Stepping inside a hollow head

As Vadukut awaits the reviews and reader feedback, he ruminates about how the character came into being. “Varghese is based roughly on 60 per cent of what I have observed in college and work, 30 per cent on other people’s experiences and the remaining 10 per cent is fiction.

In American slang, ‘dork’ implies a social misfit, a stupid person who is not to be confused with a ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’, which refer to intelligent misfits. Sidin Vadukut is definitely not a dork, but his hero is. Fortunately or unfortunately, that hero of Vadukut’s does not exist in real life. Rather, Vadukut’s dork hero, Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese, a fellow Malayali, has emerged out of a mental combination of character traits of all part-dorks that he met during his engineering college years in NIT-Trichy, IIM days in Ahmedabad and work life in Mumbai. Vadukut has given birth, rather brought alive, this dork, in a his debut novel titled, what else but, Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein Varghese.

It could be great fun or disastrous — depending on your viewpoint — to meet up with someone like Varghese in real life. Since that’s virtually impossible going by the impossibly stupid character Vadukut has dreamt up in his story, the next best option would be to read the book, which much like its character, might score with you or piss you off with its in-your-face brand of humour. The book is written in a diary format and is the first of a trilogy. (Sample the advance ‘praise’ for the book on the back cover, which sort of lampoons the trend of such praise: ‘A stunning new voice in Indian literature! In Dork, Vadukut has written the book I’ve always wanted to write’ — William Dalrymple’s biggest fan’s youngest sister; or, ‘I read this book and instantly knew that Robin Varghese is the role of a lifetime. Inshallah, I will be a part of the movie when it’s made’ — Shah Rukh Khan’s dentist’s accountant).

Full report here Deccan Herald 

REVIEW: Dork

REVIEW
DORK: The Incredible Adventures Of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese

Sidin Vadukut
Penguin
239 pages
Rs 199
 
Blurb
Dork: The Incredible Adventures of Robin ‘Einstein’ Varghese is for all of those who’ve ever sat depressed in cubicles…and wanted to kill themselves with office stationery. Especially that letter opener thing.
 
Reviews
Those who can, do; those who can't, dork Livemint
Headpiece filled with silly dreams Telegraph
Vanity fair Tehelka


'Dork' is dorky, but not fun Sify

Why does it seem like we are churning out only two kinds of books these days - those based on the 'real' (read poverty stricken, desperation laden) India or those based on the quirky life of the IITians and the IIM grads? Isn't one Chetan Bhagat enough?

I have several grouses with Dork: it doesn't have a single character that is level headed and rational; Vadukut is unable to sustain his humorous momentum for too long; there are a lot of slapstick situations, but very little of wit, satire or irony; the corporate jargon gets BORING after a few chapters and the jokes are too contextual, and the only time we see life outside of work is when Varghese pursues his other interest - love a.k.a. sex. 

I'm planning to give this book to my friend, a teacher, and see if she gets anything out of it.