BookRackTag Archive | Chetan Bhagat | BookRack

The 3 Mistakes of my Life by Chetan Bhagat!!!

Abhilash Ruhela — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:15:39 +0000

It’s a good way to start the new series of Blog with something that I love doing the most. Reviewing books. And more when I have read a Chetan Bhagat’s novel. I have already read all the novels of Chetan Bhagat’s but the first 4 were read when I was not into this reviewing thing. I have read “The 3 Mistakes of My Life” yesterday as I had to watch Kai Po Che today. And because I don’t have a great memory I thought of going through the story once again. And seriously speaking I loved reading the book for the second time too. This is the first time when a novel is been read by me twice. I will never rate Chetan Bhagat’s first 4 novels because they bought me into this reading habit which made me read more books and now all of you know what relation I share with books. I am also writing one. Well- 1000s of youth are in our country. Big Deal? Huh! This is what you all would be thinking. But then who cares? Haha! When you are showing attitude even I can.

3 Mistakes is a story of three boys where one wants to do big in business while other wants to do great in Cricket and the 3rd one wants to do anything else in life but not being a priest like his father. These 3 friends come together and starts a business by opening a Cricket shop. It does well and they start loving this journey of life. But then certain incidents take place and every thing starts getting difficult. Politics, religion, cricket, love etc enter their life and takes away all the fun and comfort. Book is full of emotional saga and you can not leave it once you start reading it. And when it’s book by India’s most favorite and entertaining author, you don’t need any review to read it, right? So go get it and read. It would be more fun, I think, if you will watch movie- Kai Po Che after reading the book from which it is been adapted. Because I loved watching 3 Idiots as I was done reading Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat yet again a week before that movie released.

Right from the first page to the last, various distinct ingredients are used to make this book an interesting read. Not a page can be termed as boring. As the book’s tag says that it’s about Business, Cricket and Religion, all three aspects come in the same order in the book. When it’s business, you also love the way they start a business with all the difficulties and grow soon. Then an accident in Gujarat and all goes. The way they try to revamp is again a story. The several events of Gujarat are portrayed very beautifully. Chetan Bhagat have carved them in the book and not just written. Calling the book a Fiction work, he has written all that he had to say about Gujarat. He being a part of the state during his IIM days has shown his experience of it in the book.

Later, Cricket enters the book and brings more interest. Mention of some real matches generates curiosity. I am sure boys will surely like the parts. Then a character teaching Cricket to a very young boy of 12 years old is another beautiful part of the book. When one fails to achieve something and starts nourishing someone else whom he finds just like himself in the field, the emotion is clearly felt. Kudos, Mr. Author. The entry of one character’s relative in the book ruins the perfect life of all. The romantic scene in a parallel world to the main plot is also an interesting read. When Chetan Bhagat writes romance as the secondary topic in his books, no one can even touch him in it. Even his love making scene makes us feel good about young romance while other authors write as if love is all about sex and being physical.

The climax yet again a perfect end. It’s very hard for an author to scribble real politic that involves religion. The way Chetan Bhagat has shown guts in portraying what views Hindu and Muslims had against each other in Gujarat is scary to read but somewhere everyone of us know that it’s truth and it still resides. This is the most gutsy attempt by Mr. CB. I will always admire him for this book if not for any else. This book is also filled with wonderful one-liners and humour elements. Typical Chetan Bhagat stuff, in short. I will be reading his 2 States too for the second time but when the movie based on it would be about to release just as I have done this time. 2 States’ adaptation has Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as lead pair. Let’s see what that movie is all about. But for now, I would like all of you to read The 3 Mistakes of my Life if you don’t want to miss one of the bests by Chetan Bhagat.
Buy The 3 Mistakes Of My Life 1st Edition from Flipkart.com

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

What Young India Wants by Chetan Bhagat!!!

Abhilash Ruhela — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 19:09:23 +0000

The whole Indian movie viewers are mad about Record-breaking actor-Salman Khan’s latest flick. Similarly, Indian readers are still busy in browsing, ordering and buying Chetan Bhagat’s latest book “What Young India Wants”. This is the first non-fictional attempt by the most famous Fiction-book author of India. Chetan Bhagat needs no introduction. Either he is in everyone’s heart for his books or for 3 Idiots or as a punching bag for the so-called “intellectuals” or as someone who tries speaking on every possible topic and create awareness. Chetan Bhagat is surely the most entertaining author if not the best in India. With 5 bestselling novels, out of which two are being released as Bollywood movies and other 3 in process, Chetan Bhagat is one author whom everyone waits for. Even his fake haters who try to pose as intellectuals by abusing him on Social sites. I don’t know why Chetan Bhagat didn’t promote this book in the same way as he did with Revolution 2020. May be he is still nervous if people will accept him as a Non-fictional author talking about India in a very simplistic, easy language and parlance.

