How I got hold of the book
Once in a while I used to be amused by the Office Humor column Cubiclenama at the business newspaper Mint. Then I stopped reading mint. Maybe a year later, a friend recommended following Sidin on twitter and reading his Cubiclenama. But that’s not how took up this book.
Some time back, I prepared a reading list of Indian Novels based on genres. One of these genres is lightweight reading published recently (say last 3 years). Dork was in it, Sidin was recommended and luckily, it was present in my office library too. So, borrowed it and voila! Finished reading in two straight sittings. You can actually finish in one but I didn’t want to read it beyond midnight.
The Good Stuff
- Office humor – especially consulting humor
- Writing style – as diary entries. I haven’t read any novel in this format earlier. Update (a little online search later): The genre is called epistolary novel i.e. a novel written as a series of documents, in the form of a journal entry, letters etc. That said, I remember Nehru’s Letters of a Daughter being of such format. Never read it though.
- Light read
Some funny stuff
- Kart(h)ik called Yetch and Kartik called Rajni
- Youtube video of Einstein flying – 300k hits in a few days
- Flip flop between Megha and Gouri when Megha wears short skirts
- Ball bearing episode
- The ‘testimonials’ from William Dalrymple’s biggest fan’s youngest sister and the likes
- Malayali brotherhood – there was no code of ethics when it comes to two Malayalis (Babykutty)
Didn’t understand
- Getting proposed for a threesome from a girl who saw Dork pissed drunk thrice
Could have been better
- Sudden ending
- Work at JHA was too long
Quotes:
- She is hot. In a Nandita Das sort of way.
- Yogita. Idiot. Cow.
- 5 is awesome and 1 is deep shit
- None of the phones in the Corporate Communications department is working
- Only Principals and Partners could create information
- Amelie has a flashback. Only I had a flashforward.
Conclusion
Would recommend this for a light reading, if you can get the book for free (or minimal cost) – a library, a friend, a gift. Or at max from a roadside pirated bookseller. Not otherwise. INR 200 is too costly for this.
