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Keep the Change
The uncoolness of her name plagues B. Damayanthi, along with the bunch of unsuitable prospective husbands her Amma throws at her, a dead-end job as an accountant in a decrepit firm, the oppressiveness of Chennai. When she finally jettisons her job and some of her inhibitions to join a bank in Mumbai, Amma's parting words are: 'Be good. Don't do anything silly.' Translation: 'Stay away from sex and alcohol! '
Soon Damayanthi is negotiating competitive corporate corridors and big-city life. Aided by dubious words of wisdom from the cherub-faced Jimmy, she must impress the intellectual C.G., who has a low opinion of her; battle Sonya Sood, flatmate and size-zero sophisticate, for the TV remote; choose between resisting or giving in to temptation in the form of the seductive Rahul; deal with the moral dilemma of 'stealing' a million-dollar idea for her project.
Can a good girl have a really good time? Can the conservative, curd-rice-eating Damayanthi become a cool, corporate babe? Keep the Change is a rollicking, wickedly witty story of every girl's journey to fulfill her dreams and find her own place in the world.
Soon Damayanthi is negotiating competitive corporate corridors and big-city life. Aided by dubious words of wisdom from the cherub-faced Jimmy, she must impress the intellectual C.G., who has a low opinion of her; battle Sonya Sood, flatmate and size-zero sophisticate, for the TV remote; choose between resisting or giving in to temptation in the form of the seductive Rahul; deal with the moral dilemma of 'stealing' a million-dollar idea for her project.
Can a good girl have a really good time? Can the conservative, curd-rice-eating Damayanthi become a cool, corporate babe? Keep the Change is a rollicking, wickedly witty story of every girl's journey to fulfill her dreams and find her own place in the world.
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
16 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
November 15, 2010
The story is nothing new but the writing style is hilarious... you find yourself chuckling at the different catastrophies in B Damayanti's life. It's fun to read....
January 15, 2019
It's a fun read ! You'll be pleasantly surprised.
September 1, 2014
A very funnily and differently written book. I loved the way Nirupama built her protagonist and the story using the medium of letters. Also the characters were not prim, proper and perfect; making them easier to relate to! And while the whole story was fun to read, I wished the ending were a little different and perhaps 'happier'.
January 10, 2020
It is a typical diary entry about the life of a conservative family's unconservative daughter who goes out of the shell and learns to live her life on her own terms by learning through mistakes or just simply chilling.
Clash of values and the modern day living is present but balance has been made in the book.
One time read definitely so that one can understand how to balance our values with the changing world and as the Hindi proverb says: "दो नाँव मे पैर रखना।"
Clash of values and the modern day living is present but balance has been made in the book.
One time read definitely so that one can understand how to balance our values with the changing world and as the Hindi proverb says: "दो नाँव मे पैर रखना।"
July 23, 2019
An amusing story about a brainy Tamilian girl whose conservative family wants her to get married ASAP while she wants to work and have fun.
Witty writing, racy read, simple characters. However it is written in the form of letters narrating the daily existence of the young girl. This I think took away a bit from the merit of writing.
Otherwise okay to read.
Witty writing, racy read, simple characters. However it is written in the form of letters narrating the daily existence of the young girl. This I think took away a bit from the merit of writing.
Otherwise okay to read.
May 8, 2017
Loved this book as I can relate to this very well. Damayanthi is typical of middle-class girls who grow up in Chennai, study in girls' schools and colleges. Her entry into the corporate world reminded me of mine. The story resonates well and is so typical of Chennai life.
July 29, 2021
Everyone who is away from home out in the world, finding a job, finding love in a strange city, new culture and changes, and how it affects a person.. can relate to this.. I laughed the whole time. Fun read...
June 12, 2017
Good chicklit
But seems I have overgrown the ohase of liking chiklits now!
But seems I have overgrown the ohase of liking chiklits now!
January 3, 2018
3.5 to be precise. I loved how it’s funny, witty and totally relatable too. Ahhh how I love reading Indian authors’ again
May 8, 2018
Could relate myself to the character at so many places. So lucidly written and witty. A brilliant piece. Pick this book if relieving your mind is the purpose.