“What Young India Wants” is the collection of Chetan Bhagat’s essays, speeches, columns and articles. Some are fresh pieces too. The book tries to ask us many questions. It asks us about what exactly do we want from our country. It asks what exactly are we doing for our nation being a citizen of it. It asks us what we really know about our country and how much effort we put in for knowing. How attached are we and how concerned are we as Indians. How capable are we and why still are we helpless. While answering and clarifying the jumbled situations of some of these questions, Chetan Bhagat gives some value and moral oriented solutions in his own unique style without targeting anyone. He has made it sure that he will not blame politicians every time in the book as this is what everyone does. He tries to give solutions by keeping politicians away from it.

The best part about “What Young India Wants” is that Chetan Bhagat has not tried to pose as an intellectual. He has remained what he is- Our favorite light-story writer- CHETAN BHAGAT whom we love for his humour and wit. He has maintained that throughout the book. The book is written in a language that it seems as if we are reading a fictional content itself. In many sentences, you’ll find the essence of Chetan Bhagat’s previous 5 books hence making you smile weirdly in loneliness. The only part that I felt as an insecurity of the author was the initial pages where he tells his journey as an individual and as well as how he developed as an Indian. THAT I found little unwanted and meaningless. He should have avoided that. Being conscious because of some haters who never stop barking is what a debutante should do, not someone who is known in world as Most selling Indian Author.

Chetan Bhagat starts the book by talking about THE SOCIETY. He talks about Bhopal Gas Tragedy, German bakery blast, Airline crisis, various scams like CWG, 2G, IPL etc, terrorism and other national issues. He has tried to give solutions. Some are sensible while some are just mere articles which should be read and forgotten. Then as the novel progresses, Chetan Bhagat starts talking about we, THE YOUTHS. How we can change the scenario around us if we take a resolution. This part is the best part of the book as I related with every sentence being the youth of the nation. “Spark” is an awesome chapter. Too motivating and life-changing. The chapter in which Chetan Bhagat tells why we should have good command over English language is too sensible. The letter to Bapu is exactly what every Indian talks in regard of Mahatma Gandhi’s approach towards India and how we have let his idealistic down. “Where’s my Nobel prize?” is one another masterpiece of the book. Lerds and Nerds description in a chapter made me laugh out loud. The initial paragraph of the chapter in which Engineers are being joked off by terming them as Touchy Feely makes you excited for Chetan Bhagat’s next as you find him back in form as Revolution 2020 was a disappointment. In the end, “The Cut-offs” chapter is a very good eye-opener for the children as well as parents.

Examples given by the author makes the chapter more interesting. As everything is related in a very simple language, you might feel that it’s you who have written the whole book. With every page, the book keeps on getting interesting. The quotes before the initialization of every chapter is a cool idea by the author. The chapters would have got more effect if Chetan Bhagat would have added statistics too. Else, I would love to see Chetan Bhagat writing fiction books every 2 years as he does with the series of “What Young India Wants” releasing every year. Yes!!! This is one writer whom youth definitely picks up. And hence they’ll come to know about some facts of India if not all. I will recommend this book to all. This one is meant for reading once, for sure. This is not a very intense book about nation, but a very light read which will make you know about many factors that India is suffering with. GO FOR IT!!!
Buy What Young India Wants from Flipkart.com

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Chetan Bhagat’s 1st Non-Fiction Novel- “What Young India Wants”

Abhilash Ruhela — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:19:41 +0000

Whenever it comes to Chetan Bhagat, so many people have so many views. Many call him the Most Entertaining Indian Fiction Novelist while others thank him for releasing Toilet papers for them. If you ask about my opinion, I have been his fan from last 3 years. I have read each of his novels and I think my Fiction blog posts are quite influenced by his writing style. I don’t copy him but it is just that I admire him a lot as a Writer hence my Posts has some similarities with his Narrating style. I still can’t forget the day when I met him in September, 2011. Since then, I have been so motivated about my Blog and Writing thing that it has become an endless journey.

Now Chetan BHAGAT is out with his 6th novel. YES!!! This is not a Fiction story like the last five. But it is the compilation of all the articles, speeches and columns that he has written and delivered. He has tried to make it look as a 208-page novel. I have no idea about what exactly is in the book but I am as excited as I was before reading Revolution 2020. That’s a different story that I didn’t like Revolution 2020 but it has not converted me into a loser like every shit critic who call his book Toilet Paper just to gain some attention.

The name of Chetan Bhagat‘s FIRST NON-FICTION Novel is ” WHAT YOUNG INDIA WANTS” with the tagline of “Selected Essays and Columns”.

The synopsis of the book:

In his latest book, What Young India Wants, Chetan Bhagat asks hard questions, demands answers and presents solutions for a better, more prosperous India.
Why do our students regularly commit suicide?
Why is there so much corruption in India?
Cant our political parties ever work together?
Does our vote make any difference at all?
We love our India, but shouldnt some things be different?
All of us have asked these questions at some time or the other. So does Chetan Bhagat, Indias most loved writer, in What Young India Wants, his first book of non-fiction.
What Young India Wants is based on Chetan Bhagats vast experience as a very successful writer and motivational speaker. In clear, simple prose, and with great insight, he analyses some of the complex issues facing modern India, offers solutions and invites discussion on them. And, at the end, he asks this important question: Unless we are all in agreement on what it is going to take to make our country better, how will things ever change? Non-fiction If you want to understand contemporary India, the problems that face it, and want to be a part of the solution, What Young India Wants is the book for you.

