Thrill zone of virtual money

 

 

 

He is referred to as the ‘Grisham of banking’ but Ravi Subramanian simply brushes that away and claims that his books are what they are because of “relatability.” He says, “My books are not fantasy stories set at a height of 30,000 ft. They are stories which everyone understands, relates to, and are inspired from real life incidents. So the readers feel that the story is taking place right in front of them, in the organisations they work and to the people they know. This is the biggest strength of my books.”

 

All his books come across as simple and give you an understanding of the subject at hand. With an IIM degree and some remarkable academic credentials, Ravi was a successful banker before he took to following his dreams. “It was more about thinking what I wanted to do in life — what would keep me satisfied and successful. It was also the desire to be remembered that pushed me to become an author,” he effuses. 

 

With favourites like Jeffrey Archer and John Grisham, it was but natural for him to spin tales revolving around thrillers. He explains, “I loved reading mystery novels and thrillers those were the books that kept me hooked. I guess that is how I learnt to write. I always write from the reader’s point of view,” adding to which he says, “When my final draft is done, it needs to be approved by people from the non-banking sector because I write stories set in the financial services industry and it is important that my language and plotting is clear. The purpose of sending my stories to a few people who I know is to make sure that the story is comprehensible from a layman’s perspective.”

 

From If God was a Banker to the recent God is a Gamer, all his books have been fast-paced thrillers and that is one of the main reasons that makes him the successful author that he is. 

 

He admits that being a gaming addict, the gaming technicalities have seeped into his book. “I am a bit of a game addict. The way Candy Crush took over my life is a case study in itself. All that I went through during my days of gaming, as a user, made me dig deeper into this world. All the findings of my research have made their way into God is a Gamer. Start slow, make it easy for the reader to read, make him feel special about his achievements and then when he is completely in your clutches, make it almost impossible for him to let go. That’s exactly what I do in my books,” he says. 

 

About why he chose to write about the unexplored topic of virtual currency Bitcoins, he says, “I became interested in Bitcoins in 2011, when Wikileaks, in response to a US financial blockade, tweeted that it would start accepting Bitcoins as donations. That got me thinking and I started reading all about it, but never intended to write a book based on that. A book based on Bitcoins was just a matter of time and the fact that I used all the knowledge acquired from reading these books while writing God is a Gamer is only incidental, it was never intended to be that way.”

 

He has received much appreciation from readers, and he has also had a taste of barbs from critics. “Reviewers read a book with a critical mindset and they tend to evaluate it from all possible angles and are on the constant lookout for loopholes. It is not their fault, a reviewer is meant to do all this. However, one must keep in mind the fact that it is possible to pick holes in the best of works,” he laughs.