Pointers from an ex-IITian

A STAFF REPORTER
Chetan Bhagat hardly looks the kind to write a novel — even a 250-odd pager. But the proof of the investment banker’s efforts is in the form of his debut novel Five Point Someone: what not to do at IIT!
It’s about three friends who have “messed up their grades at IIT (the title refers to the grading system at the engineering college where a five point something out of 10 would indicate student at the bottom rung of the class).
“At something or the other, each of us are always five point something, so we should stop judging ourselves so much,” feels Bhagat, who launched the book at Crossword on Wednesday.
But apart from these somewhat sombre musings, “the book is actually a lot of fun”, through which Bhagat has tried to relive his days at IIT, Delhi.
“The characters are based on real-life people and much of the book is semi-autobiographical,” explains the man whose wife hails from Calcutta.
Initial response and sales have been “great” according to Bhagat. But the next book may be sometime away yet. “I plan to read 20 more books at least till I start on my second novel,” he promises.