“The Off-Site Tamasha” by Abhay Nagarajan

If a story line has a plot and situations that we can’t quite relate to, we find such stories rather tedious to read. On the contrary, as indeed they should be, there are some books which have a story that most of us relate to quite naturally. We see something of ourselves in the characters portrayed, making the book that much more credible and all the more enjoyable. ” The Off-Site Tamasha” ( A Comical Tale of Team Building) by Abhay Nagarajan is one such book.  If you are looking for a light read, look no further.

I don’t know how much of the Off Site Tamasha comes from Abhay’s personal experiences!  He too was a Financial Advisor in real life and so would know the business and its intricacies : chasing high net worth individuals, courting them for getting the favour of their business, and putting up with their idiosyncrasies, small or big, to keep them as “satisfied customers.” All this is part of the game. But to get your men and women to perform, you need to train and motivate them. What better way than to whisk them away for a three-day retreat.

In this book, Abhay writes of this delightful off -site tamasha, described by one of the participants, a lovable character in his twenties who is as earnest as he is horny. There are only a few characters in the story but all of them are entertaining and credible, ranging from The Boss, to the Founder- CEO, to another employee whose claim to fame is that his uncle is the firm’s biggest client. Equally intriguing are two females named “Bedroom” and “Boardroom”respectively. How they got these names is best left to your imagination. You will not be disappointed when you are introduced to them in the book.

Most of the events take place in this retreat . When it gets over, at the end of the story you feel sorry that it has come to an end, as you do in real life when you have to get back to the grind of chasing targets and making your numbers in corporate life.

The book is available in Flipkart and elsewhere. I would rate this as good if not better than Abhay’s debut book, Corporate Atyaachaar. You can see details of his work at his website and order the books from there as well.  It makes for a nice gift to someone who is struggling to get ahead in his/her career too!