Revolution - 2020 by Chetan Bhagat - A Review

I have read all the books of Chetan Bhagat and I find '2 States' the best so far.

I ordered Revolution 2020 through Flipkart and got it delivered the very next day. Reached home early in the evening and started reading it.

About the Plot: Usual CB style of writing, there is nothing really enticing in the plot, except for the narration. CB's narration is something that I have really liked in all his books.

The plot revolves around 3 School mates, Gopal, Aarti and Raghav. The story has enormous twists in terms of the relationships between the three. It captures the current state of 'affairs' that is happening in the society.

Kids who sit and cram their books just to ensure that they satisfy the egos of the parents, without even having an idea of what the future beholds for them has been picturized perfectly. On a lighter note, CB holds a grudge against his parents for pushing him to become an Engineer as this comes out very prominently in 5 Point Someone and Revolution 2020 in the form of Prateek.

The lead characters identify the areas of their passion, One wanting Money, Other being a Journo and the third wanting to be an Air hostess; is something that I find very interesting. I don't think it happens with most of us, especially engineers. This reminds me of Aamir Khan's dialogue in '3-Idiots' when he tells Kareena about 'Suhas' character that 'He did an Engineering, Then did an MBA and works for an Investment Bank'. I have a similar story, just that I don't work for an investment bank.

The way corruption and goondaism is portrayed, depicts a perfect setting of Uttar Pradesh Politics. There seems to be nothing that moves in this country without greasing the hands, which is not far from truth.

CB mocks at our system of getting approvals for setting up educational institutions and throws light on mushrooming of new private engineering colleges. I think this has been a bad phenomenon across India, where colleges have been opened without basic infrastructure. At least our Hero's college had the necessary infrastructure, that could be called an Engineering College.

I could relate my state to Gopal when I missed getting into Medicine. Though, I got into Engineering, which was always a second option. In hindsight, I think engineering fitted me right.

Pros: Good and easy read. If you like CB's style of writing, you can be rest assured that you will like this. I kept the Book down only after reading it completely.

Cons: The story line could have been better. We don't like to disappoint the Hero in India. :) (Am I giving away too much?)

Conclusion: It is a fantastic and light read! I liked it.

Can I compare it with CB's earlier books? No harm in comparing, but I liked 2 States and 5 Point some better than Revolution 2020.

Tommy....

I never liked any pets and have never wanted to have any pets for almost 33 years. There were two street dogs, that somebody left on our road a week ago. One was a light brown dog (Tommy) and the other is a dark brown (Johnny).

By the way, nobody in our house liked any pets and my daughter was frightened by the sight of dogs. These two dogs started coming to "Aashraya" and my Dad and Ananya started feeding them with milk and rice. The two used to sign in early in the morning at sharp 6:00 AM. All this went on for a week. In between I had been to Shivamogga for my wife's PhD convocation. The first thing that I asked my dad when I called him was, "How are the puppies?"

Today, after a hectic day full of calls, I returned home by 5:30 PM. The moment I got down from the Car, Tommy and Johnny came to me and started playing with me. I played with them for about 15 minutes and came in. I saw one of my neighbors take Tommy and give him some food.

It was about 6:30 and I went to the road to check out something in my Car and I saw Tommy sleeping on the road. I had never seen him sleep on the road. When I tried to wake him up, he had slipped in to permanent sleep :'(. I still cannot believe that Tommy is no more. The pup with whom I had played with about an hour ago had been killed by a speeding car.

Tommy, we will miss you. The sight of Johnny crying over the body of Tommy is something that I can never forget in my life.

I do not wish to curse the driver of the car, but I have decided that I will be a safer driver on the road.

Life after...

I was returning a while ago in an Auto after a heavy dinner and a discourse by a friend. Of course, I am in Hyderabad.

A lot of thoughts crossed my mind when the Auto came over Nagarjuna Circle, Banjara Hills flyover. For people who don’t know the geography, this is a place where there is a cemetery on either side of the road. Probably, the road has been built through the cemetery.

The first thing that came to my mind was, Why did Human beings started to bury the dead? Leaving aside all the religious beliefs, I was drawn to my eighth or ninth standard Biology lessons, which taught of the concept of 'Evolution'. I began to think that, this probably was the way that man found to save himself from seeing the human body decay.

I was reminded of the verse from Shankaracharya's Bhaja Govindam, 'Yaavat Pavano nivasati dehe taavat prichchati Kushalam Gehe. Gatavati vaayou dehaa paaye, bhaarya bibhyati tasmin kaaye', which roughly translates into 'Till the time there is life in you, people think about you and your well being. The moment, 'Air' is out of one's body, even the wife would be frightened to see the dead'

I was also reminded of a teacher by name 'Francis D'souza,' who taught History in my high school. Once he had remarked, 'It feels so great after you are dead to be buried in the lap of mother nature, rather than being burnt into ashes.' I really dont remember the context in which he said that, but yes, even then I was wondering, how can somebody know what happens after he is gone. What difference does it make to the body without any life in it?

Thoughts about reincarnation, Life after death, all the stories that I had heard of as a kid that 'Yamaraj' would be standing in hell with a vessel of boiling oil and the moment you enter hell and if you are a sinner, you will be fried in that vessel: The 'Kinkaras' will chew your nails off if you have done that all your life (Nevertheless, i still have that habit and I am sure, there wouldn't be anything left for them :-) ) : There would be no food given for days together if you waste food that has been served for you : Your tongue will be cut off for using fowl language when you are a kid, etc. etc.

I was preoccupied in thinking about the discussion that I had with my friend on the way things are going in a recessionary economy, when all of a sudden, I was reminded of my once upon a time ambition, 'When I die, I should be happy and there should be at least a million people who cry!'

By the time, I began to think of on this, I had reached my destination and the next problem was to get the door opened...