by 
“In Love of Honey, Money …And My Virgin Passport” is the upcoming novel by Mita Jain who is also the author of the best selling books Meeting Miss Konni Chiwa
and Dead Man’s Alibi
This is the story of Vinay and his journey in the IT industry.
“..this book is about: the very iconic software a.k.a. IT industry.
Is this industry really a way to easy & money-minting job? Maybe yes. Maybe no. What do you say? Perhaps, Vinay can help you decide.”
Vinay, our protagonist, represents the common Indian Youth who hopes to get a job in an esteemed IT company which he thinks is the ultimate money minting job. But is it so?
Does getting a job in a big IT company signify that we are successful?
Is this the ultimate goal?
What comes next after this?
‘Somewhere in the corner of my heart, I too felt a hunger to be successful. Though I didn’t know what success exactly meant. Was it getting a job in one of the biggest IT companies? I had grabbed it, and that should have meant I was successful. I had felt high initially, but right now it didn’t feel as if I had achieved what I ultimately wanted to. There was something more, which was left undone.’
Vinay’s experiences in IT give the reader a much needed perspective and Mita succeeds in pulling the reader’s interest in the book and keeping it there till the end!
Being from the IT industry myself, I could relate with Vinay on multiple levels. His anxiety and fear on the placement day, his exhilaration on getting placed, the feeling of being in heaven when seeing the company campus and guest house for the first time, the feeling of awe on the day of induction, the fear and subsequent determination to perform well in the training etc and finally the mixed feelings when reality comes to light after working a month or so in the company. All this is beautifully and skillfully described by Mita through Vinay. All the scenes, I felt, have been experienced at one or the other time by every person working in an IT company.
“It’s all a game of making impressions, even if false.” He continued.
“The longer you stay in office, the better is your image…and your’re considered a hard working fella. Juniors stay back late even when they don’t have any work..”
With some very witty dialogues and LOL moments, the book made me roll over laughing and also made me sad and teary at some places. I specially liked the in depth knowledge that Mita shows of the work culture, the aspirations and the subsequent harsh realities of IT. She bares it all without taking sides and gives a very unbiased account of everything.
Vinay’s character is beautifully evolved with each knew experience that he has and I really liked his honesty and practicality in handling every problem that he faced.
Cyrus’s character is the other side of Vinay. Where Vinay portrays the honest, sincere, rule abiding and hardworking individuals, Cyrus portrays the smart work believing, short cut taking, rule bending crowd who believe that end result is important not the means at getting it and who are ready to backstab, steal credit and even resort to taking illegal measures at getting what they want!
‘I wondered if Cyrus was right. If all that mattered were destination, and not the means. ‘
I loved the book and hope it reaches more and more people on its release.
A shining 4.5 out of 5 to it and a strong recommendation to read it. It will change your views on the golden IT jobs and give you a true perspective.
This book was kindly sent to me by the authoress, Mita Jain in exchange for a review and I am very thankful to her. This review of the book is my own and in no way influenced.
