Mis(s)adventures of a Salesgirl by Aashisha Chakraborty
At the age of 25, the world
seems one’s oyster, or so one would think. Enakshi Chatterji, a germophobe and
a bit of an introvert, has a job in an IT organization. Wanting a bit of fun
and time before she is pushed on to the matrimonial bandwagon, she decides to
do her MBA at the prestigious IISM.
However, when she mentions
that she wants to go in for sales and marketing, her mother reacts in shock,
leaving unanswered questions in Enakshi’s mind. Exactly a year later, she begins
her summer internship at Telescion where she receives a jolt when she realises
that she has to intern in Chennai instead of Gurgaon.
Imagine being posted to a
place without knowing the language. If that were not bad enough, Enakshi finds
that being a woman in a male-dominated company makes it even worse. The cherry
on the cake is her OCD and her horror of anything remotely unclean. As she
moves into her role, clad in formal wear, blazer included, the heat of Chennai
unsettles her.
Ram Reddy, her present mentor,
develops a blow hot-blow cold relationship with her, which keeps her off
balance. The GBM, Mr. Nagavenkata, who is otherwise known as the Dragon, is far-removed
from her, but gives Ram instructions on how to make her internship even more
challenging than it already is.
Leela, Enakshi’s roommate and Pavan, an erstwhile stalker, bring in a hint of colour to Enakshi’s mundane life. However, the stress of her job proves too much. At the end of her tether, she snaps at her parents when they call up. There is a 25-year-old mystery concerning her mother that she wants to solve, and she takes the support of her best friend, Ankita, to do so. As Enakshi battles it out, determined to finish her internship and end her Chennai stint once and for all, she begins to slowly understand that she has to do things differently to make an impact. By the end of her three months, she realises she has finally ‘adulted'.
Aashisha Chakraborty has
nailed the emotions and the angst of a young intern stuck in the wrong place.
The narrative is peppered with sales tips, starting with “Learn the local
language” and “Speak the local language for God’s sake” to “Keep your temper in
check” and “Use jugaad”. Her subtle sense of humour comes through at various
places in the book.
“Ena was a private person,
as private as a person could possibly get without turning into a character from
Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
“She was young and pretty.
Pretty Awful.” (A lady in the HR Department)
Aashisha Chakraborty’s debut
novel is a breezy read, with Enakshi garnering much sympathy in the heart of
the reader. The author’s triumph is in the fact that nowhere, despite all her trials
and tribulations, does Enakshi come across as a defeatist or a loser.
The following lines
particularly resonated within me as I read the book. Maybe because I too
believe how true they are.
“Time, like light, decides
the way it moves around people. Sometimes, it moves in a straight line. And at times,
it bends around certain obstacles to reach where it wants to reach.”
Author: Aashisha Chakraborty
Publishers: Rupa
Buying Links: https://rupapublications.co.in/books/missadventures-of-a-salesgirl/
Available in print and e-book
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