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An Idiot,Placements & Intervyou
Author:Taufeeq Ahmed
Publisher:Times Group
Price:INR
195
Pages:189
Source:Review Copy via alotofpages.com
First Published:June 2012
Before going on to the review, lemme ask you something. What do you expect from a book titled 'An Idiot,Placements&Intervyou'? Okay, I shall give you a few more hints...
What will you expect if the book is also the debut work of a twenty something Indian Engineering graduate (who is currently working in a reputed MNC and calls himself 'toffee'!),as a writer?
Like most of you may have guessed by now, I also picked up this book
expecting it to be one of those assembly line desi campus stories from a
wannabe Chetan Bhagat. Wait...!don't start lecturing me now on the pits
of mediocrity that the country's literary arena has fallen into. 'An Idiot, Placements & Intervyou'
is not what you expect it to be. It's basically a self help book aimed
at the Engineering students and those fresh B Tech graduates who are yet
to get a job.
What the book is all about:
An
idiot,who was a topper in his school all his life,joins one of the
finest engineering colleges.And then,like many others,he spends most of
his time 'enjoying' the beautiful days,ignoring his studies
completely.But when he comes to his final
year of engineering,one question starts haunting him – ‘What next?’. Its
then
he starts taking life seriously, does his best and gets placed in his
dream
company.A year later, he feels like sharing his experiences with the
world and starts writing a simple novel-like book on placements& interviews in a funky style. (~from the back cover)
The Characters: The book is all about Toffee and his experiences with placement tests and interviews.
The Writing:In
his attempt to be 'cool', Taufeeq has inadvertently made a couple of
ironical statements in between. For instance,at one particular point he
magnanimously says, "...though I personally hated reservations, I didnt
find any meaning in not utilising this golden opportunity". Opposing something and enjoying it at the same time is what you call hypocrisy,my dear friend! The English is mostly basic which is understandable as a) the book belongs to the self help genre and was never intended to be a literary marvel b) the target readers of this book are supposed to be 'very poor in English'! (Offended?blame HT!)
What I liked the most about this book:
- The book is a sincere,honest attempt by the author to help fellow engineers find a job through placement 'tests and interviews'.
- Taufeeq Ahmed is no Chetan Bhagat and he never tries to be one.
- The writer has even included practice tests and 'sample problems' in this book which might be of help for the aspiring engineering graduates.
- It's often said that 'we learn from someone else's mistakes'. The book enlists the common errors that students make while taking placement tests and interviews and tells the reader how he can overcome them.
- The author has meticulously explained each and every step of the 'placement process' in a non-preachy way so that you don't mess up in any of those.
- Cheesy lines are there in plenty. Sample-“You will never know true happiness until you have truly loved, and you will never understand what pain really is until you have lost it"
What I didn't like:
- The Love story (of Toffee) falls flat! It might have inspired the author to write this book, I understand. But then, why include it in the book if it fails to strike a chord with its readers?
- The book has nothing in it to excite someone who is not it's 'target reader'.
- A few grammatical errors which popped up in between.
Bottom Line: If you are an Engineering student or a fresh un employed engineer,you should definitely buy this book.If you aren't,give this one a miss! Rating-3.5/5
-nikhimenon
