A fine balance

Chetan Bhagat tells Subha J Rao about the elusive definition of success and the importance of setting goals

September 25, 2014 05:12 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 12:02 pm IST - COIMBATORE

Author Chetan Bhagat. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

Author Chetan Bhagat. Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

Author Chetan Bhagat might lord it over the bestseller list, but it is wife Anusha who rules his life. Their Mumbai home bears her stamp — the food is predominantly South Indian, footwear is not allowed into the house, and their 10-year-old twins live as normal a life as possible. There’s one more thing Anusha did for Chetan — she gave him the wings to fly, offering to run the house on her salary. “When I took a decision to quit banking, my income came down by 95 per cent. She encouraged me to move to full-time writing,” he recalls. Chetan got a chance to return that favour when he offered to type his banker-wife’s resignation letter a while ago, when she decided to quit.

This then is the man more than a million people love and an equal number love to hate on social media. There’s a lot of him in the public domain, but there are certain things definitely off it. “My family is very sacred to me. I don’t expect to be asked about my sons’ homework. I do offer to polish the script for the comics they draw. But, they feel I don’t ‘get’ it,” laughs Chetan, whose latest book Half Girlfriend releases on October 1.

The book, that Chetan calls a love story, is about two students from St Stephen’s, Delhi — a boy from the Bihar hinterland and a girl from the city.

It has already been snapped up for a film, to be directed by Mohit Suri of Ek Tha Villain fame; Chetan will also get billing as producer for this. He’s ready for all the brickbats that will come his way on October 1. “I’ve grown used to the flak. Whatever I say or don’t say elicits flak. I welcome the critics; it just meant they also read the books!”

Even the excerpt of Half Girlfriend that appeared had the critics out with daggers. “There’s no sociology course at St Stephen’s,” said one. “Yes, I agree. St. Stephen’s is a plot device. I’m not writing a novel about the college!” 

Chetan still smiles thinking of the reaction to the full-page advertisement announcing his latest novel. “See, there’s a certain snob value to saying, ‘I don’t read Chetan Bhagat’. But, I am very proud of the fact that I got many people to go from zero-reading to some reading. They might not go on to read a Naipaul, but they are getting somewhere.”

This duplicity in our country, he admits, at times confounds him. “Recently, I met Bill Gates and he was reading What Young India Wants (a compilation of Chetan’s speeches and essays) without any prejudice!”

The irony of his life does not escape Chetan either. He’s lived the middle class dream of an IIT and IIM, but writes books that have struck a chord with the ‘mango people’ and those from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, while the swish set dumbs him down. “I recognise that every single day. I’m sure many from IIT also read my books. Of course, not many will be willing to admit to it on their Facebook list!” he smiles.

The author still remembers that moment when he discovered he had a yen for words. It was the first year of IIT and the freshers had to put up a play. “Most were just booed off stage. I got the boys dressed up in saris, and bearing the names of our hostels. It was full of hostel humour. How could someone boo their own hostel off stage! I knew that if I won this audience over, it was something.” That script is now a fond memory.

Chetan admits that he does look back at his journey of seven books every time he’s under the pressure of expectation. He also gets to meets top stars, now that four of his books have been turned into movies (Kai Po Che is his favourite — “It was so very beautiful on screen”). “But, one just has to let that pressure go, and do what you do well.”

When in doubt, Chetan can always fall back on his multitude of fans. Like the Sardarji who put his foot down when his daughter wanted to marry someone from Kerala. “He agreed after reading 2 States, and at their wedding, he put up a 2 States stall, so that everyone could take home a lesson!”

Despite all the popularity, Chetan comes across as the regular man you’d say hello to during your morning walk. What are his biggest reality checks? “My TamBram in-laws. Nothing about me is sacrosanct for them! Then, there’s Anusha. And, my boys — they would rather I wrote a good comic for them!”

Trivia

There’s a number in all the titles of Chetan’s novels — Five Point Someone, One Night At The Call Centre, The 3 Mistakes of My life, 2 States...; Revolution 2020, and now Half Girlfriend. That’s a throwback to his banker days. “A reminder of what I was,” says Chetan.

All of Chetan’s heroes share one feature. They all have names of Krishna — Hari, Shyam, Govind, Krish, Gopal and now, Madhav of Half Girlfriend

Success mantra

It was a session for Chetan to impart gyaan about success. And, it started off in the most non-conservative way. Chetan showed a video featuring his most vociferous critics speaking. And then went on to ask students of Sri Krishna Institutions, where the session was held, about what success meant to them. “When my signature becomes an autograph,” said one. “When I fulfil my parents’ dreams,” said another. “There’s no one definition for success,” said Chetan. “It means different things to different people,” he added and went on to list six must-dos to court success. “Stick to your plan and aim to be the best in what you do, even if it is sweeping a room.”

And, once you achieve success, put in place a plan to strike a work-life balance. “Finally, happiness lies in maintaining that balance.” That balance is going to be Chetan’s wish for 2015 too, a year where he will write but also get to spend time with family.

Six points to becoming a someone

Set clear, specific goals

List the reasons behind that goal

Find yourself a suitable group to motivate you

Draw up a detailed action plan

Have in place mechanisms to deal with setbacks

Keep the faith

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.