- 2.0 Missed IIT Kissed GurgaonAuthor : Neeraj Chhibba
Publication : Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
Neeraj Chhibba's ZP - 2.0 is a sequel of Zero percentile -1 Missed IIT Kissed Russia ,but still can be read independently.
The story is written around the thought "Intertwined destinies are a portent of greatness and a place in history unless certain evil destiny's juggernaut crosses their path."
The story revolves around Gaurav better known as Motu ,CEO of Pure Consultants and his friends who also happen to be working for him except for one called Pankaj. ZP- 2.0 has Motu trying his level best to save his company from hostile takeover bid. In between all the chaos that reigns in PureConsultants, a part of the story has been told in flashback mode where Motu reminisces about Pankaj his best friend and how they had started their first company NumeroSoft together and also made it big. About Priya, Motu's childhood love but Pankaj's wife, how Pankaj and Priya come together but differences sprout between Pankaj - Priya as well as Pankaj - Motu, because of difference in their ideologies . There are also substories about Nitin and Tanya, Arjun and Muskaan, San and Jaanvee. ZP-2.0 has Nitin an HIV afflicted person, who because of this affliction has to suffer humiliation and is also socially boycotted and how Tanya comes to his help and fights his war along with him and they emerge winners. The story also has Arjun and his wife Muskaan and their daughter Diyaa , brilliant but a child with "special needs ", how Muskaan is unable to reconcile with the fact that their daughter is a "special child" and walks out on them. The way the father and daughter duo overcome their difficulties and try to lead a normal life and try to bring Muskaan back. Then there is San an IIT dropout but brilliant at his work who tries his best to woo a few years elder to him Jaanvee, the CFO of PureConsultants. The story has greed, love, friendship, conspiracy, an attempt to murder and a hostile takeover bid. What happens to Priya, who does she choose Pankaj or Motu? Who is involved in the attempted murder, does he/she survive it? Are Arjun and Diyaa successful in wooing Muskaan back? What happens to San and Jaanvee - do they get together? Is Motu able to save PureConsultants and what happens to Pankaj? Do read on ..
The book is interspersed with a lot of business and IT lingo which stretches over quite a few pages at a time, this makes it very boring. Although I finished the book, I felt like putting the book down at these intervals. If one can overlook this, then the book can be considered good.
The story is well woven and the author jumps from one time frame to another with ease and is able to hold the interest. The book picturizes the work related stress in the IT sector quite well. It talks about a social cause like HIV and also about children with "special needs" and what do these kids and their parents undergo. I liked the quote with which the author began the book "Everything that goes up comes down. The important thing is to know when it reached the top of curve."
