Rendezvous with Chetan Bhagat

He may not be a literary genius.He may not have the immaculate vocabulary nor does he create a vivid and in-depth imagery of his characters .His books are not masterpieces,with the perfection and finish of an artist's paintbrush on his canvass.Still,his books are read all over.The casual,breezy and today stuff that he writes,with dollops of slapstick humour and witty pieces strewn over makes me a fan of his,like millions of youngsters across the country.

So when I heard that Chetan Bhagat's coming over to IITB,I couldn't just let go of the chance,Could I?

It was the freshers orientation of E-cell for which he had been invited to give a talk.Another guest of honour was Channel V's ex MD whose name I unfortunately can't recollect.Even his talk was quite interesting and enlightening.But the crowd waited in anticipation for India's most read novelist to come on stage.

His introduction was just 3 words"5 point Someone".

We all have certainly had a glimpse of his wittiness and cracjkack sarcasm,albeit through his books.But,strutting on to stage,the first thing he said was"You guys are never going to know what ragging is.Our times were those of glory.Do something atleast.Freshers should try ragging their own mates,among themselves if seniors aren't allowed to rag them".

Followed a powerpoint presentation in which he traced his journey from being a banker to a writer.In his own words,he wrote 5 point someone in his office hours just to avenge his "BAD BOSS".The first publisher reply that he got was"Indians don't read books"to which he replied"Then why the hell are you a publisher?".Followed a series of"We need experienced writers"and just plain "No's",finally a small Indain company said"We can give it a try"and as the age old cliche goes,the rest is history.

Cracking jokes about the IITian desperation for girls,he said in an understanding tone"I know what you are going through","I've been there".At one point he looked into the crowd and exclaimed"Oh these many girs(There were about 70 odd).And 2 or 3 of them are actually PRETTY.Better times these".

The one serious point that he raised amidst all that fun"I am an IITian.What next".Even i've felt this for a long time.Although it is a significant achievement,you can't bask in the glory of it forever.You have to rekindle your passions for something constructive,that interests you.In his own words"The inner call".Life does have to move on,otherwise an inevitable emptiness will hit you.He also talked about"Looking down".How we can be a help to the less priveleged colleges,by assisting them maybe technically or even through our college fest,which he acknowledged to be the biggest in Asia.He brought home the point that being an IITian himself,he always feels nostalgic coming to any IIT,and that he is disappointed by the way IITians are perceived-Snobbish and Conceited.He appealed for a change in this perception by helping the less-privileged and not ridiculing them.

In between though,he was coming up his wisecracks like"I would have written 5 point Someone as the story of 3 IIT girls and not guys had I known that It would be made into a movie.Atleast Kareena would have come here,with two other heroines.However they would have been the only 3 girls in IIT."

In the very short Q&A,due to the 10pm freshie deadline(Screw the administration),he was asked how much of FPS is actually true."You guys want to know what happened to Neha??70% of the book is true."Shouts of page 170 surfaced and he retorted"I f only you had read your physics book with such attention,all would be JEE 1."

His advice to JEE-3 who was in the gathering was"Well done dude,Now go and talk to some girls"

He was asked about his next book which he said would come out in Diwali."A love story by Chetan Bhagat".Waiting eagerly for it to hit the stands.He was asked if he wrote what he wanted to write or what the people wanted to read.He reaffirmed my perception that he,indeed was a populist writer but alongwith the page 170's he also tries to spread a message that is evident in all his books.Be it friendship in the first,Self-belief in the 2nd and faith in god in the third book of his,he has always attempted to connect to the youth in his own casual way.

All in all,it was a fun evening with something to think about as one left the auditorium.

Just the way I like it..Cheers.