Wall Street woes

Suits: A Woman on Wall Street by Nina Godiwala. First published in 2011 by Atlas and Company Publishers, New York. Published in India in 2011 by Hachette Book Publishing India Private Limited, 4th-5th floors, Corporate Centre, Plot No. 94, Sector 44, Gurgaon 122003. Pp: 350. Price: Rs 395.

Nina Godiwala’s Suits is a harrowing description — obviously stemming from her personal experiences — of the world of investment banking and corporate finance. In her career with J. P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley, Godiwala faces several hurdles in her attempt to create a niche for herself in the world of finance: she is a woman in a male dominated arena, she is not pure-blooded American but belongs to the "Persian-Indian” immigrant community, and she does not have the right academic pedigree as she is not a graduate from Yale or Dartmouth but from the University of Texas. She has never been to a camp or played golf or tennis. She sticks out like a sore thumb: against the designer suits and smart leather folders of the other interns she is dressed in a polyester suit and carries a burnt orange plastic folder.

Nina Godiwala: insider view

Godiwala is extremely diligent and frequently works into the early hours of the morning taking on more than her fair share of work. She spends a sleepless night when she realizes that she has double counted interest in her cash flow projections and in spite of this sincerity she gets hauled up for minor details like the title being "an entire quarter inch” off center and her use of dots instead of stars in her PowerPoint presentation. When she is unwell, she is peremptorily told to show up for work; an extra trash can would be arranged near her desk should she want to throw up. The area in which she lives is chosen as a location for a film and as a result the names of the streets have been changed. As the street on which she lives is closed, she is dropped a block away from her home. So limited is her world that she cannot even find her own way home. She is extremely exhausted after a long day at work and does not have the time to socialize; she cannot start a relationship with anyone in the firm as this would certainly be frowned upon. On one occasion she is so isolated and desperate for company that she schedules a blind date and offers to sleep with him though he is not her type.

One of the more sensitive analysts, Scott, suffers from a nervous breakdown. He is too stressed to sleep, is on anti-depressants and is forced to make appointments with a psychiatrist which he is unable to keep because of his busy schedule. It is not only Scott who faces the problem of depression and breakdowns. When her roommate works for 56 hours straight and wakes up crying, Godiwala does not stop to reassure her — she does not want to be late for work. Most of her colleagues suffer from the same fate but they are so petrified of being labelled as ‘weak’ that they keep it to themselves. In fact Godiwala perceptively remarks, "The only way I’ve been able to deal with it is to stop feeling.”
So busy are they with their working lives that they have no time to appreciate any form of art. A performance of Alvin Ailey is viewed not out of love for modern dance but merely as a way to get a tax break and to impress a potential client. The staff of Morgan Stanley is only needed to fill the empty seats. Bradley, a vice president, plays with his Palm Pilot throughout the performance. Several analysts sleep through the entire performance and wake up "only for the quivering of a beeper” or to socialize with the important clients during the interval.
Godiwala soon realizes that the only way to succeed on Wall Street is to conform. When, during a meal, she contradicts Mr Stevens, the head of one of J. P. Morgan’s major divisions, she is ticked off and is told to learn to ‘fit in,’ a lesson which is oft repeated. In addition to women and minorities, those who were outspoken and who tried to change the culture instead of conforming to it were generally not given an offer of employment. She finally comprehends that most of the people who make it to the top do so not because they are hardworking or intelligent but because they have befriended the right sort of people.
The strength of the book lies in the personal story of Godiwala’s growing up and living with her parents and her grandmother which intersperse her experiences in the world of money. She describes how even in her childhood she is propelled by a need to do extremely well. The driving force in Godiwala’s life, to excel in all she does, is fuelled by her desperate need to obtain praise from her father, an appreciation which is never forthcoming as she is not as obedient as her sisters. Her father is affectionate and loves his daughters very much; if one of them was late he would never sleep till she returned home. But, at the same time, he is insensitive and occasionally embarrasses Godiwala in front of her friends by commenting that she has a small forehead which denotes a small brain.
The twin motivating forces in Godi­wala’s life are to be economically self-sufficient and obtain the love and admiration of her father. The need to be economically independent arises from the fact that she does not want to live like her mother or her grandmother. She is greatly influenced by the incident when her mother decides to leave her father but wonders how she will manage to bring up daughters on her meager secretary’s salary. Even if her girls were to give up all their hobbies and extra-curricular activities the mother realizes it would be impossible to make both ends meet and she finally returns home dejected and defeated.
The need to excel is to a certain extent stimulated by a visit the sisters make to India which is only made possible by the accumulated savings of their parents. Godiwala is amazed to see all their achievements, whether first poems, photographs, awards or copies of certificates have been preserved in plastic folders. Her aunts constantly comment about the sacrifices her parents made to give the girls a good education so that they would have a wonderful life. In fact Godiwala’s own father tells her that when one is an immigrant "you take what you can get and hope that your kids have it much better.” Her father "was still in awe of the American dream — wealth and prestige;” it was for working in Wall Street that she for the first time got something she craved most: "a gold star from her father.”
It is difficult to determine whether Godiwala’s Suits is a novel or a memoir. In her note from the author she mentions that the book is based on her personal recollections and experiences; however, she also mentions that instances have been embellished which would not have been required if it were a mere memoir. Though the book is flawlessly written, interest occasionally flags. Much of what Godiwala describes as an "insider view of the world of finance” is not a great revelation and does not really surprise the reader. It is a well known fact that these employees have an extremely high burn out rate as they are subjected to high pressured jobs and a hectic official life with no personal time of their own.
The central motifs adorning the walls of J. P. Morgan which Godiwala sees on her first day at work are the figures of Integrity and Work and she is curious to know why they have to be represented separately; perhaps she is wiser at the end of her journey. FIRDAUS GANDAVIA