2 States by Chetan Bhagat

It is interesting to see how Chetan Bhagat’s fourth book is selling copies after copies. It is hard to believe that the copies of the book are stacked in Landmark near the billing counter with the Impulse products and people are buying it as if it was just another chocolate. Two reasons why readers are getting attracted are:

 It is priced as low as Rs. 95
 People look forward to the humour in Bhagats writings which is usually a light read.
 Catchy for the youth like always

Chetan Bhagat draws the story line from his own life but prefers to call his work fiction. The tale is about the two States of Delhi and Chennai coming together. The connecting link is love between two IIM A graduates who want to get married. The catch is that the guy is Punjabi from Delhi and the girl is a Brahmin Tamil from Chennai. An interesting match I must say.

Chetan with a hint of sarcasm explains how the conventional love marriages take place in India. It is indeed a long process. First the guy falls in love with the girl and the girl with the guy. Then the girl has to fall in love with the guy’s family and the guy with the girl’s family. And then the two families have to fall in love with each other. In this long process if the guy and the girl are able to keep the love alive, they get married. Huh…… long and tedious indeed.

Chetan has lived up to the expectations by keeping the humour alive throughout the story. I love the way he has described the clashes between the two cultures. On certain aspects we are at two extremes but this story shows that it is not impossible to come together. As the story reaches an end, Chetan triggers the Indian in us that lies dormant and allows the cultural differences to supersede.

All in all a good read. A must read for those who have experienced both the places. The story has humour that will keep you rolling with laughter and situations that will leave your eyes moistened. Some contrasts brought to light in the books:
 Tams prefer to be silent and you will never find that kind of silence prevail in the house of Punjabi even if every one is asleep.
 “Marble flooring is to Punjabi what foreign degree is to Tamilian” quite true.
One of the most interesting lines was " A North Indian placed in Chennai was called an 'HR Error'".

ENJOY READING!!!!!

Comments

  1. T.KarthikeyanNovember 11, 2009 at 3:43 AM

    Thats a nice review. Probably I would want to read this book..

    ReplyDelete
  2. ratikaDecember 1, 2009 at 8:17 AM

    i'm takin a printout of this n putting in d school library

    ReplyDelete
  3. riaDecember 2, 2009 at 4:16 AM

    waw! thats cool. thanks di :)

    ReplyDelete

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