There is a company, there is Aratrika Reddy and there are eight hours for one to save another. Arya Holdings is a multi-billion dollar alcohol to hotels to steel conglomerate, on the verge of bankruptcy. Aratrika’s dad had set up the company, and the daughter was expanding it. But then of course something goes wrong.
And Upendra Namburi puts that story beginning at 1 in the morning one day and ending at 9 am the same day, into a book, aptly titling it Eight Hours. This is the third such novel in his ‘number series’. The first — 31 (days) — was set in the context of a banker trying to save his job from a firing list emerging on 31st March. The second — 60 minutes — was set in a nail-biting hour, in the context of an extremely competitive product launch. “We live and breathe in a world influenced and guided by time and numbers. Deadlines, anniversaries, budgets, milestones and of course, money. The numbers series is inspired by the dimension of time and the effect it has on people, our emotions, behaviours and actions,” Upendra says, adding, “Time, emotion, ego and money make for an opiate mix. The numbers series dwells on multiple aspects of our personal and professional lives, in disparate situations.”
Eight hours, Upendra Namburi, Westland pp.282, Rs 350
The concept of eight hours, he says, is inspired by the 8-hour working day of most professionals. “Eight Hours touches on the intermeshed relationship of politics and business in India, and introduces readers to the world of takeovers and private equity funds. It also offers a perspective of family run enterprises and the conflict between personal and professional aspirations for the businesses.”
He puts Aratrika in an extremely complex situation. The banks are seeking to recall the loans, the Rathores, a family adversary have tied up with a PE fund to wrest control of her company and the family members and shareholders are all driving their personal agendas. She has to traverse and manage a diverse set of people and organiasations in several conflicting situations.
“At the core of a great thriller is the evolution of the main characters. Are they human, vulnerable, even flawed? What motivates and drives them? Then of course is the core plot. What’s the context and how well is the challenge or opportunity elucidated? This is essential for the urgency and drama,” the author says.
Upendra’s job as a marketing professional also helped. “Marketing professionals need to constantly seek insights on needs, behaviours, and emotions. Keeping a finger on the pulse in the context of trends, tastes and lifestyles is imperative. Hence, an understanding of the human persona is important. These insights and learnings are essential in creating stories, sculpting personalities and nourishing situations and environments in plots,” he explains.
