There was a time when the only respectable professions were the engineering and the medical services. A graduate from either of these two disciplines was guaranteed to have his future made. Abhijit, the protagonist of Married But Available is an MBA, that Holy Grail of most Indian youngsters aspiring to make their mark in the corporate sector. The title is a clever play on those three magical words-MBA.
Abhijit graduates with an MBA from the Management Institute of Jamshedpur (MIJ) and gets absorbed into Balwanpur Industries as their Personnel Executive-the company’s first-ever MBA. Thereafter he divides his time between the township of Balwanpur (where he lives and works) and Delhi, where his parents and sister reside. He marries the irrepressible Ayesha, though the marriage ends in divorce and disillusionment. Along the way we get to meet his other batchmates – Gopher, the rock guitarist Arunesh, Joy, Pappu, Rusty, Gur and Neetika. The sympathetic Keya plays his love interest after the collapse of his marriage.
Complications set in later when Balwanpur Industries is purchased by an American multinational and is renamed Gronier Corporation. It is decided by the powers-that-be that the company has too many workers and so institute a Voluntary Retirement Scheme to trim the roster. The task of implementing the scheme falls upon the unfortunate Abhijit, which as expected, takes its emotional toll. But through skilful negotiation it all ends on a satisfying note. The book ends at an MIJ reunion with the news that Abhijit has been appointed one of Gronier’s directors.
The author, Abhijit Bhaduri, has led HR teams in several companies, such as Microsoft, PepsiCo and Tata Steel and has an insider’s knowledge into the corporate arena. Slickly written, the book offers a snapshot of urban youth struggling in the minefield of corporate India. It addresses their anxieties and frustrations, sympathises with their failures and celebrates their triumphs. There must be a million Abhijeets out there, desperately trying to make something of their lives having finally gotten that MBA cachet. It makes delightful reading for urban youngsters as well as for small-town folk who throng to the bright lights in search for success in the MNC arena.
(HarperCollins Publishers, A-53, Sector 57, Noida-201 301)
