Book Review-- Keep off the Grass

When Chetan Bhagat wrote Five Point Someone, it started a trend of sorts about the "me too an IIT/IIM alumnus" genre of books.

At the first look, "Keep Off the Grass" too comes across as something similar.

Yes it is about a guy who is stuck in the IIM. And yes, just like Bhagat's famous trio of Hari, Alok and Ryan, even our protoganist here isn't really great when it comes to grades. But that is exactly where, thankfully, the similarity ends and that's what sets this book apart from all those IIT alumni novels!

Keep Off the Grass, the debut novel of Karan Bajaj, takes us on a whirlwind journey from the plush offices of Goldman Sachs in Wall street to the mystic ghats of Benares.

It is the story of Samrat Ratan, a 25 year old investment banker from wall street who earns a paycheck of a quarter million a month. Though he has achieved all that he could ever ask for, the feeling of being lost in a crowd refuses to go.

That's when he decides to quit his job, go back to India and enroll in a business school while also planning to search for the ever elusive thing called Happiness and Contentment in the land of a million Gods.

Philosophical, with a dash of wicked humour, I finished reading the book at one go. Yes, it is that engrossing :)

The one Flipside of this book is that since it was published way after "Five Point Someone", there are bound to be comparisons all the time. It does not help that some parts of the story, a few lines are eerily similar too.

What works for this book, though, is that Karan Bajaj is extremely unpretentious when it comes to writing and unlike Chetan Bhagat, does not use too many colloquial terms and saves himself from the disgrace of being called an author with bad grammar!

Also another plus point is the complete absence of a love angle, and believe me it is so utterly refreshing for once to read a book that just STICKS to its main plot and does not waver with unnecessary complications :)

My Verdict: Keep Off the Grass is recommended for all those lost souls out there who are searching for a purpose in life. Also for those who love a little dose of wacky philosophy every now and then. Go enjoy!