One Night .. & 5 . Someone

Last Year when I was in India, suddenly I started hearing a lot about this new writer on the block called Chetan Bhagat and there was a mad rush to buy/read this book called 5 point Someone. I somehow happened to miss my chance to get a copy of the same. Later I heard that the same person had written another book called "One Night @ a Call Centre".

Well, finally I managed to lay my hands on both of these. 3 of us at office circulated it among ourselves. And 3 of us had 3 different set of opinions after reading it. Laxmi, who has been in the US for nearly 16 years, was shocked after she read ON@CC, to see the drastic change in lifestyle and morals in the younger generation of Indians. She has been struggling with the confused ideals of Indian kids here in the US. My assurances that things were no good in india probably got cemented more after she read the novel.
Ritesh found it quite similar to a hindi movie plot. And I found it absolute trash!

I started with "5 point someone". Having stayed out of hostel and come out of an "almost kin" to IIT, I could relate to most of what was written in the book and ended the 270 page saga with a feeling "Almost anybody can write a book these days!". But then I could still appreciate the way things had been brought out most truthfully in this book, and how everything in life was not shown hunky dory - it brings out the most hidden part of a premier institute like IIT.

When the 1st book is nice, you have very much expectations from the 2nd one - but it turned out to be a damp squib. A complete let-down I felt. I almost scanned through the last few chapters to get to the end. It felt like one of those moral science stories that you read as a kid - about how you are on the wrong track, doing all wrong things : and then suddenly out of the blue somebody preaches and your life changes! It certainly portrays the life of the current youth in bright and vibrant colors ; but the call from GOD was a bit too much I felt.

Chetan Bhagat is a household name now. Basking in his sucess, he is doing the screen play for 5PS - which is going to be another "Rockford" (if you get a good director). But I think he can and should definitely write better.