title: One Equal Eternity
author: Iyer, Ramnath S.
description: Innovate and work hard to survive- this very terse statement is the truth by which Planet Earth functions. What holds true for all species is also valid for all organizations and its employees. Vicky the protagonist of this novel One Equal Eternity learns this truth in his battle to hold on to his job in a fictional hi-tech electronics company based in Anaheim, California that is going through lean times and is considering downsizing and outsourcing. He has to finish the design of a graphics controller which is the heart of a integrated circuit for a new product the company plans to manufacture, sell and grab a monopoly in the market to survive. He is in a race against time since some competitors were also designing a similar and perhaps better graphics controller. But life had other challenges for Vicky. His professional life collides with his love life and slows down his work on the integrated circuit design project. Two women enter his life, Stella and Melanie. Stella, the novel’s centrepiece is a beautiful, pure-hearted and innocent Executive Assistant in the Technology Division who is idealistic about life and about love. Melanie, the novel’s counterpoint is a strong willed woman. She is practical about life and also about love. Vicky has to not only decide if his head is more important than his heart but also which woman he should give his life and love to. With hard work as his friend and philosophy as his guide at this crucial point of his life Vicky makes his choice. A rapid sequence of actions then ensues and takes us to the climactic end. The novel raises a number of questions some of which are answered at the novel's end. Has anyone made the right choice? In life are there any right choices? Is the choice of philosophy as a tool for the resolution of the crisis triggered off in one’s heart correct? Can modern life afford one the luxury of being idealistic? Are the economic reasons justifying outsourcing tenable? We understand these questions better and get some answers, at the novel’s end. The final outcome focuses our attention on a simple truth- despite life being an uncertain voyage often requiring one to make a difficult choice, the choice once made is the correct one; life will go on, and if we resolutely walk along the chosen path, love will survive, endure, and lead us towards “One Equal Eternity.”