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WRITE STUFF Penning a tale of espionage

But that’s what happens when you still haven’t read a book and the author doesn’t want to reveal much. After all, his book is being touted as India’s first “IT thriller” set in Bangalore (where else?).

“Release 2.0: The Bangalore Imperative” takes you on an espionage journey inside the machinations of the biggest IT companies of the world, starting 2005, as seen through the eyes of protagonist Sudharshan Rao, culminating in the December of 2008. An industry that has ignored innovation and relied on cheap labour for half a century needs to do something desperately to survive the onslaught of competition, says the author. It’s an innovate or die situation — a perfect premise for a futuristic techno science fiction work. In a sense, Anil believes his book is still happening and unfolding, and scarily so. “The whole premise of this book is that the Indian IT industry has been built upon an industrialisation model, that banked on cheap labour. I wrote it in 2005, and it’s scary how it’s all coming true now — the downsizing, the dollar falling, the labour arbitrage…” says Anil Goel, currently a business development manager with Accenture, based in Mumbai.

Explaining the story’s setting, he says: “I’ve spent a lot of time in Bangalore and feel you could be on one of the IT campuses and be anywhere in the world. Even foreign clients or visitors know India, and then Bangalore.”Like many fellow techies, Anil started off his career in the late nineties writing software programmes for TCS. “I started off in 1997, and for any computer engineering graduate, as it is now, it’s a very special thing. But the way the industry is set up, it’s a killer. Creativity is less desirable. If it’s programming you are doing per se, it’s exciting. But our guys are coders. The whole industry kills creativity,” he says. “People will pay you for anything innovative. But what we are doing now is very low-end stuff. Low costs alone will not work for long.”

“I didn’t write it for a techie audience. I wanted to write in an independent way. But there are many techies who are begging to realise it’s not going to be exciting work all the way, so people will definitely identify with the book. A lot of it is fact-based. I’ve also created a huge conspiracy,” he laughs. And being from within the industry, isn’t his writing a rather cheeky move? “I’m on the other side. I am the threat! I’m with Accenture,” he laughs yet again. “We’ve been telling people how to run their businesses. I’m in sales but I’m excited at the prospects.”

But he assures me his book is not a doomsday look at the situation. “I’ve done these guys a favour by projecting them the way they are, giving them credit for realising the gravity of the situation. Indians change the game, so it’s positive in that sense,” he offers.

The book, published by Undercover Utopia, will be released this Saturday at the Reliance Time Out, Cunningham Road, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

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