This is a funny narration of the life of Rahul ‘Einstein’ Varghese, an Indian consultant on an onsite assignment to a London based Bank, Lederman. God alone knows the difficulty faced by our hero in getting an onsite assignment but adding to that is his terrible misfortunes or mishaps in London, that constantly threaten to turn his life into an utter embarrassment. The story is humorous and the climax, unexpected. This is a good light read if you want to relax and take your mind off some serious work.
The story takes the reader through the adventures, or rather, misadventures of the protagonist as he embarks on his life in London where he tries to cope with his new lifestyle and a challenging work. Our hero is the consulting guru at office and the cool headed problem solver, but even as he moves with extreme caution and thoughtfulness at every step, goof-ups seem to be inevitable...His first day at office, his attempts to flirt with a Chinese intern at office as well as his constantly failing attempts to get to know the London culture is sure to captivate the readers. The story also caricatures Rahul as having the typical middle class Indian syndrome of converting every penny you spend (or plan to spend) into INR thereby dreading the idea of spending money. It bothers him to be spending his hard earned and meager salary on museums and Shahrukh Khan’s wax statues, but his girlfriend Gouri, is not to be easily convinced. And his attempt to get a picture with Shahrukh Khan's wax statue at the museum unfurls into nothing short of a comedy entertainer. Throughout the book, the author uses a lot of allusion to some of the famous Malayalam movies starring Mohanlal and uses some typical Indian words and slangs in between to make it more entertaining and convincing. After all, speaking our mind is always more effective and satisfactory when it is done in our mother tongue.
After Rahul reaches London, the consulting company, Dufresne, goes through a difficult phase as Lederman realizes that the consulting firm does not add much value to its operations. But with due interference (and a little bit of bluffing) from our cool problem solver, the issue gets mitigated, with the Bank’s head Tom, accepting a proposal which is much less problematic for the consulting firm. But obviously, there is a catch, as there are strings to be pulled and a price paid, and there sure is a lot of scope for entertainment. Also to be noted, is the mysterious activity of some 20,000 Euros getting credited to his account each month. He is already at his wits end when another character comes into picture. Sugandh, an Indian who ends up getting a job at Lederman after a lot of support and help from Rahul becomes the secretary to the Bank's Head, Tom. His appearance that showcases a pseudo intellectualism and his reserved manner towards Rahul in the office constantly annoys him, and makes him feel threatened. To add to his woes is the constant pressure from the other consultants and his urge to outdo them in all areas. The sudden appearance of a new Vice President from the US and Rahul’s batch mate from his B-School makes matters worse. Indeed, it is a mad, mad world around Rahul!!! Life is not so easy, both at office and with his girlfriend.
The story takes a sudden and unexpected turn when Rahul gets to know that Lederman’s head Tom has been under the scanner of the authorities for quite some time for issues like misappropriation of funds, fraud, money laundering etc. Tom, being in constant limelight, also threatens to reveal Rahul's involvement in the fund transfers of the ‘Lederman Learning Through Laughing Foundation’. The entire office is in panic with the officers walking in and out of the area, collecting evidence and interrogating suspects. Rahul is in terrible panic and hopes to get caught any minute, but plans to put the blame on his boss Dominic. This time, some strings are pulled by Dufresne to avoid its name getting tarnished but it ends up terminating Rahul and his boss, Dominic with immediate effect. But some amazing turn of events lead to an unexpected ending which makes Rahul both employed and extremely rich, thanks to his ‘SOB’ (Sparks Of Brilliance). And as sure does, the story ends on a happy note.