July 6, 2019
A usual story written in an engaging and different style. Secret of Protagonists Damyanthi's friend 'Vic' in the end was surprising.
October 20, 2020
Very funny way of writing. Some chapters were gripping...loved it
January 16, 2025
Chic lit, a bit boring and cliched but needed a book to keep me company and we'll this was it.
June 22, 2025
I read a year back, I found it all over the place, a journey to finding oneself. A one time read, because it messes with you head
August 29, 2020
it’s hilarious at times, relatable and with witty comebacks. this is a book i would pick up and re-read if i ever felt bored! it’s kind of long but since it is written in the format of a diary entry, i don’t mind it. would recommend it if you want to read something for fun! :)
October 23, 2015
The coming to corporate world of a Tam Bram girl, Damayanti, born and brought up in the confines of Amman Kovil Street in an orthodox Brahmin setup somewhere in Chennai. A typical Brahmin girl who has
She has been putting off marriage proposals brought to her by her parents. She longs to break free from the confines of the street and go romping in the world cavorting with the alpha males and lead a life like the women in The Sex in the City and other serials that she watches on the TV. She wishes to get boyfriend as described in the Mills and Boons books.
She gets her opportunity to break free when she gets an offer from an MNC bank and is asked to relocate to Mumbai. Her parents are hesitant, but they relent and let her go with enough words of caution. She comes to Mumbai and settles in a flat provided by the company in Khar. She finds a good friend in a Parsi colleague whose company she likes. They find that they have been assigned to a not so desirable project under a manager who has not made his mark in the bank. They are asked to come up with a plan to reduce the costs in the banks by streamlining the processes along with an external consultant.
Damayanti, finds the consultant not so friendly, but then after a few casual unofficial encounters with him finds him to be friendly. Her Parsi friend tends to while away his time browsing the internet rather than contribute to the project.
Damayanti is soon sent off to Goa for a induction cum training course with a bunch of other new comers to the bank. She is again cautioned by her mother to be careful while in Goa. She finds Rahul an alpha male from the bank who has come to Goa on a bike. He flirts with her and on the last day they end up at a seaside shack wining and dining. Rahul is inclined to sleep with her, but at the last minute she shrugs him off and he goes away. She is scared that Rahul will not call her after reaching Mumbai and keeps cursing herself for not giving herself to him so that she could be closer to him.
In the meantime Damayanti gets a skinny, modern, fashionista as her roommate. They do not get together with each other.
Rahul contacts her off and one and they go to a few places in Mumbai. Finally they end up in his flat. Rahul has his hands all over her when she gets a call from her mother telling her that her grandmother is ill. Damayanti uses this and leave Rahul.
In the meantime there is pressure to finish up the project that they are doing along with the external consultant. They are finally assigned a desk and when they rummage through the earlier occupant's content they find a report by a trainee for reducing costs. Her Parsi friend suggests that they use the report and pass it of as their own. Damayanti is hesitant but agrees. They end up meeting the cost saving targets thanks to the report of the trainee. Their manager promises that he will get them to present to their boss and if possible to their boss's boss.
After a few days Damayanti gets up at night for a drink of water and finds Rahul foraging her fridge in a boxer shorts. She realizes that Rahul has been sleeping with her roommate. They have an heated exchange. Her roommate comes out and argues with Rahul and drives him away. Both the roommates now sympathize with each other.
The boss's boss comes and Damayanti and her Parsi friend are asked to be ready to present their project work. They end up waiting the whole day and finally realize that their manager has already made the presentation, and neither are their confirmations recommended by their manager. Both feel cheated. The Parsi man puts in his paper and Damayanti goes off to Chennai to be with her mother and switches off her mobile to get over the double whammy of being cheated by her maybe boyfriend and of being cheated by her manager.
