Delhi and MBA from IIM – A and then worked in Deutsche Bank for eleven
years before delving into writing (Now there are so many of us who
maybe having the same educational qualifications as well as dreams of
working in the top banks and other companies of the world). But
somewhere down the line he realised that this was not giving him the
creative satisfaction he so badly wanted and becoming more of a dull
and dreary job.
His first book "Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT" was
rejected by nine publishers. As he once said at an orientation program
for MBA students at Symbiosis, Pune, this incident made him so
disappointed that he was ready to quit once and for all. But he
refused to buckle down. This simple story of three friends – Hari,
Ryan and Alok and their years in IIT Delhi and how they cope with the
pressures of studies, family pressure and love and friendship made the
nation read like never before (Probably at par with the Harry Potter
series). It catapulted him to instant stardom. This book was followed
by One Night @ the Call Center, Three Mistakes of my Life and 2 States
– The Story of my marriage.
The best thing about his books is the fact that all his characters are
ones which today's generation can associate with – whether its Hari in
Five point someone, Vroom in One night at the Call center or Krish and
Ananya in 2 States – The story of my marriage. Critics have always
lambasted him for "n" number of reasons like having no literary value
in his works, his characters being one dimensional and similar in all
his books as well as ridiculous things like encouraging sex before
marriage. CRITICS BE DAMNED!!!!. Personally I think all these critics
like crap stuff which the general public normally hates. They pass
such comments because none of them have it in them to even write few
lines of a novel.
Bhagat has never advocated the fact that he meant to be a literary
genius. His main aim was, has and I am sure will always be to
entertain all audiences alike. I feel that his greatest success lies
in the simplicity of all his characters though I think "Three Mistakes
of My Life" was much more serious than any of his works which is why
he recently said that after this book he was feeling very heavy and
wanted to get back to something "light-hearted" as that has always
been his forte. As far as promoting sex in his books is concerned, one
thing I would like to point out to the critics is that today's
generations isn't that dumb. They are exposed to Television, print
media (Newspapers, magazines etc) as well as Internet which are much
bigger promoters of sex and nudity than a plain simple novel. Don't
the novels of Sidney Sheldon, Nicholas Sparks and who all have a bit
of sex in them? This is what we call hypocrisy wherein such self –
proclaimed moralists of our country would be watching porn, nudity and
sex but would surely comment on others because they can't bear to see
their success.
Bhagat has become much more than a writer today. He's evolved into a
youth icon having been conferred the Society Young Achiever's Award –
2004 as well as the Publisher's Recognition Award 2005 and also been
called to present speeches at the HT Leadership Summit as well as
Symbiosis, Pune. His articles on politics, economics, social and a
host of other issues in Dainik Bhaskar, Times of India and Hindustan
Times which have created a flutter even in the Parliament also have a
dedicated base of followers.
I would like to end by quoting few lines from his speech at the HT
Leadership Summit in 2008
"I am no leader. At best, I am a dreamer with perseverance to make
dreams come true. As I have made my own dreams come true already, I am
tempted to think we can make my country's dreams come true. And that
is why I am here."
So guys what are you waiting for?? Chetan Bhagat has shown us that all
of us are capable of achieving what he has achieved. All we need is
the perseverance to make our dreams come true!!!
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