Book Review – 23:59:59 by Sadashiv Pradhan

Book Title: 23:59:59

Author: Sadashiv Pradhan

Format: Paperback and Kindle

Total Number of Pages: 240

Language: English

Publisher: Blue Rose Publishers

Publishing Date: 2018

Sometimes you liked a book so much that you don’t know how to review it. Yes, exactly same happened with me after completing reading this book by a fist-time author. Yeah…you heard right! After reading this B-school based novel I was stupefied for some time. To be honest, I never thought that it is going to be such an intense and tightly packed novel.

I have seen in my review career that either the first-time author impresses you to the core or they give you nightmare. Nothing to worry, as this book – 23:59:59 by Sadashiv Pradhan is worth read and time and money. Probably, as a first-time author he had put in a lot of efforts to make it a best-seller. I hope it becomes – as it deserves to be.

What’s the story is all about? The main theme of the book is to struggle or survive in a good B-school. Imagine you studied hard, went for coaching classes, sat for entrance exams like MAT, SNAP, CAT, etc. Ok, you got admission in one of the top 10 or 20 MBA colleges of India. Is that all? Is your life’s misery and struggle for luxury over? So, do you think that in an MBA college, you will study like an obedient school kid, get good grades, and go out for the best of best job in the world? Dude, wait a minute…there is a thing called competition. The MBA College where you landed is not a school…it is a place where super genius like you are available in hundreds. Can you beat them all and be on top of all? No, you cannot beat them by just your talent and caliber. You need to be shrewd, diplomat, and super merciless kind of a kid. Yes, that place is something where you stopped basking in the glory of old days and begin a new struggle because there everyone needs best placement. So, the question is how will you get the best of best placement – I am sure there are hacks and tricks you can discover once you are in there. This book has a lot of tricks and hacks to tell you. Well, you need to grab this book for that. On the top of everything, you should know that why have you enrolled for MBA – it is not local fun coaching class where you can have a lot of fun and leave in the evening. After going there, don’t seek answers as why you are doing this course. You should have clarity in mind well before the time.

Are the characters worth? Yes they are competent and highly unreliable. I must bring them forward. In total, in the book, there are four main characters – Jay, Abhimanyu, Ishaan, and Shalini. They come from diverse background and become friends and form one group which is called as 23:59:59 – because in their B-school every assignment has to be submitted with before X:59:59. So, I hope you got the point as why the title of the book is little clumsily but still relevant and innovative.

Though the author has tried to put Jay in limelight in the form of main character, but I feel they all grab the same highlight and act towards the overall theme of the book. It is a delightful experience to see as how these guys fight and survive in the B-school. The author has put in a lot of efforts in telling as why placement matters most to MBA guys. Is everyone running for the placement – I think yes. In the campus, there are elections, committees, placement cells and all that matters in an MBA college. Overall, I found the book spicy and well-placed with the settings along with a good pace. I hope after crossing a few chapters you will find it a riveting read and surely try to recommend to other readers or students who are lusting after MBA degree.

Final message is that one should not pursue any degree just for the sake of it or to mint money, at times passion is also important. Passion gives pain initially but it is worth in the end when you bask in the glory of achievements.