When she switches on her mobile she gets a call from the external consultant asking about her whereabouts. She also gets a message from the HR asking her to call back. She comes back to Mumbai prepared to give her resignation. But the HR lady tells her that she has been confirmed and that she is being considered to work with an eminent Vice President in the organization based on the recommendation of her manager. She is unable to decide so she meets up with the external consultant and on his advice decides to take up the new responsibility.
A decent read. A lot of influence of Enid Blyton and P. G. Wodehouse in the writing so makes it good reading for fans of these two authors. Looks like she will write a sequel to the book.
She has been putting off marriage proposals brought to her by her parents. She longs to break free from the confines of the street and go romping in the world cavorting with the alpha males and lead a life like the women in The Sex in the City and other serials that she watches on the TV. She wishes to get boyfriend as described in the Mills and Boons books.
She gets her opportunity to break free when she gets an offer from an MNC bank and is asked to relocate to Mumbai. Her parents are hesitant, but they relent and let her go with enough words of caution. She comes to Mumbai and settles in a flat provided by the company in Khar. She finds a good friend in a Parsi colleague whose company she likes. They find that they have been assigned to a not so desirable project under a manager who has not made his mark in the bank. They are asked to come up with a plan to reduce the costs in the banks by streamlining the processes along with an external consultant.
Damayanti, finds the consultant not so friendly, but then after a few casual unofficial encounters with him finds him to be friendly. Her Parsi friend tends to while away his time browsing the internet rather than contribute to the project.
Damayanti is soon sent off to Goa for a induction cum training course with a bunch of other new comers to the bank. She is again cautioned by her mother to be careful while in Goa. She finds Rahul an alpha male from the bank who has come to Goa on a bike. He flirts with her and on the last day they end up at a seaside shack wining and dining. Rahul is inclined to sleep with her, but at the last minute she shrugs him off and he goes away. She is scared that Rahul will not call her after reaching Mumbai and keeps cursing herself for not giving herself to him so that she could be closer to him.
In the meantime Damayanti gets a skinny, modern, fashionista as her roommate. They do not get together with each other.
Rahul contacts her off and one and they go to a few places in Mumbai. Finally they end up in his flat. Rahul has his hands all over her when she gets a call from her mother telling her that her grandmother is ill. Damayanti uses this and leave Rahul.
In the meantime there is pressure to finish up the project that they are doing along with the external consultant. They are finally assigned a desk and when they rummage through the earlier occupant's content they find a report by a trainee for reducing costs. Her Parsi friend suggests that they use the report and pass it of as their own. Damayanti is hesitant but agrees. They end up meeting the cost saving targets thanks to the report of the trainee. Their manager promises that he will get them to present to their boss and if possible to their boss's boss.
After a few days Damayanti gets up at night for a drink of water and finds Rahul foraging her fridge in a boxer shorts. She realizes that Rahul has been sleeping with her roommate. They have an heated exchange. Her roommate comes out and argues with Rahul and drives him away. Both the roommates now sympathize with each other.
The boss's boss comes and Damayanti and her Parsi friend are asked to be ready to present their project work. They end up waiting the whole day and finally realize that their manager has already made the presentation, and neither are their confirmations recommended by their manager. Both feel cheated. The Parsi man puts in his paper and Damayanti goes off to Chennai to be with her mother and switches off her mobile to get over the double whammy of being cheated by her maybe boyfriend and of being cheated by her manager.
When she switches on her mobile she gets a call from the external consultant asking about her whereabouts. She also gets a message from the HR asking her to call back. She comes back to Mumbai prepared to give her resignation. But the HR lady tells her that she has been confirmed and that she is being considered to work with an eminent Vice President in the organization based on the recommendation of her manager. She is unable to decide so she meets up with the external consultant and on his advice decides to take up the new responsibility.
A decent read. A lot of influence of Enid Blyton and P. G. Wodehouse in the writing so makes it good reading for fans of these two authors. Looks like she will write a sequel to the book.
September 27, 2012
Nirupama Subramaniam’s debut book is about good girl Damayanthi. Damayanthi has never rebelled, never done a wild thing in her life. She has topped all her grades, become a CA and now works with the neighbourhood Chartered Accountants. The only thing she hasn’t done like a good girl, is get married as soon as she was of the ‘marriageable age’. She lives with her parents and they have been trying very hard to get her hitched off. At the ripe old age of 26, they fear that their daughter will remain a old maid unless drastic measures are taken.
Damayanthi on the other hand, is bored and dying for a change. Bored of her job, bored of her life, bored of leading a life where watching Sex and the City is the high point of her life.
Egged on by her successful friend Sumi, she jazzes up her CV and started applying. She lands a job at an international bank, and there is no looking back. She is ready to take on the world, do the things she has never done so far. She hopes to transform from a conservative curd-rice eating, living with her parents girl, to a go getter corporate babe. A complete makeover, as far away from Amman Kovil Street as she can get.
She lands up in Mumbai and then starts her adventure. So does she change? Does she do everything she wanted to? Read it to find out. One thing I can promise is that you’ll have a great time finding out. A total chick lit, which keeps you laughing through the pages. You just don’t want it to end. Its a light, fun read if you enjoy this genre of books. It was certainly perfect to keep me sane and laughing during a day full of home decor challenges!
Damayanthi on the other hand, is bored and dying for a change. Bored of her job, bored of her life, bored of leading a life where watching Sex and the City is the high point of her life.
Egged on by her successful friend Sumi, she jazzes up her CV and started applying. She lands a job at an international bank, and there is no looking back. She is ready to take on the world, do the things she has never done so far. She hopes to transform from a conservative curd-rice eating, living with her parents girl, to a go getter corporate babe. A complete makeover, as far away from Amman Kovil Street as she can get.
She lands up in Mumbai and then starts her adventure. So does she change? Does she do everything she wanted to? Read it to find out. One thing I can promise is that you’ll have a great time finding out. A total chick lit, which keeps you laughing through the pages. You just don’t want it to end. Its a light, fun read if you enjoy this genre of books. It was certainly perfect to keep me sane and laughing during a day full of home decor challenges!
September 17, 2013
Indianness of the central character and her family-the customs, the stereotypes and society-bound lifestyle is highly bang on, although the ending is quite abrupt. The book gets really jocular-bit whimsically funny at times- with its typical clash of "trying to taste the lifestyle and though process of western woman" set up/scenarios collide with day to day manoeuvres of an average well-educated middle class Indian girl. The monologues are laugh out loud at times- made me chuckle a lot of times. The book would have been better if written in first person-not in form of letters and would have been WAY better if the end was well formed and bit more elucidated, as the story forms well and it is quite abrupt in its finish.
Its not a brain-storming, intellectual read neither is it in lines with books at cause an emotional upheaval or make you cling to its mystery or romance- try it out if you fancy a light, humorous chick-lit on a lazy day!
Its not a brain-storming, intellectual read neither is it in lines with books at cause an emotional upheaval or make you cling to its mystery or romance- try it out if you fancy a light, humorous chick-lit on a lazy day!
June 16, 2012
Not quite the laugh-out-loud brand of humour, and leaves me itching to re-read Anuja Chauhan's Zoya Factor.
B. Damayanthi gets a life-upgrade from Amman Kovil Street, Chennai to Lokhandwala, Mumbai when she bags a job at a multi-national bank. Once her decision is taken, her transition is - if I may say this - a little too smooth. Barring her billowing cotton nighties, all traces of her former self are wiped clean, including the insecurities. She falls headlong in lust with a cad, has cat-fights with her flat-mate and by the end of the book, is a successful professional with a possible suitor.
On the whole, a book that's high on bank-speak and low on character motivation.
Zoya Factor - any day!
B. Damayanthi gets a life-upgrade from Amman Kovil Street, Chennai to Lokhandwala, Mumbai when she bags a job at a multi-national bank. Once her decision is taken, her transition is - if I may say this - a little too smooth. Barring her billowing cotton nighties, all traces of her former self are wiped clean, including the insecurities. She falls headlong in lust with a cad, has cat-fights with her flat-mate and by the end of the book, is a successful professional with a possible suitor.
