Book Review: ‘Onsite Opportunity’ by Mukul Kumar
by Ushnav Shroff on Nov 22, 2012 • 10:53 PM No CommentsFormat: Paperback
ISBN: 9789381836279
Price: 95 INR
Pages: 169
A talented storyteller since his youth, ‘Onsite Opportunity‘ is Mukul Kumar’s debut novel. It has been written with the personal experiences of the author as a software engineer. Since the novel is written in the third person perspective of the protagonist Ganga, there were times when I was not able to connect with him. A software engineer, he is portrayed with the stereotype qualities of an Indian who is commencing his career; nervous, gullible and excited. Being a software engineer is nowadays one of the most common and yet, desirable jobs in the Indian market. He represents the young generation of India which is getting closure to and transformed with the multiple onsite opportunities coming to him. As Ganga enter the real world, he finds out that it is one with continuous worries, deadlines and back-breaking work.
But, despite all this, he does not fail to have fun and the parts in the book where he interacts with the local community or is involved in certain situations with the authorities there are fun to read. He soon comes to know that the real world is not exactly what he had imagined it to be and facing each onsite opportunity, he slowly gains the skills and the experience required to do a good day’s work. From reading the book, I came to realize the desperate measures that one would take to grab a particular onsite opportunity and how all those Indians who aim for success abroad crave for such opportunities. The novel ends with Ganga yearning for a new onsite opportunity as he returns to India with a great amount of experience and responsibility, in order to take possession of his new flat there.
Through Ganga, the author has done a great job depicting his experience in simple words. He takes the readers to the various countries he has been to and hits the spot when he says that onsite opportunities are as engrossing as Gulliver’s or Sinbad’s adventures. A bit more editing however could have made the book more enjoyable and less educative. A must-read for those travelling abroad for work-related experience and otherwise, Mukul Kumar’s novel has received great appreciation and this speaks for itself.
Overall Rating: 6/10
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