The book is releasing on 7th August, 2012. Not even a month to go. Book is up for Pre-ordering at just 98 rs while its MRP is Rs. 140. Get it pre-ordered right now before it gets Sold out. You can pay once the book gets delivered at home to the Delivery Boy as “Cash on Delivery” facility is available. Go FOR IT. Link for purchasing “What Young India Wants” is given below.
Buy What Young India Wants from Flipkart.com

Thanks.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat

Vibha Sharma — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:25:00 +0000

Title : Revolution 2020

Author : Chetan Bhagat

Publisher : Rupa

Revolution 2020 is a story of two boys(Raghav and Gopal) and a girl(Aarti), of love and hatred, of treachery and vengeance, of richness and poverty, of success and failure, of ambition and corruption, and of inner drive to bring revolution and succumbing to the lure of lucre. Three individuals whose lives begin from the same primary school in a small town of Varanasi, experience various life’s vicissitudes and handle them in their own unique ways attempting to find success and love.

The story wraps many issues in its folds – the corruption in education, mad rush for the coveted seats in esteemed engineering and medical colleges, the extent to which people are ready to endure to ensure a safe future through the lofty degrees and the pressure of performing and proving oneself which many times gets out of hands. But the story is basically a love triangle and the previously mentioned issues become the tributaries of the love saga between three friends.

Ambition part of the story is dealt well bringing a slice of life in alluring Kota city and the students vying to join the training institutes like swarming bees. However, the love story becomes a little drab. The way the heroine showers attention on one boy and ignores the other till half of the story and repeats the same with the boys switching positions, becomes annoyingly repetitive.

This is the fifth novel that Chetan Bhagat has come out with. The very beginning reminded me of his another book – 3 Mistakes of My Life – both take the readers on the past journey as the protagonist reminisces from a hospital bed. After having read all the writing endeavours of Bhagat, I maintain that he is one of the authors who do not offer any new idea or unconventional thinking through their books, however what became the selling point of his books (especially the first – Five Point Someone and the fourth – 2 States) was the witty and engaging narration. Unfortunately, the author falters big time in Revolution 2020. The story lacks substance and the presentation part also falls short of what is expected from Chetan Bhagat. Overall, it fails to create much impact.

>Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat !!!

Abhilash Ruhela — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:21:00 +0000

At last, I finished reading Mr. Chetan Bhagat’s Revolution 2020. Being his fan, I have read his last four books with quite interest and passion. There’s nothing which can touch Five Point Someone. Reading it, many youth started scripting a book and they are successful writers today but still, no one has been able to write a better story than Five Point Someone. After that, CB’s One Night @ The Call Center came in the market and people rejected its climax. His 3rd book- The Three Mistakes Of My Life was quite interesting and he wrote it with wit and knowledge. It was not just a fiction book but it gave a true image how people think about rival religion in small village and how some chaps from village can dream big and make it turn true. Then came his 2 STATES which brought Chetan Bhagat back in form and people started loving him again. 2 STATES was loved by almost every age group audience and CB got a new group of fans. Chetan Bhagat almost became star with 3 Idiots release and 2 STATES success. He released his latest venture- Revolution 2020 on 7th October this year and 5,00,000 copies are already been sold. Congratulations, CB.

Coming to Revolution 2020, CB promoted it as a Love Story rather than a story about Corruption and Ambition. yes, they are the subheading of the book but still, he focused much on the Love Story while promotion rather than the other two topics. So, let me talk about the Love Story first. Its about Gopal who is in love with his childhood friend- Arti. Arti sees him just as a friend. Like any other girl. Gopal goes to Kota for his IIT preparation as he fails once. In the absence of her best friend Gopal, Arti falls in love with Raghav. Raghav got admitted passed JEE exam the time Gopal failed in it. Gopal started feeling inferiority complex because of Raghav and he became jealous of him. From here, the story takes lots of twist and turn. For that, pick up the book. Coming to the corruption, it is shown quite nicely as Gopal chooses the way to meet his ambition of being very rich. Raghav is shown as ambitious person for bringing Revolution in India. Gopal keeps playing game with him as he always wanted to fail him but he couldn’t do it in school days.

Giving up my review, I am sad to say that I didn’t found Revolution 2020 any special. it is just another book for me. Yes, the CB readers who have only read CB will like it because they haven’t seen other talents of India. I have found better story than R2020 in other books. When you attempt Fiction, it should be at the level where the reader starts jumping while reading the book. Five Point Someone had that effect but R2020 lacks. The love story is also boring because you never find anything cool happening except Gopal trying for Arti and Arti ignoring him for Raghav. Yes, the story takes turn after 180 page and this is when you start loving it. Coming to the Corruption part, CB started it quite nicely but he didn’t show a way to deal with it or any kind of exposure to what really is happening in real India. Ambition part is the best part of the book where Gopal is shown striving to pass in his JEE tests but fails every time while Raghav does it. Then, Gopal become ambitious for being rich while Raghav becomes ambitious for bringing revolution in the country.

