Synopsis
One-eyed Men is a sequel to the author’s earlier novel, Dasaratha's Son, which dealt with Raghu’s personal life. The current novel describes his rise and fall in the corporate world of opportunities, challenges and intrigues. From being the number two in a medium-sized plant in a small town, Raghu is catapulted to the position of the Corporate Planner in a Multinational. Soon, he is made the CEO of the largest manufacturing unit of the company in India. The trials and vicissitudes undergone by an honest and naive Raghu in the hands of unscrupulous politicians and self-seeking officials, to which he ultimately succumbs, form the rest of the story. The cultural shock of an orthodox Tamil Brahmin, with a traditional value system, while coming into contact with a ‘dog-eat-dog’ corporate world, is vividly illustrated in the novel. It also describes the typical rituals, beliefs, practices and procedures adopted in such companies and gives a bird’s eye view of the functioning of the various arms of a large company, often working at cross purposes. The novel makes an interesting study of the qualities required to rise to the top in any organization and explores the paths of a few talented persons among the mediocre lot. Some eventually become kings while a few do get lynched on the way. Written in a forceful and racy style, full of wit and sarcasm, it shows the ultimate triumph of values over expediency. This is a work of fiction. Arasu Industries Limited, Tiruchi, Universal Power Products (India) Inc, New Delhi, Boilers and Pressure Vessels Limited, Shiva Nagar, Chennai and Shiva Nagar itself exist only in imagination. Names of a few public figures appearing in the novel and specific dates ascribed to some of the news items unconnected to the story are, however, real. If any character or incident or date gives the reader a feeling of déjà-vu, then it speaks of the realism in the novel.
About the Author
Born in 1948, in Tiruchirappalli, in the state of Tamilnadu, in India, Dr V Gopalakrishnan is an alumnus of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. He obtained a PhD in Thermal Sciences, later in his life. A Mechanical Engineer by profession, he held a senior management position in one of the largest engineering and manufacturing companies in India, until 2006. He switched over to full-time teaching for a few years and is now a free-lance consultant. Keenly interested in academic pursuits, he still guides PhD students and writes papers in his favorite areas. He is widely travelled and has visited the USA and several countries in Europe. He has a variety of interests including astronomy, Sanskrit, Carnatic music and the cultural heritage of India. Happily married for the last 37 years, he has a daughter and a son and lives with his wife Prema in the same city, where he was born. This is his second novel, after 'Dasaratha's Son'.
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