Sunday, January 11, 2015

BREACH BY AMRITA CHOWDHURY: A Young Nation’s Crooked Finger

“Especially in a country with five hundred million below poverty line. That change in price meant life and death for many of them.” (13) Breach, Amrita Chowdhury.

Amrita Chowdhury: Image Courtesy: mid-day.com
Breach is a cyber thriller set in the heart of the growing IT industry in India. The novel unfolds life and times on the narrow edges of technology and hope. In her second attempt at fiction, author Amrita Chowdhury has a remarkable contribution to Indian fiction in English. A few years back another book came out, which I remember, was about India’s new industrial growth and its aftermath on people. The book was The White Tiger; released in 2008.  

India, as a nation, is relatively new to the world of technology. However, this same nation is now called the new champion of cyber world. India has overtaken not just the USA or many other European counterparts; she has overthrown many despotic success makers across the world in the rate of her growth in cyber industry. Thanks to the dedicated IT professionals and engineers, a group that comprises of many of my friends and relatives. In Breach, we will see the dark side of this new moon. It is surprising how a number of books written by different authors mirror the social, economic, and cultural realities of a nation. I also feel that the realities portrayed by Aravind Adiga in The White Tiger, and the one in Breach are representative more of ethical dilemma than a mere mirroring of social realities. Thankfully, these Indian authors do not adhere entirely to the Soviet practice of churning out social realism. One might find a subtle connection between The White Tiger and Breach in this regard.

Going through author Amrita Verma Chowdhury’s writing journey, I am surprised to find that she has done a great job with her first novel, Faking It, which in some way reminds us of Ken Follet’s art thriller Modigliani Scandel. Amrita Chowdhury’s debut novel, Faking It is an art crime thriller about fake modern and contemporary art. Educated in Kanpur and Berkeley, she currently works in publishing. Breach analyzes the terrifying question of how safe our privacy is, in the Internet era. In the virtual world, where anyone or any information could remain a secret only at the mercy of a careless hacker, the drama of human life is taken to another level.

Image Courtesy: Google
Action in Breach takes place in Mumbai, Washington DC and Suzhou. In an intriguing attempt, the author has combined the elements of the medical thrillers with that of cyber thrillers. In Breach, pharma-giant Acel is about to file a global patent application for Colare, a wonder drug for pancreatic cancer. However, their India office that works in Mumbai is hacked. Dr. Udai Vir Dhingra, the charismatic, Ivy-educated young leader of its Indian business, receives the blames for the devastating turn of events.

The protagonist, Vir has to go through a long line of bureaucratic maze, and relationship turmoil to come out of the long tunnel of darkness he finds himself in. Can technology be saved from reaching the hands of ethically devolved individuals who are too keen to gain riches rather than serve a just purpose? Acel’s India office is Vir’s ambition. Can a man save his dreams from being demolished by an unseen enemy?

Hachette India and Amrita Chowdhury has answers to these questions in Breach.

About The Author:
Anu Lal is the author of Wall of Colours and Other Stories, Book-1 in the Hope, Vengeance, and History Trilogy. He resides in India. His upcoming book is Clenched Hands, Bloody Nails. His second book You Should Know How I Feel has been a bestseller in Amazon India.
Author Page: Here
Twitter: @Anulalindia

No comments: