Anna Hazare's fight against corruption not only revealed middle-class frustration at an inept Government, but also inspired business consultant S.V. Divvaakar's debut novel “The Winner's Price: Life Beyond Campus” (Konark Publishers, Rs. 250). The writer in Divvaakar could not be contained when he had attended Anna's agitation at the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi. It prompted him to pen an eight-verse poem in Hindi and begin work on “Winner's Price”, which was launched at Reliance Time Out, Bangalore.
“The Winner's Price” addresses issues such as institutional problems of the IITs and the Jan Lokpal Bill as well as the Karnataka Mining Scam. “All four protagonists in my book have studied at IIT and meet at their college reunion after 20 years. They eventually unite to fight for a larger cause,” says Divvaakar, “Two threads run through the novel. I wanted to explore if the IITs are only about engineering. Even after thirty years, is it worth living and dying for? Not everyone who passes out from the IITs are engineers. Some, like me, become business consultants, some social workers while some others, journalists. Besides, I wanted to depict that we cannot consider ourselves winners until we bring about change in our society.”
The novel is set in India of 2015 where the Jan Lokpal Bill has been passed and RTI-twin policies that are UID-based programmes (Unique Identification number) are being implemented. “Don't mistake RTI with Right to Information,” Divvaakar laughs and continues, “The policies are Real Time Intelligence and Retail Transaction Interface. The former ensures complete transparency while the latter a cashless society.”
The UID has, however, been criticised for being an intrusive measure. “If you want to end corruption, you must be prepared to be thoroughly accountable,” argues Divvaakar. America's financial meltdown was largely due to it being a cashless society. “Most bank transactions in India are done online, so bank account details are known. If someone were to put a bug, money from the accounts can easily be siphoned out. There are risks, but solutions through technology are workable,” he contends.
Divvaakar has re-created Chitragupta's ideal in “The Winner's Price”. “Conserve the truth and defend justice is the book's essence.” Divvaakar is proficient in Tamil and Hindi and can speak Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali. Divvaakar's “The Winner's Price” garnered attention for the similarities it shares with Chetan Bhagat. They both studied at IIT Delhi, and occupied the same hostel room. But the similarity ends there. “Five Point Someone” and “The Winner's Price” may revolve around the IITs, but the intentions behind writing their respective works are different.
