Happy birthday Chetan Bhagat! Here's celebrating the man busting myths since 2004!
Brace yourself for today, not only was Brienne of Tarth knighted by Ser Jaime Lannister, but it also happens to be supreme writer Chetan Bhagat’s birthday.
Yes, on this day, the earth was blessed with the powerhouse of talent that is Chetan — and since then, the world has never been the same.
The acclaimed writer of pathbreaking literature, a historian best known for chronicling engineering college student behaviour, a man of many talents — he’s a dancer too, remember? — is loved for all of his talents.
But today, we’re going to talk about five essential myths he busted in his decorated life.
Here goes:
1. English is the language of the ‘classes’
Ever since Five Point Someone dropped, anyone who has ever felt incompetent for not being too well-versed in English started feeling better about themselves.
With each book of Chetan’s — One Night @ The Call Centre, Two States, Three Mistakes Of My Life, Half Girlfriend — we felt more and more empowered. We could read English — if that’s what you call English, we could have our living room bookshelves lined with his books and feel like we’ve arrived in the elite circle, we could call ourselves 'bibliophiles' — even as most of us don’t know what it means. Still.
2. The book is always better than the film
Stiff-collared book lovers always cringe at cinematic adaptations of literature — just ask anyone who has read the entire Game Of Thrones book series and they will tell you how terrible the show is. But when Kai Po Che released, an official adaptation of Chetan’s Three Mistakes Of My Life — no, we don’t mean his first three books — that myth was busted — and how.
The film was and is better than the book.
That’s right, Chetan is not selfish, he cares about movies too.
3. Creative people are not salesmen
Why shouldn't creativity and salesmanship go hand in hand? Why are creative geniuses expected to starve while the world fails to recognise their talents? When William Shakespeare wrote plays, did he hope that one day, they will be studied in university classes? No — he wrote them to be performed.
Centuries later, Chetan writes books as they were meant to be by the great bard — to be made into films!
Just because he is a writer now, he hasn’t forgotten what he learnt in business school — he knows how to sell his creativity creatively!
4. Not all (engineering college) men are like that
If there's one recurrent theme in Chetan's books, it is engineering college. It is, therefore, safe to say that he is the final word on them.
Now, we've read many jokes about engineering students — how starved they are for, well, physical affection, how they are best friends with their right hands or left, if you may, so on and so forth. And every time there is an anti-man narrative, we have that lone voice, adding, "Not all men!" Well, yes, all men. if they don't end up falling in love with Ananya Swaminathan (Alia Bhatt's character in 2 States, a story apparently loosely based on Chetan's own life), they are doomed.
Which is why there is just one Chetan Bhagat!
5. This will be his last book
Nope. This won't be his last. The next won't be his last. Another 10 books — and that still won't be the last. He won't stop. EVER. You can't stop him.
Unfortunately, even Hulk can't stop him.
Happy realisation.