SUITS; A WOMAN on WALL STREET

SUITS: A Woman on Wall Street, by Nina Godiwalla was written by a Persian-Indian woman, whose family was Parsi, [people who practiced Zoroastrianism], a religion unfamiliar to residents of Austin.  Nina graduated from the University of Texas. Her father was furious that she graduated with business degree instead of a medical or law degree. Her family had high expectations for her. Her father denigrated her every chance he got, but her mother ignored him and became a supportive force in Nina’s life.

Nina’s grandmother lived with them as many Indian families honored their ancestors. Housing an elderly parent in a retirement community was unheard of. Nina’s grandmother was old school and prepared traditional India dishes made with curry and turmeric that were unfamiliar to Nina’s friends and classmates.

When Nina was in middle school, her teacher planned a party for her class. Students were asked to bring cultural food to share with the class. Nina’s grandmother stayed up all night to bake burfi , an Indian confection. Each piece was shaped like a leaf and decorated with a thin piece of silver paper, individually etched with an Indian design. The pieces were stacked in a pyramid. The students looked at the green food and yelled, “Barf, barf” and said it looked like green puke. Her teacher laid the dessert on the floor near Nina’s her and asked if her mother had forgotten to remove the foil paper. This was just one of the embarrassing incidents Nina suffered in a world of culturally ignorant people in her hometown.

During her stint in college, Nina studied everything about Wall Street that she could find. Determined to acquire a position she applied to several firms and was hired to work with a large firm as an intern. She soon realized that her co-workers were from wealthy families who owned many homes and amassed degrees from universities such as Harvard and Yale and prestigious business schools. She was humiliated by other interns who told her they had never met anyone from Texas.

Determined to succeed despite the sarcasm, Nina studied investment companies, the protocol of Wall Street, including joining her colleagues at fancy restaurants and drinking cocktails she hated because socializing at restaurants and bars proved a necessary way to meet clients and develop camaraderie with her cohorts.

Nina endures the cutthroat, intense culture of Wall Street. She motivates herself to succeed as an investment banker in this “pressure-cooker” environment.

Nina’s story is a heartwarming, humorous read about a woman who manages to succeed in this male-dominated culture of Wall Street.