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Finally got my hands on Transmission by Hari Kunzru. Loved the book. It is a must read for any computer/software engineer. The book is about an Indian software geek (Arjun) in the US who literally gets conned into working dirt cheap and is unable to do anything about it because the only alternative is to go back to India looking like a loser in front of his family and friends.

Arjun's fortune changes slightly for the better when he gets a dream job at an anti-virus firm but is soon laid-off when the company goes cost cutting. Unable to come to terms with the lay-off he decides to get back by writing a deadly virus (Leela01 - which features a dancing Leela - a popular bollywood actress and Arjun's favourite). He hopes to give the company the cure and come away a hero and with his job reinstated, but it doesn't work out that way. Soon many variants of Leela are out and they cause a lot of damage including to Leela - the actor whose face adorns the virus.

Arjun is soon discovered as the creator of the virus and an FBI alert is sent out, but he mysteriously manages to flee the country. Leela also meanwhile gets bugged of being a puppet under her mother and the rest of the industry and runs away. What happens next is a surprise! The ending is fast paced and with more twists and turns than the western ghats and leaves you with a feeling that the 435 rupees for the book was well spent.

Next book - Yuganta: The end of an epoch by the Late Irawati Karve. Came highly recommended and so far it's great.