Advance Booking

1 BOOK-THE STORY OF MY IRRITATION

Money spent on this book is akin to losing your wallet: the cash is gone and you have nothing to show for it.

Krish, a Punjabi munda, falls in love with Ananya, a Tam Brahm he meets while studying at IIM-A. But in India, love doesn’t conquer all; it has to go through a lot of channels before culminating in marriage. Krish and Ananya have to convince their parents: the Tamil Brahmins who frown at the over-indulgent Punjabis, and the Punjabis who smirk at the sedate Madrasis.

Five tips to write a Chetan Bhagat novel:

Characters: Your narrator is a guy who is pretty much a loser. He should be no older than 30.
Plot: Switch on the TV and check out the latest soaps and/or Bollywood movies. Mix and match characters and settings.
Theme: Go to Google Trends and see the top 10 topics Indians search for. You have the background for your book. Bhagat’s four books have been about IIT, call center jobs, cricket and IIM. Wanna bet that his next book will have a Bollywood theme?
Dialogue: Use Indian English i.e. discard grammar and language to bring in the “feel” of "aam aadmi" India.
Love story: A must-have. Indians are suckers for romance, so make your love story as boo-hooey as possible.

The book is replete with clichés, tacky one-liners and ridiculous situations. The characters are mere caricatures: the parents of the two lovebirds are stereotypical Punjus and Tams, not a hair out of place. The plot meanders along in Bollywood style, complete with wooing and heart-breaking and family bonding. It’s more like a failed Yashraj movie script than a novel. Read at your own risk. Actually, you’d be much better off reading this superb article which expresses my views exactly.