May 21, 2008 10:19 AM
4960 Views
(Updated May 21, 2008 04:51 PM)
Three Mistakes of My Life is the latest offering by Chetan Bhagat. I was waiting for it with baited breath and was behind the life of many people in helping me acquire it on the day of its release, i.e. 8th May. Though got the book on 9th but was the book as good as I expected it to be or was it a Mistake of my life? Read on to know more…
The book is based in Ahmedabad, a city which is close to my heart as this is the place where I had begun my independent life.
This is the story of three young boys who are still struggling to decide their goal.
It’s the story of
Govind, ** a brilliant student of Mathematics. He has an aptitude & penchant for business.
Ishaan, a failure in studies but a great cricketer (obviously great in the local school team).
Omi, comes from a family of priests with no inclination of becoming a priest,
Vidya, Ishaan’s sister, a teenager with her eyes on Govind.
Ali,a gifted batsmen & the son of a local Muslim politician.
It’s the story of how Govind, Ishaan & Omi come up with a sports store in their area and how they achieve success in it by clubbing it with Math’s tuition & Cricket Coaching classes. The writer has thrown in the angle of Ali a gifted batsman who is in need of coaching & Ishaan comes in as his savior because he doesn’t want a brilliant talent to be wasted.
Then there is the love angle of Govind & Vidya thrown in.
And to top it all Chetan Bhagat has placed the novel in the era when Ahmedabad suffered with a nightmare of an earthquake & the riots.
The book traces the lives of these characters & their trials and tribulations. Of how their lives are impacted by the causes sometimes natural & mostly man made.
Won’t tell more about the plot but will discuss how I found the book.
My Take
As I have said earlier that the I was waiting for this one for two reasons
- It was a Chetan Bhagat book
- It was based in Ahmedabad
The book has a smashing beginning with a suicide letter from Govind & how Chetan (who was the recipient of the ill fated E-Mail) couldn’t help himself and meets Govind who tells him his story & his 3 Mistakes.
Chetan, having lived in Ahmedabad reminisces well about the city & its culture & people.
In this short book of around 260pages Chetan tries to
- Talk about youngsters & their desire to achieve something in life
- Talk about how despite all odds just with writ & determination these young people come out unscathed.
- Show how youngsters can single mindedly follow their dreams even if it means going to Australia to get Ali coached.
- Tells us how we should try to look beyond religion.
Isn’t it too much? For me it was. Though no where does the book become preachy but it becomes unbelievable. The way these people meet Australian cricket team or go to Australia or for that matter the whole riot incident and the consequent handling of the matter is too unrealistic and looks more like a bollywood movie setup.
The book fails a bit because it tries to pack in too much.
But, ** I would still recommend the book because of its wonderful & funny one liner’s & because the book has its heart at the right place. If nothing, then the book will give you a hearty laugh at many a places. And like “One Night @ Call Center” I am assuming that I’ll like this one more on a second read (yes am gonna do that :P)
When I had started reading the book I had never expected that I will be finishing this book in Ahmedabad but family responsibilities called and I was in the city when I was reading the last 100 pages of the book and trust me it felt great.
But yes I would like to ask few questions to Chetan Bhagat
- Govind passed Satellite area while going to Navrangpura (he was coming from the old city) how is that possible? &
- If am not wrong NDTV was launched in 2003 and the Gujarat riots happened in 2002, so how could these three people watch the channel in 2002?
- Why is it that his novels always have a number in their title???
*My Rating is 2.75
Trivia:*
The book was supposed to have a cover designed on Salman Khan’s painting but due to the incomplete legal formalities it didn’t happen. Alas!!! I could have had Sallu’s painting in just 95/- Rs ;-)
PS I have started feeling Chetan Books are like bollywood blockbluster....these many reviews is a proof enough. Guess pricing the book at 95/- is a smart marketing move.