R2020 is good in parts but talking on the whole, it is not something special which I would recommend everyone to read. I don’t know how some people are rating it as the best by Chetan Bhagat but I would still go for his 1st and 4th book. After seeing CB growing in last 2 years, you expect something larger-than-book from his book but it turned out to be just-another-fictional-attempt. I also felt the lack of sense of humour where Chetan Bhagat is the master. The book doesn’t make you laugh out loudly like his other books does. Hence, I didn’t found any kind of Chetan Bhagat effect in the book. And, the title of the book is shown as the failure which pisses one off at the end. The one who is corrupted still remains rich in the end. The one who tries to bring Revolution is forced to shut up and sit. Is this what you expect from a book which is named “Revolution 2020″ and written by India’s most successful author. Sorry to all the CB’s fans for breaking your heart. I am also one of them and thus I can’t talk good about him even when he hasn’t done anything good to be spoken about. I will rate this book 3 out of 5.

Thanks. Now waiting for the 6th book.

ABHILASH RUHELA – VEERU

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat

Amit Gupta — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:12:00 +0000

Author: Chetan Bhagat

Publisher: Rupa Publications

It could be a little too early to predict, but Revolution 2020 may just go down as Chetan Bhagat’s best work since Five Point Someone. After that sparkling debut in 2004, to me personally his writing had gone down a notch. One night at the Call Centre (2005) had a cop-out climax while 3 Mistakes of my life (2007) had OTT sensibilities and was too ‘filmy’ for me. CB recovered ground with 2 States (2009) by picking an interesting semi auto-biographical account of his own marriage but still the narrative was teetering on melodrama at various plot-points.

R2020 is the story about three childhood friends in Varanasi – Aarthi, Raghav and the narrator, Gopal. Gopal has always loved Aarthi but following his debacle in JEE/AIEEE exams and in turn, moving to Kota for coaching, Raghav and Aarthi’s relationship blossoms. Gopal fails at the second attempt of engineering exams. Following some dramatic incidents and with the help of a local politician, he starts an engineering college of his own in Varanasi… though with corrupt money and means. Raghav meanwhile chucks his IT-BHU engineering degree to take up journalism and is hell bent on creating a revolution to root out corruption from Varanasi. What follows is an exhilarating tale of power, corruption, love and greed.

R2020 takes a contemporary issue of corruption in education, but it happens as a contrived scenario. The “revolution” happens only as an after thought and is not delved sufficiently enough to show how the change can be brought. Sure, it works at an individual level but is it sufficient at a national level? I do not think so. But the author succeeds in showing the ugly side of education in our country where colleges are now run by Sari shop owners, politicians, beedi-makers, anything but the academicians. There is also a strong undercurrent towards the apathy shown by the society towards students who are always judged by the ranks they get in the competitive exams.

At its core, the book still remains a triangular love story. The usual CB trademarks are present in this one as well: The quirky one-liners, the oblivious in-jokes, the witty conversations between the couple, the customary sex scene and the jibes at man-woman relationship.The pace is brisk, editing crisp and even though this is Bhagat’s longest book, you never feel the narrative dwindling into side-tracks and losing steam. The scenes between Gopal and Aarti are heartwarming: those coffee conversations, those boat rowing scenes near the Varanasi Ghats, those awkward pauses, they all add up in the end. Two scenes stood out for me – one in which Aarti shop around for Gopal before he leaves for Kota and another in which Aarti for the first time confessed how Gopal pushed her “too much” for a relationship. These are well thought off and executed scenes in writing where the exact emotions are unveiled for the characters.

Now it may appear i am putting the book on the pedestal which is definitely not the intention. There are certain plot points which left me unsatisfied. There is not even one confrontation scene between Aarti and Raghav, latter of which is never ready to work on the relationship in his passion for the “change” in the society. In fact, the character of Raghav gets minimum footage when it comes to the love story and to me that was the most baffling portion of the book. I also thought the earlier portions of coaching in Kota were too elaborated and did not added up to the central theme, though did added to Gopal’s woes and eventually bringing him to the lowest point in life.

I believe in the coming days, jury will be out how good or bad CB is, how his literature sucks or rocks and all that jazz. I can even see another movie made on this book. People will keep arguing about the merits of his writing. But in the end, the sales numbers are already out – more than 5 lakh copies had been pre-ordered, which is by far the highest number for any Indian author. As far as R2020 is concerned, the fans of Chetan Bhagat won’t be disappointed at all.

I blog at Love is always new…

>"Revolution 2020" by Chetan Bhagat

admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Author: Chetan Bhagat

Storyline: Revolution 2020 is a story about 3 childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti. They have their own ambitions. Aarti wanted to become an air hostess. Raghav gets a rank in IIT-JEE and joins IT BHU. Though he joined in engineering, journalism was his passion and he wanted to bring a change in the country. Gopi’s only wish is to make lots of money. He couldn’t get into IIT in his first attempt. So he joins as a ‘repeater’ in a coaching centre in Kota, spending the entire savings of his father. But fate offers him an opportunity to start his own engineering college, with the support of Shukla, an MLA. To start the college he follows the corrupt path as he did not have another option.

