SCAMMED - Confession of a Confused Accountant by ANONYMOUS

This book has been dedicated by the author to “My mother, without her support I would have remained a confused accountant. Thanks Mom” is a certain indicator that the narrator is well versed with the plot. The twists and turns in the tale are not all too predictable and the characters are well established, which makes one feel that this is the work of an experienced author. The protagonist, Hitesh Shah, slogs away at a very big accounting firm. He is dubbed a nerd by his peers at work, does little to attract women or even please his parents. While his batch mates move quickly up the corporate ladder, Hitesh stagnates in his career.

The story takes a remarkable turn when Hitesh is auditing a crumbling automotive company owned by an Andhraite businessman film maker with a lot of political clout. Being the nerd, he does a through SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats - analysis of the firm and comes up with a brilliant idea that turns the fortunes of the automaker and pushes it from the brinks of bankruptcy to the pinnacle of glory. The owner and his politician friend invest their unaccounted wealth in the company using accounting techniques to gain legitimacy. Hitesh’s plan works so well that the company becomes a pride of the industry and he is hailed as a hero.

As is inevitable in every story, this hero is to face the challenges posed by the corrupt establishment in the company that had thrived before Hitesh entered the scene and seeks to pull him down by pinning the authorship of an elaborate corporate financial scam on him. Hitesh, who had been painted as a criminal by the machinations of his adversaries, attempts to break free and redeem his honour.

A while back, there was a book with a large scale credit card scam in a bank as the central theme and, just a few days ago, the media reported a real credit card scam with the same modus operandi. Films and books, not to forget cartoon characters, are known to inspire people into attempting tall tasks. It looks like a very strong coincidence that a State scheme to replace autorickshaws with small cabs, Hitesh’s master stroke to revive the sick car maker, is under active consideration as per newspaper reports.

Writing anonymously has a marked advantage over writing in one’s own name or under an assumed name. The majority of writers prefer to be known as who they are. A good many have chosen pseudonyms to conceal their identities, while quite a number have opted to remain unnamed. Though the real identity of some authors becomes public knowledge in course of time, there still are the elusive ones whose real identity may be known only to the publishers. The reason for such camouflage could out of a desire to express one’s self but to stay out of the limelight due to innate shyness. Or, it could be the chosen topic that may evoke controversies and make normal life difficult for the author. It could also be because of the uncertainty in how the book may be received that an author may have it published without his name being mentioned. Whatever the reasons there may have been, SCAMMED - Confession of a Confused Accountant by ANONYMOUS – is a well researched and written work of fiction that the publishers, Silverfish in association with Westland, could have very well convinced the author to be released with his or her real name.

Sri 12:05 :: 26.01.2012 - NOIDA