IT or Information Technology is a fascinating field. It never fades among its people. It is so promising yet dynamic with updates that new comers to established ones all find it always a captivating thing. From the distance, life of an IT guy looks cool or well-settled, but did you ever try to peep inside their heart. I am sure a close look will reveal something else to you.

All that glitters is not gold…even if it is one has to pay the price of it. Satish Badgi’s fictional novel is staged against the ever-changing landscape of the Indian IT industry. In this novel, we meet Vinod and many more like him. In a sense, all IT guys. They start their simple career planning from college campus and live up to that IT and American dream. As I read the novel, I was bewitched by the ups and down of an IT guy to succeed in life. The novel is poignant in capturing the timeline of the IT industry, especially in India. The novel narrates the story of Vinod from Nashik. He was a student in serene Pune in mid 1980s. He joins a computer consulting company in Mumbai. The city’s fast-paced life makes him sick. Crowd, filth, rat race, dusty, no value of life – he was bearing all for the sake of job.

This novel lays emphasis on the value of job. How Vinod and others bear the heat and filth of the city and commute with difficulty is worth capturing.

On one side, if IT offers good salary package, frequent travel to overseas, fast promotion and air-conditioned office, while on the other hand, it squeezes the soul of its workers. They have to develop and deploy the software and system from A to Z. They work hard, leaving family behind in the town or village. When they go overseas, they put their personal life on stake. Constant changes in the field always keep them on tenterhooks. And if by chance someone lands in a startup ecosystem then consider a below-average life till it gets to a level of success. The life seems easy when gone to a foreign country for IT job like the USA or the U.K. But reality bites when one loses jobs despite many a jump the ship attempts. When the pink slip days began, family and friends leave in lurch. One such intense story in the book is of Samidha and Sanjay.

People get in the bonding easily at onsite opportunities but there is a difference between born rich and new rich. One such classic story of difference is of Ajay and Alpeeta.

The novel brilliantly places both the sides of being an IT person. If it offers you perks, it also takes away the love of family. If IT is your dream, you may find it tough to feed yourself in an American dream. If you are an ambitious guy but at the same time do not want to jump the ship for your morals, then be ready to get dredged up in the crowded Indian cities, where people care for their ROI not the talent.

It is a tremendous book with a lot of optimistic brightness for its readers. The author Satish endured the days from big computers to consulting to startup fiasco to that American dream.

It is an all-encompassing novel. If you are an IT guy, this will provoke you and if you are an outsider, probably it will give you goose bumps. Be it any industry but one thing remains unfazed and that is human greed and aspirations for growth and money.