Two States by Chetan Bhagat

Two States: The Story of My Marriage was a typical Chetan Bhagat book.

Like almost everyone in the country, I was quite caught up in the 'Chetan Bhagat' fad when Five Point Someone first came out. Recently I've seen many books that tried to achieve something like that again, like 'Oh shit, not again!' (which I didn't like at all - in fact, here is a review which describes it perfectly) and I've still not seen anything like Chetan Bhagat. However, due to the time passed in the interval, and due to the horrible reviews I got of Two States at first, I wasn't very inclined to read this book. (If you remember, I talked about this here.) On the other hand, my mother had read it, and she urged me to read it, and so I brought it away with me to my mini-break, and started reading it yesterday.

I enjoyed the book.

I think the best part about Bhagat's writing is that he manages to blend interesting stories with relevant morals. This is a fine balance. You can't have just a mindless story, because no one will ever remember you. You can't just have a moral story, because then no one will read you. I think Chetan Bhagat has managed the fine art of blending morals into his stories, and that is exactly why he is so popular. From Five Point Someone (which was about the education system), One Night at a Call Center (what are you doing with your life?) and Three Mistakes of My Life (life goes on after disasters) to Two States (your state and you identity within it) Bhagat manages to write about things which concern the youth of today's India - money, marriage, love and education (to name a few). I think the reason that he is so popular is that he touches a chord among the young indians who are going through an identity crisis as they battle with old convictions and new experiences.

This is not to say that the books are at all boring. Bhagat's writing is not without problems (and he tends to put in random things like the Sadhu sequence in this book that really didn't add much for me) but there was no point in the book when I wanted to put aside the book because it had become too dull to get through. The book goes at a merry pace from start to end, not slow enough for you to notice the little details, but not so fast that you lose the emotional impact of each scene. The writing is humorous in parts (though, contrary to the reviews I'd received, there was no part in it which made me laugh out loud, either) and reflective in others. It is an intensely personal story (and one must admit - not the most original story in the world either) but you must admit that it is a story that most of us, at some level or the other, can emphasise with. This is enhanced by the lovable main character and crazy but cute families that we all know about.

Final thoughts: This book is not the best of all fiction. It is not even Bhagat's best book. But it is definitely worth a read, for Bhagat's easy style of writing, for his great observational skills, and for the fine art of blending a message into fiction.

Other things: Don't think I've forgotten (or stopped) the Great Classics Read (And Re-Read) Festival. Now that my break is almost over, the Festival will continue. I plan to tackle Frankenstein and (if time permits) Secret Garden this week.