After college Raghav joins as a reporter in a newspaper. His profession creates some problem to Gopi. Shukla, the person behind Gopi, stamps Raghav as much as he can with his political power to get him out of his way. Raghav fights back and starts his own newspaper…Revolution 2020!!

Both Raghav and Gopi like Aarti. Aarti likes Raghav and Gopi was her best friend. How did the relation between Raghav and Gopi change due to their common love?? Can Raghav achieve what he wanted to with Revolution 2020?? Did the relation between Aarti and Raghav continue in spite of his unsettled and busy career which leaves very little time for her?? How can Gopi become the director of an engineering college without even a college degree?? How far did Gopi go on his path?? Can Gopi compete with Raghav to get Aarti??

These are some parts I think you should know by reading the book.

Chetan Bhagat did a great work here. To tell in one line about his style in this book… “He first entertains you, grabs your attention and then says what he wants to.”

This is an absolute page turner right from the first page…till the end!!! The ending was really touchy… did not expect it. I didn’t even expect that the book focuses on the IIT coaching institutes.

Most of the story took place in Varanasi except for some part in Kota.

This book has many shades. It first showed the chaos that is there through out India in the name of ‘IIT coaching centres’. Then it focused on the corruption in private engineering colleges. Even the pollution problems in Varanasi are raised many times. It ended with a message that “Everyone should sacrifice a bit for the change they want to see.” On the other side it shows how the relation among Gopi, Raghav and Aarti changes dramatically as the story precedes.

The story is said from reference to Gopi and the highlight of the book is how relation between Gopi and Aarti developed. Just like his other books even this one has lots of CB trademark one-liners.

I liked the way CB described Gopi’s feelings when he was a repeater in Kota and his feelings towards Aarti even when she is in relation with someone else.

I personally loved Revolution 2020.

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The North-South Cocktail: Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States

Shail Raghuvanshi — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:07:00 +0000

“Six-thirty muhurtam,” the priest said.

“In the morning?” Rajji mama said, shocked.

Ananya’s relatives congratulated each other on the formal setting of the time. My relatives were aghast.

“This is a wedding or a torture? It’s like catching an early morning flight,” Kamla Aunty said.

‘If all fails with kin, touch feet,’ Krish advises.

I have loved Chetan Bhagat’s work. Always. Not just because he reflects the thoughts and emotions of the youth but for the fact that he gets across to all kinds of people irrespective of their political or social ideologies in life. No high funda stuff and no nerve racking English! Even if you may not identify with any or all characters in his novel you are bound to find people or situations that are familiar.

2 States is one such book where the author very humorously tongue-in-cheek kind of manner portrays the little prejudices that we tend to harbour and throw back at the world. Especially when it is an inter caste, inter community or inter state marriage in India. I just could not stop myself from sharing this book with all of you having gone through it myself! Chetan Bhagat has excellently converted this accepted prejudiced reality into a flawless full-fledged un-put-down able book.

2 States is divided into 5 Acts, being set in the cities of Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai, Delhi (Reloaded), Goa and the Final Act titled Delhi & Chennai & Delhi &Chennai. It starts off with the main character Krish Malhotra in dire straits, having a nervous breakdown and hounded from all sides – his Punjabi family, his girlfriend and her South Indian (Tamil Brahmin to be precise) family. From here the story proceeds in flashback related by the author to the psychotherapist. Krish’s meeting with his girlfriend Ananya Swaminathan and his consequent relationship with her while studying in IIM seems to be the most natural thing to happen. Chetan Bhagat relates it in such a convincing manner that you could not imagine anything else although you wonder initially how they could survive together, he with his North Indian batter and she with her South Indian Brahmin hick-ups.

While Ananya seems content with “And you seemed like a safe-zone guy. Like the kind of guy who could just be friends with a girl,” the Punjabi hulk Krish wonders, “Why would any guy want to be only friends with a girl? It’s like agreeing to be near a chocolate cake and never eat it. It’s like sitting in a racing car but not driving it.”

Accounts like, “In one (snap), Ananya’s whole family stood to attention at the beach. You could almost hear the national anthem” or “She was covered up enough to go for a walk in Afghanistan” catch your attention and make you smile because you realize how truly descriptive they can be in certain situations.

Chetan makes use of certain ‘bulb switching in the brain’ techniques in his novel wherein Krish makes decisions when he reaches a few dead-ends, this mainly to carry on with his life and for us readers, with the story. Like the time when he finds it cool and comfy to have sex with his girlfriend but is a wee bit hesitant to commit for life and he sits down to pray just before his last job recruiting interview. God appears before him threatening him with dire consequences of losing girlfriend and job with, “You are well past your time. In four minutes, I could let your last bank job slip away…I don’t trust you (to commit to Ananya). Anyway, unto you. You don’t listen to me. I don’t listen to you.”

Or the time when he goes to Pondicherry on work and happens to visit the Aurobindo Ashram and gets some advice from an unknown Guruji about the turmoil in his life, something least expected of Krish or any other person in his place.

