If God Was A Banker

by Ravi Subramanian

Two young managers graduates, with nothing similar in family backgrounds and temperament, join New York international Bank on the same day and take entirely different routes to success.

Genres: Fiction, Indian Literature, India, Banking, Thriller, Novels, Business

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Ravi Subramanian's latest book - IN THE NAME OF GOD - a thriller, releases on June 26, 2017

Ravi Subramanian, an alumnus of IIM Bengaluru, has spent two decades working his way up the ladder of power in the amazingly exciting and adrenaline-pumping world of global banks in India.
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He is the award winning author of eight bestselling books :
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If God was a Banker (2007),
I Bought the Monks Ferrari (2007),
Devil in Pinstripes (2009),
The Incredible Banker (2011),
The Bankster (2012),
Bankerupt (2013).
God is a Gamer (2014)
The Bestseller She Wrote (2015)
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His 9th book IN THE NAME OF GOD will release in 2017
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If God was a Banker won him the Golden Quill readers choice award in 2008. He also won the Economist Crossword Book Award for The Incredible Banker in 2012. "The Bankster", released in 2012 won him the Crossword Book Award in 2013. In 2014 he won the Raymond Crossword book award for Bankerupt. His books have been translated into Hindi and Latvian. He lives in Mumbai with his wife, Dharini, and daughter, Anusha.
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To connect with him, log on to Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorravisubramanian or tweet to @subramanianravi or email him at info@ravisubramanian.in

Reviews

[Aparna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wait a minute. I think this book clearly establishes that IIM provides good bankers, or businessmen, but definitely not the best writers.

Spoiler Alert: For those of you who want to save a precious 4 hours of their lives, here's the "plot" - Good Guy, Bad Guy join bank on same day. Good Guy succeeds with integrity. Bad guy sleeps around, succeeds with luck and cunning wit. Bad Guy gets caught. Saved by God in a Banker's disguise. Bad Guy reforms. All are friends again. THE END!!

Hopeless storyline, bad English, and a pathetic guest appearance by the author. Nothing works. Can't blame you, Mr. Subramanian - as an IIM-B grad, you must have one hell of a corporate career, and hence, very limited time. Which brings me to the key question - What the heck was your editor doing??????

[Bharath · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only the second book I have read of Ravi Subramanian, since I read ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ 8 years back. The style is similar in both books – intended for mass appeal & entertainment. That said, the business backdrop is very good, and Ravi puts his professional experience to good use here.

The story follows the careers and lives of Sundeep, Swaminathan, Natasha & Kalpana. The story starts with Sundeep in NY set to meet his boss and the Group CEO - Michelle and Tedd Bridge, over a serious issue. He is worried about the implications for his wife and children. He thinks back on his career since the last many years after he and Swaminathan joined New York International Bank (NYB) on the same day in Mumbai.

Sundeep and Swaminathan, from IIM Bangalore and Ahmedabad respectively join NYB India as management trainees in Mumbai. Swami is from a humble background, who lost his dad at the age of 2 and his mother worked as a cook, struggling to bring up Swami and his younger sister Ambujam. Sundeep is ambitious and keen to grow quickly in the organization. Kalpana is from Sundeep’s batch and has also joined NYB. Sundeep feels attracted to her but is angry as he finds her growing closer to Swami. Aditya Rao is the India Head, an aggressive go-getter. He spots the talents of Sundeep, Swami & Kalpana and challenges them to launch and grow car and two-wheeler loan products (which was their suggestion in the first place). His confidence in them pays off as they build a strong business with these new product lines. Natasha is Aditya’s secretary and is attracted to Sundeep. The contrast between the characters of Sundeep & Swami is stark – while the former is brash and aggressive – willing to manipulate to get ahead, the latter is methodical and steadfast in approach. A lot is to follow in terms of their careers and relationship over the years.

The business environment the story covers is very strong & authentic – the primary focus being the Banking Industry and to a lesser extent Business Process Outsourcing. I liked how the characters were developed – Swami, Sundeep, Aditya, Kalpana & Natasha being the main ones, but there are also a good number of supporting characters. Many of the business scenarios are good ones, and the characters’ behaviours go well with their personalities (except for the last sections including Aditya’s involvement which feel forced fitted to align to the ending). There are quite a few spicy episodes of the kind you see often in movies but are regarded as entertaining inclusions for novels as well. There are many instances of coercion, subjugation and abuse of women but sadly the story does not use this as a progressive theme and infuriatingly trivializes this by the way it ends.

Overall, if you are looking for some entertainment, a good book to relax with.

