A Slick Life: A Memoir of Oilman Satish Chandra

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It was soon after India's independence, and the country had just started to settle down after the rigours of the freedom struggle. Satish Chandra Bhatt, the protagonist of the novel, was raised in a family that was actively involved in the freedom movement, and both his father and mother were two individuals who drove his attention towards the challenges that the country was facing at that time. This is about his journey revolving around societal relations, making lasting friendships, and living life in the present moment. To deliver on the dreams of a strong, prosperous, and scientifically advanced India that would be based on the ideals as set by Mahatma Gandhi, Satish got an opportunity to work for a tube-well company. That was the beginning of his sojourn with deep-drilled wells that took him to the Oil and Natural Gas Commission in its nascent stage, which later turned into one of the finest companies in the country. While being a small cog in the wheel, Satish proved himself as an endearing and good role model for young men of his time as he lived a simple and austere life.

Richa Bhatt Badola is a freewheeling writer and an educator from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The city finds an echo in almost all her novels. In A Slick Life, she retells the life of her father, Satish Chandra, who was an oilman in one of the foremost corporations in India, the ONGC. His journey with this corporation and his dedication and commitment to his work are what makes the novel interesting. She is a postgraduate in English and has a degree in journalism. Apart from teaching, she writes articles for magazines and newspapers. Presently, she lives in Dehradun with her husband and two children.