Chetan Bhagat does not mince words when he describes in no short terms what he feels about a job at a private international bank like the one where he is working, which is hell bent on squeezing a customer off his/her money making it appear as though they were doing a favour for the hapless customer! The ‘Madrasi’ attitude of North Indians, their obsession with good food, laugh out loud conversation, ostentatious behaviour leaves you in splits. The same when you read about “spiral shaped brown coloured snacks resembling fossilized snakes” (incidentally, murukkus), “Mr. Hindu addict Grumpyswami” (the name that Krish gives his future father-in-law) and the banana leaf which Krish wonders; “I had to eat it or wipe my hands with it.” He also talks about the people’s love for rules. “People in this city loved rules, or rather loved to follow rules. Except if you are a cop, or liquor shop attendant or an auto driver.” This of course, is all seen from the perspective of an outsider in the city. And yes, you also get to know one thing, that all Tamil Brahmins are not vegetarians. They like a shot at some beer, a tug at some chicken and maybe a good smoke! I really laughed when I read what Chetan had to say about a sardarji speaking in Tamil.

“It is like Sun TV’s merger with Alpha TV.”

So, does the couple get together? You bet they do of course, after a lot of commotion, raging emotion and the final help from the most unlikely of sources. The emotional speech given by Ananya’s father sums the theme of the book when he says, “Yes, the Tamilian in me is a little disappointed. But the Indian in me is quite happy. And more than anything, the human being in me is happy… It is a chance to love more people. And since when did loving more people become a bad thing?”

Therein, lies the gist of the story. We are Indians. Love cannot be determined or measured by caste, creed, community or colour.

Do have a read, friends. You are sure to enjoy the novel of the 2 States.

Incidentally, Chetan Bhagat himself wrote back to me acknowledging this book review. Left me feeling quite elated!

I blog at:

http://musenmotivation.wordpress.com

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>2 States- Chetan Bhagat

admin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 05:02:00 +0000

I am no die hard fan of Chetan Bhagat. Sure, I have read all his books and have found them entertaining. I have identified with many events of Five Point Someone and recommended his books to many friends. But his books did not have the raw resonance of say, Jhumpa Lahiri. That is before he came out with his latest offering, 2 States, the story of my marriage. This is undoubtedly his best till date. The simple and sweet boy meets girl love story has been presented in a wonderfully innovative and refreshing manner. The cultural and linguistic divide between the two families (yes, the boy is Punjab da puttar while the girl is a Tam bam, no less.) has been brought out in a manner which is humorous as well as poignant. Bhagat manages to put across his point with remarkable candor without being preachy. The best part of the book is that the sense of fun never goes away. Some Tamils and Punjabis may be a bit miffed at the mild dose of sarcasm directed at them but as Bhagat says you only make digs at people you care for. I don’t really know how much of the book is autobiographical but the situations seem real enough. The book is an easy read (which is the USP of all Bhagat works anyway) but the underlying message is not lost. The book is priced at a reasonable Rs.95.00( available at a further 50% discount on Flipkart, just don’t ask me about the economical feasability) and has already sold over 4 lakh copies making it a bigger hit than all his other works. And now it is being made into a major motion picture by none other than the Badshah of Bollywood, Sharukh Khan. My recommendation- Go for it and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

’2 states’: The story of my marriage

nikhi menon — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000

>reviewed by nikhimenon

Chetan Bhagat is undoubtedly the most popular english writer of the country.His books are mostly light hearted-easy read kind of stuff which has attributed to his great success.(probably ,this might have prompted the writer to come up with his fourth book,hardly a year after the release of his last one.!)Anyways if i am asked to rate his 3 previous books on a scale of ten, i would give his first one Five point someone -seven ,the second-One night @call centre (which was later made into a dud called ‘Hello’ with Salman Khan in a cameo)- five point five and his last one -3 Mistakes in My life -a meagre five. Naturally i went into his latest one,2 States : the story of my life with least expectations,yet i found this 269 pages’ book as mediocre stuff..

The story revolves around Ananya Swaminathan,a tamil Brahmin and Krish, a punjabi by birth.As fate would have hit,these two individuals who were born geographically apart ,meets at…..(where else, at IIM-A!).,fall in love and decide to get married (only after getting their parents’ approval.).Their desperate attempts to get the ‘much needed approval’ of their folks forms the rest of the story( there is the mandatory twist too…!).Bhagat has tried to portray the culture clashes and the difference in sensibilities in a humorous yet cliched way.

The basic problem with this book is it’s predictability .Haven’t we seen all these in umpteen number of bollywood flicks?It’s high time that Chetan Bhagat came out of his routine formulaic stuff,(you can hardly miss the essential five elements of his writing in this one too: young, modern protagonists (no prizes for guessing that they are from IIT or IIM); conversation with F word, Bollywood-ish plot complete with proposals on knee; a love story and a twist at end).We loved it in five point someone ,dared to overlook them in ‘One night @call centre’,tolerated them in ’3 mistakes’, but not any more Mr.Bhagat. The writer seemes to be in a ‘self indulgent mode’ as we can see ‘left overs’ of ‘five point someone’ in the initial half of the novel.