My rating: 3.25 / 5.

[Nikhil Lodha · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have finished the book in about 10 hours and it’s not a compliment.

This book is a result of what can happen when you pretend to be a story-teller, but you're not.

The story revolves around two characters - Swaminathan (protagonist) and Sundeep (antagonist). Not to be a racist but the author sounded like a whiny kid who has issues with North-Indians. The obvious clue was when he went to extreme lengths illustrating an emotional background story - not to forget his extensive research from a typical South-Indian movie - about the protagonist. However, he chose not to give readers any background information about the antagonist (or any other characters in the book for that matter) who was also the main character apart from being North-Indian. His initial crime was that he was a good-looking (‘can put Tom Cruise to shame’ – his exact words) man and therefore, an obvious villain.

He wrote a whole paragraph on Tamilian Brahmins explaining why they are pious. No description for anything else in the book - Nada.

The author had only three words to portray his protagonist - nice, honest & simple. He was so hell-bent on shoving his opinions on readers that in one sentence he even wrote 'nice Swami will never do it'. Swami does nothing except being nice and honest. The b̶e̶a̶u̶t̶i̶f̶u̶l̶ – BOMB – girl approaches Swami, they drink 'filter' coffee and she sees his – wait for it – honesty and simplicity and she 'proposes' him. In the very first meeting, possibly in fifteen minutes. Swami becomes the God of Banking in the end because of course honesty is all you ever need in a corporate banking sector.

There are three main women characters and the author had used special adjectives for all of them.

Woman 1 - She is still a BOMB
Woman 2 - She is a total BOMB
Woman 3 - What a BOMB

Who said your female character could be dark skinned, fair, short, tall, slender, petite, confused, smart, agitated or desperate. Want to know a female character in the book? There's a hint, they are all BOMB – GO FIGURE!

(P.S. For any disappointing news the author has special emotion - "he dropped a bombshell") This guy should be in Taliban.

Lastly, the choice of words.
"Natasha kinda liked him" KINDA?????? That's when I lost it. But the agony continued throughout the book. This guy claims to be an alumni of IIM - Bangalore.

I saved the best one for the last - He introduces a Gujarati man who lives in Kolkata for years and miraculously the ‘Gujarati’ person speaks this:
‘Kee haal hai? Kudi ne ratti sohn ditta ki nahi’

I am highly convinced now that the editor was on marijuana.

[Sneha Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok few things i am learning from such books........
1.IIM produces excellent writers
2.They write really well, simple language, easy to digest, simple normal emotions & twists & turns in the required places
3. they really dont know how to make a "perfect ending"

Dont know how bt every "IIM waala's" story ends in a perfect ending manner even though everything is jumbled up untill the 2nd last page.
Over all a great peice for time pass reading, entertaining with all the essential masalas :)yet the ending is not as apt.

[Ayushi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bland storyline, inept language, sexist depiction of women, the list goes on…
I have a new found respect for Chetan Bhagat after reading this.

[Geetika · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are too many corporate books talking about sexual relationships in an organization. I feel these books are sending a very wrong signal. However I feel the real problem of Corporate world or banking sec in particular is poor leadership and poor culture management. After a long time read a book called "Puppet on the Fast Track" which rightfully points the issue and real life dilemma of youngsters.

If God was a banker is full of filth and nonsense and unfortunately that sells! Read it is a real life episode too. If such an Organization does exist, the seniors woke up only after the guy sexually exploited so many.!!

[Alekhya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wish there was an option of 'I hated it' or 'It's a total waste of time' A completely avoidable book. NO story, zero creativity, pathetic style of writing. It was mostly about a lusty guy making out than a sensible story! Worst book i ever read.

Would advise everyone to stay away from this book.

[Ankit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really want to take this one in points -
1)Forget the uber mediocre story line, poor English, pathetic character development - Dear Author, do you really think infidelity, overconfidence and arrogance are enough to portray the bad-guy as really bad ? I mean seriously, what era do u come from ?

2) He was clearly trying to write a movie script for a Manmohan Desai movie in the 70s, mistook it for a novel. However the real culprits are the publishers

3) Am amazed at the image Ravi portrays of women. Meek, docile, forgiving, not-giving a crap about career, Settling for a compliance role when actually qualified for lot more etc ... urghh

4) The ultimate crime in his world is sleeping around, and that was exactly the crime of the bad guy - having consensual extra-martial sex .. lol

... Have a new found respect for chetan bhagat. Period

[Vadassery Rakesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got a doubt whether NYB stands for NY Bank or NY Brothel House. Cannot digest how can the author show the MNC bank in such a poor light where a sex maniac was allowed to run amok. And the language also lacks depth and intensity. I also felt it impossible to keep aside the book and read it in one go - the reason being the titillation the book offered reminiscing in me the college hostel days when we used to read the penthouse letters in one go. Frankly was surprised to see the book became a best seller. The author has to improve a lot and rise above the school story writing competition levels. The plot needed to be more original and not like a fairy tale.

