Image credit: Amazon
I finally gave in. I had eschewed from reading Chetan Bhagat’s novels until now because I really didn’t think they were worth my time. But after a couple of my friends assured me that his latest, “Revolution 2020” is not like his earlier works, I thought why not. Let me give a summary of the book before I go on to my review.
Welcome to Revolution 2020. A story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success, love and happiness in Varanasi. However, it is not easy to attain these in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?
Quite an interesting premise. The book begins with Bhagat himself making an appearance, talking to Gopal who narrates his story to the author. Like millions of Indians, Gopal is yet another boy who hopes to get into engineering to make his father happy. His already low self confidence suffers another blow when he doesn’t get the required rank in the all important entrance exam that throws open the doors to hallowed institutions like IIT. To top it all, he loses the girl he loves to his friend Raghav, who is dashing, confident and above all a man who passed the exam with flying colors. He gets into one of the best engineering colleges but goes on to become a journalist. And the girl, Aarti? Well, it’s not a very simple ending as with all of Bhagat’s books, to say the least.
Bhagat efficiently reveals the extreme competition that continues to dog much coveted professional courses like engineering. Students who do not get through in the entrance exam join coaching classes to help them in their second attempt.
“I had spent the last three days doing the rounds of every coaching school. I took in their tall claims about zapping any primate into an IITian. I went through their super-flexible (not to mention super-expensive) fee structures… Each of them had their own, rather difficult, entrance exams. In fact, Kota now had small coaching shops to coach you to get into the top coaching classes.”
Of course, in India competition breeds corruption. Bhagat shows the extent of it through Gopal’s trysts with coaching classes, his disappointments and finally his job as the director of a college. Education is portrayed as a ruthless business where politics, mafia and bribery all go hand in hand.
Yet, these are not enough redeeming factors to make Bhagat’s book an overall excellent read. There were a few points that annoyed me throughout the book. For one, Bhagat’s childish assumptions about women in general were beyond my comprehension.
“When girls are hiding something, they start speaking like boys and use expressions like ‘cool’”
“Girls always leave subtle phrases as qualifiers, so you can’t put them in a spot later.”
“’Fine’ means somewhere between ‘whatever’ and ‘go to hell’ in Girlese”
“Girls don’t like reality that much. Or practical questions”
You get the drift. Mr Bhagat seems to know “Girlese” extremely well, enough to spout these aphorisms.
Teachers are also not spared as is his usual wont shown by his earlier books like Five Point Someone, immortalized by the movie Three Idiots. Teachers have to have funny nicknames. All of them. So we have Permutation guru, Balance-ji, Mr Pulley and Trigonometry swamy.
Bhagat’s character sketches remain like these quotes and nicknames – superficial and typecast. Gopal is the quintessential “loser” with low self esteem who is out to prove his worth to the girl he loves through any means. He lacks that spark that makes a character memorable. Aarti starts out as a strong woman but later dissolves into a lonely, attention depraved girl. Raghav is too distant and passionate about his job for us to get into his head.
Like his other books, Bhagat has written quite a simplistic story that reads like a movie script. The only parts I liked were the ones where Gopal is discovering the hidden world behind the education business and is trying to build a life for himself. Otherwise, Chetan Bhagat has failed to stir up a revolution in me.
Verdict: Average read, no brain strain here
Rating: 1.8/5
Welcome to Revolution 2020. A story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success, love and happiness in Varanasi. However, it is not easy to attain these in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?
Quite an interesting premise. The book begins with Bhagat himself making an appearance, talking to Gopal who narrates his story to the author. Like millions of Indians, Gopal is yet another boy who hopes to get into engineering to make his father happy. His already low self confidence suffers another blow when he doesn’t get the required rank in the all important entrance exam that throws open the doors to hallowed institutions like IIT. To top it all, he loses the girl he loves to his friend Raghav, who is dashing, confident and above all a man who passed the exam with flying colors. He gets into one of the best engineering colleges but goes on to become a journalist. And the girl, Aarti? Well, it’s not a very simple ending as with all of Bhagat’s books, to say the least.
Bhagat efficiently reveals the extreme competition that continues to dog much coveted professional courses like engineering. Students who do not get through in the entrance exam join coaching classes to help them in their second attempt.
“I had spent the last three days doing the rounds of every coaching school. I took in their tall claims about zapping any primate into an IITian. I went through their super-flexible (not to mention super-expensive) fee structures… Each of them had their own, rather difficult, entrance exams. In fact, Kota now had small coaching shops to coach you to get into the top coaching classes.”
Of course, in India competition breeds corruption. Bhagat shows the extent of it through Gopal’s trysts with coaching classes, his disappointments and finally his job as the director of a college. Education is portrayed as a ruthless business where politics, mafia and bribery all go hand in hand.
Yet, these are not enough redeeming factors to make Bhagat’s book an overall excellent read. There were a few points that annoyed me throughout the book. For one, Bhagat’s childish assumptions about women in general were beyond my comprehension.
“When girls are hiding something, they start speaking like boys and use expressions like ‘cool’”
“Girls always leave subtle phrases as qualifiers, so you can’t put them in a spot later.”
“’Fine’ means somewhere between ‘whatever’ and ‘go to hell’ in Girlese”
“Girls don’t like reality that much. Or practical questions”
You get the drift. Mr Bhagat seems to know “Girlese” extremely well, enough to spout these aphorisms.
Teachers are also not spared as is his usual wont shown by his earlier books like Five Point Someone, immortalized by the movie Three Idiots. Teachers have to have funny nicknames. All of them. So we have Permutation guru, Balance-ji, Mr Pulley and Trigonometry swamy.
Bhagat’s character sketches remain like these quotes and nicknames – superficial and typecast. Gopal is the quintessential “loser” with low self esteem who is out to prove his worth to the girl he loves through any means. He lacks that spark that makes a character memorable. Aarti starts out as a strong woman but later dissolves into a lonely, attention depraved girl. Raghav is too distant and passionate about his job for us to get into his head.
Like his other books, Bhagat has written quite a simplistic story that reads like a movie script. The only parts I liked were the ones where Gopal is discovering the hidden world behind the education business and is trying to build a life for himself. Otherwise, Chetan Bhagat has failed to stir up a revolution in me.
Verdict: Average read, no brain strain here
Rating: 1.8/5
Sorry to know that you didn't like this book much, Birdy. I read 'Five Point Someone' when it came out and liked it. But I haven't read a Bhagat book after that. I think he tries to take an issue which a young urban person today identifies with and tries to put it in novel form. Unfortunately, as you have written, sophistication in storytelling and character development are lacking in his books. Also his weak generalizations like the ones you have mentioned make the book even more shaky. One of my friends sent me a Bhagat article in the TOI about women and I found it in poor taste. To me it showed that he didn't know much about women or women issues and his thoughts on them weren't well informed. I don't know whether I will read a Bhagat book again.
ReplyDeleteYes Vishy I know that article. He contradicts himself in many places within that. I am glad to know that you are not a fan of him either, I honestly don't know how people can read this stuff and say it's good!
ReplyDelete'an unfair society that rewards the corrupt' seems like a worldwide trend.
ReplyDelete