All these flaws apart, what makes this book an okay ‘one time’. light read is it’s simplicity and the occassional fun it manages to provide.The writing is mostly simple (as any of his previous books) and there are a few funny lines too….(that’s what we expect from a chetan bhagat book,after all ..!)

On the whole, ’2 states: The story of my marriage’ ,though cliched is slightly better than his previous one ‘the 3 mistakes in my life’.Grab a copy if you want to kill a boring sunday after noon.

I would give this book five point five out of ten…

>Chetan Bhagat books & Novels

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:11:00 +0000

Click on Book Cover to read review of each book.

Or Click here to read reviews of all books by Chetan Bhagat

About the Author:

Bhagat, one of the popular Indian authors in recent times, was born in New Delhi in a Punjabi family. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute Of Technology (IIT) Delhi (1991–1995), and then studied at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad (1995–1997), where he was named “The Best Outgoing Student”.

He worked as an investment banker and lived in Hong Kong for eleven years before moving to Mumbai to begin his career in writing. He shot to fame with his first book “Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT”, launched in May 2004. It was a smart mix of everything that is famous in India, the IIT brand, the meaningless pursuit of engineering as a degree (but not profession) and romance. Since then, he has written three more books which have all been very popular.

To his credit, a lot of people who don’t read books at all have read some of his books for its sheer entertainment value. Purists would be justified in criticizing his style as ‘populist’, but needless to say Chetan has a very enthusiasitc fan following, especially among young Indians.

>One Night @ the Call Center – Chetan Bhagat – Book Review

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 15:25:00 +0000

>
The story begins with a train journey from Kanpur to Delhi, during which the author meets a very beautiful girl. The girl offers to tell the author a story on the condition that he has to make it his second book.

The book is a tale about the events that happen one night at a call center. Told through the views of the protagonist, Shyam, it is a story of almost lost love, thwarted ambitions, absence of family affection, pressures of a patriarchal set up, and the work environment in a globalized office. Claimed to be based on a true story, the protagonist, Shyam Mehra is one among the six call center employees featured. All the characters experience a dramatic and disturbing event during the night when they receive a call from God.

What transpires later is a tale of cheating girlfriends, conspiring colleagues and even a story of a failed casting couch in the modelling world. Tailor made with a movie in mind? You bet! Here is a sample story:

“Shyam is very upset to learn that Priyanka, a collegue, is engaged to a person called Ganesh Gupta, who works at Microsoft in the US. To add to his woes, he is horrified to learn that Bakshi had cheated him, and Vroom (yes thats a person!), by submitting the Troubleshooting Website to the Boston centre as his own without crediting himself and Vroom.

Priyanka’s happiness at her new found love turns into frustration when she learns of her parents plan to get her married the very next month (with her new found love). But which she feels its too early while both her mother and Ganesh want her to agree. She is even more saddened by the fact that Shyam was eavesdropping on her conversation with Ganesh. When Vroom and Shyam show her that Ganesh had forged his pictures to hide his baldness, she disapproves Ganesh for having cheated her.”

There are more such stories that sets the context for God’s phone call, where he gives advice on improving their lives, both long term and the immediate danger. The conversation with God motivates the group to such an extent that they get ready to face their problems with utmost determination and motivation. So does it help or is it all a delusion? You’ll have to read the book if you want to know.And guess what, Rohan Sippy did make it into a movie called Hello but received average to bad reviews and did poorly!

Now coming back to the book, I’d say its a typical Chetan Bhagat book without the aura of a natural entertaining setting (like struggling college grads in Five Point someone or the institution of marriage in the recent 2 States). If you’ve loved Chetan Bhagat’s other books, this might be a quick read but otherwise, you could give it a pass.

>Three mistakes of my life by Chetan Bhagat

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:15:00 +0000

The hype around Chetan Bagat’s book ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ is understandable. His previous works, Five Point Something and One Night @ The Call Center are runaway hits. They still dominate book store top ten lists in fiction across the country.

Book Review reposted with permission from Ashok Kaneria

And indeed they are well-written, simple and interesting stories with the right message to appeal to today’s youth. Five Point Something inspired other campus stories including Above Average, Watch Out We Are MBA, Anything For You Madam etc. So it is natural to have huge expectations from ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’. And that was the only mistake of all Chetan Bhagat Fans. Like mutual fund disclaimers this is true – past performance is not an indicator of future returns.

I finished ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’ in 3 hours. The first thought after reading it was that the author seemed confused. I was at a loss to what the author wanted to convey. The book is full of stereotypes and not in the same league as the first two books. The book is about 3 friends and is set in Ahmedabad with a detour to Australia. It has popular themes like friendship, love, cricket, religion and business to make it a masala book. But it is not different nor presents any new perspective. Even if you do not read this book, you are not at a loss.

The 3 Mistakes of My Life just seemed to be a good marketing title. All the three are not mistakes in true sense. Of the three, two do not seem to error in judgement – but everyone needs to make those errors to grow up. And one mistake is repeated again and again, which does not make it a mistake but a habit.

