So many stories

So many stories - Chetan Bhagat, banker and best-selling author, came to town.
POULOMI BANERJEE
On Sunday evening, the entrance to Big Bazaar at Hiland Park was teaming with people. On the floors above, every inch of railing space was taken by people, some of whom had been waiting for over an hour. No, they weren’t waiting for Shah Rukh Khan or Sourav Ganguly. The wait was for an investment banker, whose storytelling has struck a chord with the youth.
Chetan Bhagat had come calling on Calcutta to launch his third book, The Three Mistakes of My Life. The author of best-selling novels Five Point Someoneand One Night At The Call Centre was touched by the response. “My readers are the ones who love me. And it is their love that has made me what I am. I have a long way to go as a writer, but as they say, when you love someone you don’t see the scars,” laughed Bhagat, as he interacted with the audience, took questions, read an excerpt from his new release and signed copies for his audience. The venue, Depot at Big Bazaar, is a place not many writers would like to see their work released, but for the country’s top-selling writer, it seemed just right.
There was also a treat in store for the “city of his in-laws”, a preview of the film Hello, based on One Night At The Call Centre starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif…
t2 in conversation with the author…
The Three Mistakes of My Life starts with an email, a suicide note from an unknown reader. Did you really receive such an email?
No, not this one. But I do receive many emails from my readers and sometimes they do share their problems with me. Often I get freaked. I don’t know what to do or say. At times I try to give general replies.
From where do you draw your subjects?
Initially, they were my stories. Now they are stories of my readers and people around me. Five Point Someone is my story. Hari is Chetan Bhagat. The idea of One Night At The Call Centre was born as I heard stories of BPO workers, from my cousins and sister-in-law. Many of my cousins work at call centres.
Plus, as I said, many people write to me. That also helps me to write.
The language you use is the anguage the youth speaks today. Was that a conscious decision?
I don’t know whether it is conscious, but then everyone has a style and that is my style. I do believe that books should be written in the language of the people.
I can write something that the English teachers appreciate very much, but if it fails to connect with the masses, the purpose is defeated.
I want literature to be taken out of the hands of a few people in the metros and reach everyone. I don’t mind critics. Of course one has to improve.
But why change what is my strength? The sale of my books has shown that my readers appreciate this style. I am making many people happy.
Your books have had Bollywood-style endings, with a big climax and everything falling in place...
I agree. I grew up on Hindi films. I love my big, grand ends, with some things working out and falling in place. I have
done it in The Three Mistakes of My Life too.
Your stories are all very ‘now’ — be it in the choice of subject or language. Do you think they will continue to appeal some years from now?
I frankly don’t know. But I think I have to connect with the times.
Five Point Someone is based in the 1990s. There are no cellphones in that book. But it is still selling. I hope the others too will continue to appeal.
Maybe time would have changed, but people would still like it for nostalgic reasons, like a Dil Chahta Hai.
And you don’t want to address a wider readership with more global subjects?
No. There are so many stories to tell here. In India stories have not been told for so many years. I have to make up for lost time.
Would you say you have given voice to contemporary India?
I think, like films that are made for the film festival audience, books were being written for a niche market. I have taken it out and delivered a potboiler.
Your style and subjects were very fresh when you started. Do you think it might be losing some of its novelty?
I am always ready to try something new. Maybe in the next book…. But I haven’t thought of it yet and, as of now, have no themes or ideas in mind.
All your books are very male-centric. Why?
Yes, I have been told that and I must do something about it. Fifty per cent of my readership consists of women. I now want to write a book with a woman protagonist.
Would you say that you have been the male alternative to chick lit?
My books are not chick lit or its male alternative. Yes, it is not awesome writing, there is scope for improvement. But it does address social issues. You have to give it that.
Finally, how involved have you been with Hello? Did you worry about how the director would interpret your book?
Well, I am the scriptwriter of the film, so I knew exactly what was happening. But I don’t mind the director adding his touch. I’m not possessive about my book.
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Bestseller (Fiction)
1. The Three Mistakes Of My Life — Chetan Bhagat, Rupa & Co, Rs 95
2. Unaccustomed Earth — Jhumpa Lahiri, Random House India, Rs 495
3. A Prisoner of Birth — Jeffrey Archer Pan Books, Rs 260
4. The Enchantress of Florence — Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Cape, Rs 595
5. The Palace of Illusions — Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Picador India, Rs 495
Bestseller (Non- Fiction)
1. Cold Steel — Tim Bouquet, Little Brown, Rs 650
2. The Last Lecture — Randy Pausch, Hodder and Stoughton, Rs 295
3. The Age Of Innovation — C. K. Prahalad, Tata McGraw Hill, Rs. 695
4. Foreign Correspondent: Fifty Years of Reporting South Asia — Edited by John Elliott, Bernard Imhasly and Simon Denyer, Penguin, Rs 695
5. Superstar India: From Incredible to Unstoppable — Shobhaa De, (picture above) Penguin India, Rs 395 Courtesy: Crossword