THOU STICKEST A DAGGER IN ME

THOU STICKEST A DAGGER IN ME is a striking spoof on the Indian administrative hierarchy, seminally uncovering the present-day bureaucratic-political master cross-fertilizing games within. It’s a shocking tale of the overselling political indulgence in policy formulation as much being a perspicacious pasquinade on its fascinating underselling bureaucratic execution. Set in the storyline of The Merchant of Venice, it provides a side-splitting caricature of the reprocessed financial disruptive wangles of a newly elected government, wreaking havoc and holler on the unsuspecting benefactors. The personal and professional life of the protagonist, Portia, alternate in the chapters as she squares the work-life balance with ‘unbated fire’. In her bureaucratic avatar, as a red-hot truth-chasing civil servant, smack dab in the heart of the Finance Ministry, she attempts to right-side the forced-in financial reinnovations. The noob sarkar, keen to revamp the policy architectonics, gets into a serious overhaul. Ill-advised and lickety-split, they hope to coerce and command the steel frame into a twisted yogasan. This gross underestimation costs them thickly as the bureaucracy hits back and unleashes its schadenfreude arsenal to supply the wide-eyed and naïve newbies with a canasta of refried and rehashed indigestible administrative nashta set in a decked-up booby trap basket. And as the tamasha unfolds, the administration wizards and financial whizzes get into a massive argument over growth versus inflation, fiscal deficit versus liquidity gap, regulation versus supervision. Word Wars spill out in the open spreading like wildfire across the entire financial spectrum of the economy, engulfing banks, financial institutions, government departments, corporates and investors into its blaze. The lifelong fights between the Banks’ Department and the DEA heats up the race for a trumped-up financial inclusion where discounted due diligence has thrown open the regulatory doors to unhinged fraud and delighted default. The Central Bank slugs out with the Department as they deal with an abruptly but gloriously announced demonetization programme. The Public Sector Banks battle it out with the private banks to gain market space and go on the rampage lending shamelessly by throwing caution to the winds flouting asset classification norms without a care in the world. And when the scams come rolling out one after the other, the realization dawns, and a serious rehaul rebegins. What goes around, comes around.In her personal life, she plays out the ‘lottery of her destiny’ by complicating her love life by moving back and forth several times over. Living in an emotional meltdown and donning her ‘boldest suit of mirth’ she hopes Bassanio will find the solutions to her conundrums and win the game of caskets.Written in dejargonised and comprehensible Economics, THOU STICKEST A DAGGER IN ME is not just satire, it also presents a deep insight into the banking and financial systems of the country. Providing a critical analysis of the banking process, it captures the dynamics, the mindsets and the inconveniences in credit activity. And of course, it tells us the reality of demonetization right from its conception to consummation.