The book grabs the life and colors of Amdavadi life in a very beautiful manner. The book will be popular in Ahmedabad as people can relate to it better and already Chetan Bhagat, Sudha Murthy are very popular in Ahmedabad. Also Big Bazaar’s Depot and other books stores are heavily promoting the book which has an attractive price tag of Rs 95.

The 3 Mistakes of My Life is readymade for Bollywood. Already, Chetan’s other books are in different stages of production in Bollywood and this is next in line.

Overall, the book is not extraordinary. However, Chetan Bhagat has made his place in Indian publishing history. And even great masters sometimes fail to live upto their usual high standards. It happens. Anyway, we are with you Chetan!

p.s- This is a dated review and hence references to possibility of a movie, which is actually already made

>Five Point Someone – Chetan Bhagat

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:52:00 +0000

I didn’t expect this to be as entertaining as it turned out to be. Its almost like a movie and you do not have to be an IIT graduate in order to enjoy Chetan Bhagat’s first novel Five Point Someone. Although the book is subtitled ‘What not to do at IIT’, the tag could have been applied to any college for that matter.

I’ve lived in a hostel too and I can relate a lot to what he speaks about, although my life was not half as interesting as in the book. ‘Unputdownable’ is not a word, but I am sure this is how anybody who has been through the pains and pleasures of college life would want to describe the book on experiencing it. But if your not in that slot, you may not enjoy it as much. Also, this is quite an Indian book and a I wouldn’t blame a foreign reader if most of the humor is lost on him/her.

Summary:

Five point someone is a tale of three friends who come together at IIT. It unfolds in the action-packed four year period from their entry to graduation. There are a lot of things right about Bhagat’s writing – the language is authentic for one and the dialogue quite natural for another. Also, his portrayal of typical college life (and not just IITs) is universal with commonly used ‘lingo’ like ‘insti’, ‘Disco’ etc. Also, the blend of college romance, an academic struggle and the confusion of what to do next is blended in a very entertaining manner, spiced up of course with a task master teacher and a smart ass mentor. The title of course is based on grading systems in IITs, where five pointers are among the laggards in a class. The grade becomes almost a caste system that one has to live with for the rest of one’s life!

Comparison with the movie 3 Idiots:

Although Chetan Bhagat tried to claim high ground just prior to the launch of the movie, the movie clearly has a much strong message. And it sure is just the setting that has been borrowed the 3 idiots writers have done a better job of adapting it for commercial success.

My recommendation – Pick it up for a quick entertaining read (its priced for an impulsive buy) and pass it on for others !

>2 states – the story of my marriage by Chetan Bhagat

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 07:53:00 +0000

Book review one
reposted with permission from Ram

Chetan Bhagat’s “2 states – the story of my marriage” (Fiction, Rupa & Co., Oct 2009), said to be inspired from happenings in his own life, is a story of how two IIM-A classmates – Krish Malhotra (a Punjabi boy) and Ananya Swaminathan (a Tamil girl) fall in love with each other but have to deal with the problem of their parents not agreeing to their marriage.

Though the plot is very predictable and very much like the way most Bollywood movies would tackle such a subject, Chetan kept my attention throughout with his simple, witty writing. Having lived in the north (with many Punjabi friends) and by virtue of my living now in Chennai, I could relate to a lot of things Chetan has written. Given that Chetan’s books usually come across as apt material or as inspiration for movie scripts, we will have to see if a movie is made out of this one. Or may be he wrote the book with a movie project in mind/ already signed

Book review two

reposted with permission from Sangeeta

The introduction of the story starts as:

Love marriages around the world are simple:

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.

Girl’s family has to love boy. Boy’s family has to love girl.

Girl’s Family has to love Boy’s Family. Boy’s family has to love girl’s family.

Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

And 100% agree with him..

The story line is very simple and straight forward describing the happenings in Indian middle-class family..

The novel evolves between Krish and Ananya who are from opposite poles and decide to get married. The story is about concept of marriage in India, you don’t just marry the person.. You also have to marry the boy’s/girl’s family.

Krish Malhotra, a Punjabi guy with a hasty mother who can’t think of anything but caloric food, gifts & money and the “value” of her son is outraged when she comes to know that her son has fallen in love with Ananya. Ananya Swaminathan is from an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family whose attitudes are traditional. The various plans and adjustments that the two of them make to get their families to accept them are quite entertaining.

The story is centered around Ahmadabad, Delhi and Chennai. Being a true Chennaiite I felt that Chetan Bhagat had exaggerate many characters of the Tamilians. In the beginning i found myself accepting some incidents in amusement, but there was an overdose of it. For example he derided the fact that people ate out of banana leaves and kept inquisitive if the leaf also should be eaten. I felt he was being a little regardless of being an IIT/IIM grad…

Chetan Bhagat had putted in extra amount of spices, to keep the readers enthusiastic on to it. The story looks too cinematic sometimes but 75 % of people know that these kind of situations do arise in India..

Altogether “2 States: The Story of My Marriage” is totally breezy to read. A story so vital to many of our life and the reactions are so typical of our parents..

Some may think that I’m flattering this book too exceedingly and some of you might even tell it is a dash of the Mill & Boon love stories but the point is that, the way he presented it was really good.