On the whole, a book that's high on bank-speak and low on character motivation.
Zoya Factor - any day!
January 5, 2012
My sis passed the book on to me and since it was available and free, I read it. Was very ho-hum, just another chick-lit. The Tam Brahm thing has been overdone in blogs and it was funny for a while. The book doesn't add anything to the existing jokes and brahminisms. I dislike it when these books don't mention exactly how good-looking the main character is. I think that's because they want to eventually have her emerge as a pretty thing later and it kinda happened in this book too. I wanted to conjure up a mental image of Damayanthi but just could not, even with my overactive imagination.
The book is excessively long too. With nothing to say for it.
Miss-able.
The book is excessively long too. With nothing to say for it.
Miss-able.
July 19, 2013
Keep the change was the stupidest book I have ever read. B.Damayanthi was the single most irritating book character I have ever had the misfortune of reading about. Not only was she living in another century she was full of stereotypes and prejudices. According to her women cannot be attractive and smart at the same time, I beg to differ. For example, she thinks that her flatmate Soniya will only marry a millionaire and quit her job to spend his millions because she is attractive and fashionable.This book is a regressive piece of crap. I highly recommend that you read it, vomit on it and stash it in the back of your cupboard.
September 12, 2025
I read Keep the Change in 2015. The book follows B. Damayanthi, a small-town girl from Chennai who moves to Mumbai for a banking job, only to find herself navigating city culture, demanding colleagues, and the search for identity and independence.
The story is light, witty in parts, and quite relatable for young professionals trying to adjust to city life. However, it didn’t fully click for me — while enjoyable, it felt a little too predictable and stretched at times.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 — A decent, breezy read if you like light urban Indian fiction with a slice-of-life feel.
The story is light, witty in parts, and quite relatable for young professionals trying to adjust to city life. However, it didn’t fully click for me — while enjoyable, it felt a little too predictable and stretched at times.
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 — A decent, breezy read if you like light urban Indian fiction with a slice-of-life feel.
February 17, 2013
A nice book about a 20-something CA woman who moves from Chennai to Mumbai to find and get a new lease of life and how she gets stuck in the maze of a big city life! the maze of Corporate Boardroom, Love Life and peer pressure! Nice humour throughout and lot of incidents which people can identify! I love Nirupama Subramanian's style of writing - easy and funny...definite must-read recommendation from my side....I rate it 3/5...
February 10, 2017
A much needed sweet escape. Have never related more to any bookish characters so well before; much to my surprise. (Perks of being a South Indian) Turmoils of working in the ever poisonous corporate world while still struggling to keep a balance between that & your non existent personal life has been covered in an easy breezy & most importantly, in a non dramatic way. If you ever think of picking this one up ; your in for some great laughs :)
April 2, 2011
nirupama has a nice sense of humor that reflects in her lucid writing BUT i think the way the book is penned , in the form of letters , wasnt too appealing .I'd have liked the book better if it would have been in first person
November 17, 2016
Being an Indian, I enjoyed a fellow woman's book. Its a one time read. It is mostly enjoyed by small town girls who enter into metro's for career. I could relate myself to the protagonist 'D' in many aspects.
September 1, 2013
One time read. Not too much of a story. Regular chick lit stuff. A simple SATC addict working in a dreary firm in chennai moves to an MNC in bombay with dreams in her eyes. The story is about the friendships she forges, the foes she makes and the men that cross her life. Gets very predictable.
August 27, 2016
The same old story for a modern and independent women who is surprised by the challenges that she comes across be it the city or the people. However, this book has been written well and is surely nostalgic as it got me chuckling my way through.
February 22, 2010
Just another chick lit about a working woman trying to escape the clutches of arranged marriage! Falling for wrong guy & ignoring the right guy! Been there done that! Just a passable book!
September 24, 2015
A journey from a normal life to an abnormal corporate world, where her boss takes the credit,Rahul whose is bitching around and a new friend Jimmy who loves to make D feel happy abt life around!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews