian; Published by  HarperCollins ; Pages 312 ;  Price: Rs 299/-

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The author of the book under review Ravi Subramanian  is a banker who  has written  thrillers  about banking and bankers, which include three prize winning books. A trilogy--   The Incredible Banker, The Bankster  and Bankerupt.  Subramanian,a product of IIM,Bengaluru had a distinguished career in the   financial services  sector industry and was part of  Citibank, HSBC and ANZ Grindlays.  Presently he is the  CEO  of Shriram Union Finance Ltd., a non-banking finance company . He also contributes to the pink papers. His ambition is to be  “India’s John Grisham”—that he undoubtedly is. The book under review is his Tenth book in as many years..

The story begins with the appointment of a new RBI Governor, Aditya Kesavan, a tenured professor of economics at the prestigious New York University and a best selling author. He is handpicked by the Prime Minister of India himself – in the hope that the outsider would be easier to “influence” unlike the previous one who had proved to be quite troublesome for the government.

The story goes ahead as the Governor gets mixed up with a beautiful actress, who is married to another man but falls for his handsomeness.

We have a true masala which races fast –with hurricane speed,in the  world of power, politics and lobbying,  matched by glamour and blitz. It is a faithful recount of   many  events that dominated the India press. To wit---- demonetization, IPL and match fixing, terrorism and fake currency, the surgical strike against Pakistan, Indian public sector banks and their bad loans, Vijay Mallya and Mehul Choksi, and a whole lot more.  Ravi is a clever and suave operator. Note the choice of names !

The prose is absolutely simply , with a splash of complicated financial lexicon explained minimally for the layman to understand, and sufficiently awaken the reader’s interest.  Ravi’s   ability to present a thriller is uncanny. He makes abundantly clear how power operates .

 With multiple plots thrown in the tale , people may get confused but the brilliant aspect of this book is the element of action and how the author has tied up all the events and stories in this book in the end. The storyline is riveting, with twist after twist, turn after turn….betrayal, secrets, lies. It has everything to make the book unputdownable.

Extraordinary is the  interesting insights into the working of banks. Some of the characters in this book are inspired from the prominent personalities. And also major events are reflections of recent  events .

What is the best part of the author’s book is the attention to details and the way Ravi depicts events in a manner that places  the reader bang  in the middle of the action.

 Ravi   sets his story against the backdrop of the financial services industry,  the relations between the RBI and the finance ministry .

Some extracts—

"On November 8, 2016, when the clocks strike 12, your money will be no good. Somewhere on the India-Nepal Border, a car full of passengers swerves off a highway and plunges into a valley, its trunk full of cash," "In the UK, a Bollywood starlet wins Big Survivor, the most popular reality TV show in the country. In Panama, Central America, a whistle-blower at a law firm brings down billionaires across the globe. And in India, a new RBI Governor is appointed," .

The new Governor is Aditya Kesavan who has been given the task of making sure he does not rock the boat.

"The book refers to real places and real titles of people who operate in these places and in and the government and law-enforcement agencies. These have been used to lend an air of authenticity to the story, just as in a fictitious story about the Pope or the prime minister of the nation or the president of the United States of America," says Subramanian.

"The battle for one-upmanship between the RBI and the Finance Ministry continues. The bureaucrats of the ministry want the RBI to be subservient to them, whereas the RBI wants to stay autonomous.

"The pendulum swings wildly in this relationship, with the RBI trying to break free from the government stranglehold. Last heard, the balance of power was clearly tilted in the favour of the central government,"

Covered clearly is  the correlation and discord between the  Government and the R B I . It entwines the issues of Demonetisation, use of illicit currency, IPL and match-fixing, Terrorism, Bollywood and politics, which are quite current happened.

Aditya Kesavan  the new Governor of the RBI  lacks a strategic mind and thus decision-making skills. It was unsettling to identify him as a person easily falling in love and trap, thus performing his duties as Governor in an impetuous manner. The book presents the complete real scenario of economic news of the past few years.

 It is gripping and indeed compelling. Ravi  won for three years in a row The Crossword Book Award. He also bagged the Indiaplaza Golden Quill Book Award. An appetising read,indeed.

P.P.Ramachandran.

3/02/2019.