One of the lusciously sweeping changes to have taken the contemporary realm of creative writing in English by storm is the profuse proliferation of a young breed of writers, mostly in their late 20s and early 30s. Gone are the days when the entire fabric of literary fiefdom used to be only the monopoly of grey-haired wordsmiths. A breed of exciting young turks has bombarded the contemporary literary scenario of Indian writing in English with their plainspeak, refreshing style of narrative, catchy titles, bold themes, juicy plots; churning out one bestseller after another, these writers mostly appeal to the younger generation, with whom they can so easily relate to.

Starting with the early 2000s, even a trifle beyond it too, a panoply of young writers like Arundhati Roy, Advaita Kala, Himani Dalmia, Chetan Bhagat, Siddhart Dhanvant Shanghvi, Arvind Adiga and Chandrahas Choudhury, just to name a random few, have managed to successfully carve a niche for themselves in the contemporary Indian literary domain of creative writing in English.

Among the more recent posse of young writers, the name that really stands tall is undoubtedly Chetan Bhagat. Practically ‘rolling in royalties’, this literary whiz-kid remains way ahead of the rest of his contemporaries; looked upon more as a literary youth-icon echoing the voice of a generation, this IIT-Delhi/IIM-Ahmedabad alumni “is making India read like never before”. Chetan Bhagat, a Punjabi by birth, now settled in Mumbai, was born in New Delhi on April 22, 1974. His early schooling was at the Army Public School, Delhi. After finishing school, he studied at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, from where he graduated in mechanical engineering. He further went on to complete his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, bagging the prestigious award of ‘The Best Outgoing Student’. He even worked as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs for eleven years in Hong Kong and moved back to Mumbai in 2008. Later he gave up his job in early 2009 to devote his entire time to writing. In March 2008, The New York Times had tagged Chetan Bhagat as: “The biggest selling English-language novelist in India’s history.” He married his girlfriend Anusha, a Thanjavur-Tamilian Brahmin, who was his classmate at IIM-A. The couple has twin boys, Ishaan and Shyam.

Chetan Bhagat is the author of three bestsellers; Five Point Someone-What not to do at IIT (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005) and The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008). All his books’ title has a number and have inspired major Bollywood films; Three Idiots starring Aamir Khan and Kareena Kapoor is based on Five Point Someone..., and is slated for release on December 25. Hello starring Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif is based on One Night @ the Call Center and was released on October 10, 2008. Farhan Akhtar’s Excel Entertainment has bought the rights for making a movie based on his third book, The 3 Mistakes of My Life.

Chetan Bhagat’s eagerly awaited fourth novel, 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, (inspired from and based on his real marital life’s sweet and sour hues), was finally released, first in New Delhi on October 9 and again in Mumbai on October 10 by its publisher Rupa & Co. Union minister Dr Shashi Tharoor graced the Delhi book launch function, while actress Vidya Balan glamorized the Mumbai launch.

The book is based on the relationship between the protagonist, his wife and their families, who are from different states. It’s a witty tale about inter-community marriages in modern India, with the pushing of the marital envelope being its central premise. It’s a love story about a Punjabi boy (Krish) and a Tamilian girl (Ananya). It’s no small coincidence that this clash of civilizations is something that Chetan Bhagat (Punjabi) and wife Anusha (Tamilian) live though on a daily basis.

Krish and Ananya, representing two different states of North and South India, are deeply in love and want to get married. Their adamant parents don’t agree and the couple has a really tough battle ahead to get married with the prior consent of their parents. It’s easy to fight and rebel, but that much harder to convince! Will their cajoling competence catapult them to a state of eternal marital bliss? Will they finally succeed? After all, love marriages in this land of ‘unity in diversity’ aren’t still that simple! Are they?

Saikh Md Sabah Al-Ahmed