Author Chetan Bhagat, whose new book ‘2 States: The Story of My Marriage’ was released on Friday, says ‘he is 90 per cent entertainer and 10 per cent reformer’.
His book, an autobiographical tale about an inter-caste love marriage, was launched by Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Mr. Bhagat’s new book takes off on his own marriage to a Tamil Brahmin. “2 States...’ is the story of my marriage and I have dedicated the book to my in-laws. I think this is the first time any Indian writer has dedicated a book to his in-laws,” he said.
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“The book is funny and completely different from ‘Five Point Someone’, ‘One Night@ the Call Centre’ and ‘3 Mistakes’, I did not want to write about friends any more,” Mr. Bhagat said.
“2 States...” is about Krish and Ananya, who are from two different States of India. They are deeply in love and want to get married. But their parents do not agree. To convert the love story into a wedding, the couple have a tough fight ahead of them.
“Indian love marriages are not easy. It’s not just the boy and the girl who fall in love. Everyone, both their clans, have to fall in love. In the end, the boy and the girl start questioning whether there’s anything more left to it and even fight. But it’s important, at least for me, what parents think of your marriage,” Mr. Bhagat said.
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“My wife read the book and loved the female lead, who is modern, liberated and educated. India is opening up and parents are learning to accept love marriages despite prejudices about caste,” the author explained.
Mr. Bhagat has several offers from Bollywood for his new book.
“The more personal the book, the more unusual and funny it becomes for me. People relate to it better because they know me, my wife, my twin boys and how I left my job as an investment banker to write,” Mr. Bhagat said.
As for the language, “seven editors worked on the book”.