Long Run- A paradise Augmented - T.Satish | Book Review

 Long Run- A paradise Augmented, is a book about Raghu[nicknamed ‘Rags’] who goes from Rags to riches in a very short time. The fame makes him forget everything dear to him and an accident changes everything from his lifestyle to his mentality!

Blurb:

For a moment, imagine that you are twenty-something making tons of money in the stock market. The success is heady, and you're living it up! When out of the blue, your car crashes, horrifically. You go off the spotlight. It takes months to even open your eyes, but you can't see anymore.
A challenge like no other. Your defeat looks certain.
While you were enjoying the spotlight, you slid away from some of your past relationships.
Now, the question: Do you have it in you to make a comeback?
Meet Raghu, a livewire investment manager. Glitz, romance, and euphoric success filled his life, until the day his car and life overturned.
His body was broken; He couldn’t see anymore.
Was his spirit strong enough to overcome?
Come, join Raghu as he narrates his life story, one filled with challenges and some unanswered questions.

My Review:

The book starts with Anjali getting ready to interview Raghu, a visually impaired financial wiz whose name and fame are well known in the financial circle. Set in the ’90s during the dot-com boom, Raghu and his friend Ram make it big in the financial markets. Though Ram is grounded, Raghu is entranced by the big money, life in the States, posh lifestyle that he leaves his parents and even leaves his girlfriend after she casually mentions about marriage! He later understands that it was his age, arrogance, and immaturity that made him lose the love of his life.

After a horrific accident and a lot of physical and mental therapy later, he realizes his deeds and wants to make amends. Does he succeed in winning back Anu? Does his friend Ram help him? All this is for you to find out when you read the book.

The author was inspired to write this story after he saw an interview with a visually challenged stock trader. Through this story, we get to see the things that go on in the stock market/financial world. All this is new to me!

Then there is Raghu who is blindsided by name, fame, and money. His life shows that money alone is not enough to be happy. Other things, like relationships, are what create a balance. Also one should not take relationship advice from others like Raghu did, which I feel was the reason he did not want to get married!

Anuradha[Anu] his college sweetheart and Ram his bestie are the two others who remind him to stay grounded but it falls into deaf ears. Megna, his sister, and their parents help Raghu recover from his injuries and help him return to an almost normal lifestyle.

The story moves between the past and the present life of Raghu. The story starts a bit slow and later gathers speed and the last few pages were unbelievably fast! The ending was not something that I expected but I guess that is how life goes!

The alternating timeline in the story made it interesting for me to read on. The language is simple and easy to follow. The financial terms and the medical terms used for Raghu’s treatment are explained so that they don’t leave the reader confused.  The characters are realistic and we can relate to people with the same mentality. There is a lot of emotions throughout the story – friendship, love, trust, betrayal, heartbreak, anguish, etc. A handicap need not stop one from being what she/he wants to do in life. The theory of ‘attached detachment’ is something we all need to look into. The cover could have been better in depicting the crux of the story.

On the whole, it is a nice book with some life lessons that also give a picture of the financial world. It would be a great read for people interested in the finance sector or anyone who loves to read reality fiction.

Also by this author - Life in the Sunshine - Autobiography of an unknown cricketer was one of my favorite reads. If you are an 80s/90s kid and a cricket enthusiast, you will definitely enjoy this book!

About the author:

T. Sathish is an IIM Calcutta, NIT Silchar alumnus, and an AVP in Cigniti Technologies. His first book Life in the Sunshine (2019), was an immediate Amazon bestseller. His short stories 'Looking for Bond' (Amazon), 'Hang in there (Juggernaut), and 'Am I Free?' (Juggernaut) are all highly rated and loved by readers.

As a diehard cricket fan and expert, Sathish writes on Cricket in The Roar (www.theroar.com.au), a popular Australian sports platform, as TSat.

Sathish is a voracious reader with an appetite for a wide range of topics. PG Wodehouse, RK Narayan, Agatha Christie, Mary Shelly, Bill Bryson, Joseph Heller, Naseem Taleb are some of his favorite authors.

You can reach Sathish on his Instagram @sathispgw or Twitter @sathishpgw

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