[Akhil Tiwari · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let us understand one thing here:
IIMs may produce great businessmen(some?)but they produce awful writers.
This book,alike Chetan's shitty crappy books that hook the reader,is what we exactly call 'the same old bollywood deadly-drama'. These are the scripts many aspiring 'directors'(Slaves of fame?)are in quest of.
I'd suggest this book to my enemies.Go guys,give it a shot in order to torment your blessed soul.

[S.Ach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ravi Subramanian is Chetan Bhagat in pinstripe.
As expected, the story is Bollywoody, characters monochromatic, the plot shallow with lots of sexual innuendos.
Reads like a fantasy of a wannabe.
But, sometimes listening to such brainless content is fun, isn't it?
What? You don't watch a Salman Khan movie once in a while, just to laugh at why you laughed on some silly jokes? Really?

Pro tip : Listen to this audio book in 2X speed.

Two thoughts coming to mind -

1) Is the title grammatically correct? Shouldn't it have been "If God were a banker"??
According to Google - 'Were' (the subjunctive form of the verb to be) is used in hypothetical or improbable situations not ones which are realistic or likely. E.g. 'If I were a billionaire, I would fly to the moon. ' However, use 'was' if the situation is real: 'If I was rude, I'm sorry.

2)Why would an IIM B graduate career woman quit her job because she is getting married, when there is absolutely no pressure from her husband or in-laws to do so?

[Vinayak Mishra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Light, breezy read. Not much else.
-> Was this even edited? Poor grammar everywhere
-> The author describes women only as mindless supporting characters or objects to be desired.
-> I hoped to gain more background on the banking industry in our country. Nothing substantial present in this book.

Would not recommend.

[Vidhya Nair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came across this book by chance in Jaipur when attending a talk by Jeffrey Archer where Ravi Subramaniam was the moderator. This was his debut fiction novel. The book reads like a film, but gives you an insight on the probable follies, exploits, games played within the corporate foreign banking environment in India. Sometimes they say, too much intelligence is a bad thing, it makes you do deviant things. I especially liked the character of Naresh, a uniquely Indian character. Shrewd manipulator, crafty exploiter of weakness for his own self-gain. I wished that the Swami character need not have been too perfect, he too should have had some flaws besides his lack of fathering capabilities and coming from a fatherless, poor family. It was almost as if to make him too virtuous. I was pleased with the portrayal of women in this book. Several of them were morally questionable and highly tolerant of subjugation which is a realistic look at the roles many educated women play in a man's world. A useful look at the way hierarchy and promotions take place within an organization and it was interesting to see how employees are shifted to global offices as part of the complex scheme, Makes you look at foreign bankers far less favorably. I look forward to reading more of his tales.

[Ashish Goel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is good for the first time readers. Plus points are
a) Written in simple langague
b) Give insight to banking industries in India(few incident are bit exarrated)
c) Office politics
d) silent message that bad move my take you to greater hieghts but eventually it would led you down

Plot
====
Sundeep Srivastava and Swaminathan are juxtaposed to project the two sides of a different and difficult profession; retail banking. While Sundeep is aggressive and ambitious, Swami is evenhanded and sensible. Their careers with the New York International Bank zoom meteorically but on different planes. Sundeep is ready for any compromise to promote, project and achieve his goals and Swami prefers to go slow and steady adhering to ethics of the profession without being overzealous.

At the end, Aditya Rao, an elderly character who plays Godfather to these two protagonists extends his helping hand to Srivastava for his intrinsic talent and intelligence.

[Pankaj Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read. Story about two fresh grads starting their career and how their choices shapes their future. One person is overly ambitious and selfish and thus goes on to achieve huge success at the cost of losing respect and heart for people. The other one is ambitious but ethical and honest. He is people's man. True to his character he stays in the vicinity of good people and achieves what one time seemed like a distant dreams. This books is a reflection of how one person no matter how ambitious is, should never leave his roots. Integrity is prime and it should never be compromised. This book also talks a lot about the workplace environment for women and it can be "safer" under a good leader. Overall worth a read.

[Prathamesh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ravi Subramanian,

Go back to your job as a banker.

[Fatima JAX · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so tempted to give 4 stars but settling for 3 stars. A very gripping read.. Looking forward to the other few titles of Ravi Subramanian :-)

[Dr Kashmira Gohil · Rating 3 out of 5]

'If God was a banker' then he would have enjoyed reading this story too😊. It's about two main characters as two bright young men, Sudeep & Swami, IIM peers and in work space at New York bank in retail branch, where they start their career. While one was shrewd, people's person, who is ambitious at the cost of integrity & morality, the other is honest, sincere and straightforward, yet equally competitive professionally. The story depicts the fast & furious world of banking (as author himself is the banker), and at the same time, tough, highly competitive, ambitious, dark & murky side of corporate world. All the characters in the story, including the career women, Natasha & Kalpana, respective wives of Sudeep & Swami, Aditya the mentor of both bright, young bankers Sudeep & Swami & other office people are highly relatable & chemistry among all characters are great. Ultimately honesty & integrity paid off in the long run whatsoever happens, is the final morale of the story. Highly readable & enjoyable book, adding knowledge of banking world too at the same time, for the novice. I give 3 or 3.5 🌟 stars for this one👍

[Anish · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Ravi Subramanian book and after reading many other books by foreign authors, I wanted a good book from an Indian author. Words can't express my disappointment with this hopeless book. There is nothing remarkable with the book - poor plot, terrible writing, utterly predictable chapters etc. Almost all the characters (except a few like Aditya Rao, Swaminathan, Ram Naresh) were poorly sketched out and the women characters' portrayal was purely disappointing. There was also too much of exaggeration and superficiality dwelling over the writing.

Except for a few good moments, somewhat realistic portrayal of the corporate world and a few characters, the book is 250 pages of absolute boredom.

[Janhavi · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a torture. This is one of those (very rare) books that make you regret your decision as soon as you start reading. The 3 or 4 hours of my life I'll never get back. The little trooper me soldiered on and finished the book.

So here's a badly written review.
I felt like I was reading the story of a really really bad movie. There's nothing original about the story - Good guy vs bad guy. Bad guy does a lot of bad stuff, good guy leads a straight honest life. In the end, the bad guy loses his job because of the bad stuff. BUT, since God is a banker, the bad guy gets another job offer on the same day - rather the very minute after he loses his first. And everyone lives happily every after. The End!

[Tanmay Meher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, easy to read, very high values and a new genre to read. The writer is a master in his attempt. The bitter truths are uncovered in a unique way. It will make you believe that the balance of good and bad makes the world sustainable.

[Arun Venkatesan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Refreshingly new setting - the Indian Private Banking industry. But clearly, the author watches a lot of Megaserials/Bollywood films.

[Sanju N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like it, sorry I love it.I love the way u wrote.....
After completion of the reading book, I would like to say
"Whatever bad we did in past, it will reflect in future "

[Surabhi Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping banking saga.

[Veeresh Hebbale · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a simple plot where two bankers Sundeep & Swamy start their journey together at a multinational bank with two different takes on life. The former is shrewd, goal-oriented, corrupt, going to any extent to just win, and the latter is humble, process-oriented, value-driven, and empathetic. What has life to offer for each of them? Who is right? who will win? these are some of the questions the book tries to answer.
There are Sundeep & Swamy in us and at the end of the day, it is whom we choose to live.

[Karthikeyan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Using his books as a filler for casual reads, this book perfectly filled this bill. The story is about two protagonists with the opposite set of characteristics and how they go about with their banking career. Feels like a character was let easy for his misdeeds in this book. If this book was released during current times, it would've bombed.

[Vedha K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ravi Subramanian does it again.. Its let ike entering a corporate bank deeper and learning it's secrets and unveiling the glossy facade. Thrilling and ruthless the main protagonists and their stark contrast throws the story in different directions and comes to a unexpected climax.

[Gurudatt Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fruitful & Engaging Read

The book is lucid and tries to put across the idea of choice and repercussions. Everything comes at a cost is the bottom line.

[Dev Ayan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book by RS and it's an interesting quick paced read. Though his later books are much more enjoyable.

[Karthikeya Nm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book is bit overdramatic for my taste, author has tried to glorify the characters, tried to make them look larger than life so to say.

It felt as if Author didn't have strong hold on the Subjects he was talking ( Banking, running a business etc ) or may be didn't convey convincingly.

Only good thing about the book was that you could push through it and finish off. Overall a ok read.