|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The 3 Mistakes of my
Life
Chetan Bhagat got this mail on Sunday, and no, it is not the beginning of a new book, but the response to his latest book that has hit the stands and is set to make publishing history in terms of the print run. The book is about three best friends. These boys, Govind, Ishan and Omi, are as inseparable as they are distinctive. Govind dreams of becoming a businessman, Ish is focused on cricket, and Omi just wants to hang around. Cricket, friends and religion—three factors that figure significantly in any Indian’s life, do so in this story as well. The three Ahmedabad-based buddies become partners and open a Team India Cricket Shop, which later diversifies into a stationary shop. Govind is the most brilliant of the three, and also the poorest. He takes math tuitions and nurtures his fledging business operation. New factors change dynamics of their relationship. Ish comes across Ali, a very talented cricketer who he takes on as a prot`E9g`E9. Ali is very weak in studies, and Govind is made to volunteer free maths tuition. Govind also starts teaching Ish’s sister, Vidya, gradually starts thinking more and more about her. Set in Gujarat, the story has the Bhuj earthquake, the Ram Janama Bhoomi build-up, the Godhra train burning and Gujarat riots in the backdrop. Like millions of others, the lives of the protagonists are affected by these events. Chetan doesn’t discuss these issues in detail. However, in his bringing them to the fore, he does engage the younger generation in addressing the issue of communalism and sectarian politics. Ali’s father, a Zoology professor and political activist comments, "The problem in India Hindu-Muslim rivalry is not that one is right and the other wrong. It is..." "That there is no reconciliatory mechanism," completes Ish. Chetan Bhagat draws in the reader with his story, even as it takes some improbable turns, like a small town doctor diagnosing Ali’s hyper-reflex condition through an MRI scan; youngsters managing to meet and make an Australian "check out" the young Ali—and then making their way Down Under (on what grounds did all of them get their visas?); but the journey is engaging and this reviewer read the book in one sitting. Chetan has a keen eye for detail and is definitely someone who is in touch with the way the younger generation thinks. Following the success of Five Point Someone, a story about three friends in IIT, Delhi, he notched another hit with One Night @ the Call Center. Now with The 3 Mistakes of my Life, he has much to celebrate with the success of the book. — R.S.
|
I got a mail from a mother
in Pune. "When I read about your third book, I became happy ...and
sad, because my 16-year-old daughter and I used to read your books
together and laugh together a lot. But I have lost her last year. She
would have been so happy to be there....to meet you."