It was a flash back to 'Five Point Someone' - the little known young man, two inseperable friends, and the ever-present unattainable woman.
The situation, this time more serious, paved the way to a look other than those we saw in the magazines. The earthquake in Godhra, and the riots in Ahmedabad feature here, but Chetan Bhagat brings the small-town businessman with a big-town dream to the front. It sounds cliched; perhaps it is. As for the allusions to 'Five Point Someone', well, Govind is Hari, Omi resembles Alok (albeit in a small way) and Ishaan is Ryan.
The magnitude of the problems here is greater than in Five Point: no stuck-up prof to deal with, wailing mother to support, or hurt ego to soothe. Communal clashes and the cricket frenzy make big points. As with his previous book, there are lessons to learn. Friends seem to be a big deal to Bhagat. There's a black spot on the best of friends, and you tend to miss his lesson to overlook the flaws and live with them since it's been done before. You hear the nagging voice of an old lady and read the book for the story.
Despite a few tugs at your heart strings during the riots, there isn't an overdose of sentiment. Bells ring when there's a mention of booking tickets on the S6 bogie of the Sabarmati Express or when Govind wakes to the shaking of the earth and runs to find his new store razed to the ground. You sympathise for a while and then carry on. After all, life has carried on, and with it the scars remain. Deaths will be remembered, friendships lost and hopefully won.
Like Five Point, it's a quick read. You sometimes know what to expect, at other times you don't. Chetan Bhagat doesn't want to be the world's most admired author (as he says in the preface), but the most loved. We'll have to wait and see, won't we?
6 comments:
Liked it. You should seriously shift to magazine/ feature writing soon, before the spark dies. :)
Just to point out one factual error: there was no earthquake in Godhra. The RIOTS started from there. Both the earthquake and the riots had huge consequences in Ahmedabad, although Kutch was the one completely ravaged by the quake.
Oops! Sorry. You know how well up I am on current events (even though they're in the past!)
That didnt exactly make sense. But then again, I never do!!
ha ah GK lessons.....told u .TWINS. my my.
ahem!
so
godhra.......uh.ya.....zzzzzzzz....miss cheating from you during news quizzes....
hmm question...WHY THIS BOOK? READ GOOD BOOOKS.....not chetan bhagat. intellectuals and psuedo ones and in-the-making ones dont read books like tht.........
CHETAN BHAGAT? next thing i know u will b writing reviews on tinkle.
U R HIGHER THAN ALL THIS.stop putting coconut oil and drink orange juice and read better books. ;)
Yes, mom. I'm reading Satyajit Ray now.
Happy?
I drank.
uh
still not good enuf. read better. read madame bovary.its a classic. by gaustave falubert.or grapes of wrath by steinbeck. also classic.
yea ok. Will Aurobindo do? lol
Right now I want pure violence, and blood shed in plain simple English; the story of the under dog by his tongue.
Forget it.
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