as i see it

It was fun reading "The 3 mistakes of my life" like other two books of Chetan Bhagat. The feeling was like watching some masala movie..romance, emotions, friendship and finally a happy ending. Starting is quite a bit slow..but keeps your attention untill a dramatic ending.

The story : This book contains a story of a guy called Govind Patel who had dreamt of becoming a successful businessman. The book is loosely based on the three mistakes Govind made in his life.
What follows is a mix of cricket, religion, business, love and friendship. Govind sets up a sports shop along with his friends in the temple compound with Omi’s family’s help. The shop prospers as Ishan coaches young boys in cricket and Govind teaches maths to Ishan’s sister Vidya who also captures his heart. Ishan then meets Ali, a child master with a hyper reflex condition that makes him hit each ball for a six ( This is a part i cant digest ) . Ali displays the talent which Ishan never had and Ali’s destiny becomes his own.
Omi’s Bitoo mama , a communal party man bent on converting the young into fighters in the name of Hinduism. Situations come to a head and Ahmedabad burns in riot fires. Omi dies saving Ali and Ishan finds out about Vidya and Govind, a betrayal he does not forgive. These events lead Govind to his death-bed and that is when he writes the email to Bhagat.

The book is quite similar to Chetan Bhagats Five Point Someone with respect to a plethora of aspects. Three young friends, their tryst with destiny, the romantic scenes, the ups and downs, the dark humour, the screw ups.. It’s all there. However, there are a few refreshing aspects to the book- especially the handling of the business mentality, the local Gujarati flavor and the very India style love story.

Lines I loved : Gujarat is the only state in India where people tend to respect you more if you are in businesss than if you are in service (real true!) and 'Gujarat is a dry state.. people here get drunk on food'.

What i cant understand is the importance given to the three mistakes. Does losing money due to bad decisions and unexpected circumstances qualify as a mistake ? especially in case of Gujrati businessmen - who are known for their apetite for risks? And why the huge issue about falling in love with a friends sister as long your sincere with the relationship ?

The story sometimes seems like an illustration of problems that Indians have to live with - Lack of development in smaller towns, sick politicians, religious extremism, lack of sports education/infra-structure in schools etc etc . In some places, simply for the heck of covering many of these problems, creates certain scenarios are created a tad too forcefully. Like Ish's stereotypically grumpy Indian Dad always taunting against his failures, sometimes, simply for the heck of it! or the Ish smashing the guys car- that was little too melodramatic way of portraying his protectiveness towards his sister..

As for the ending, yes it was a bit too melodramatic with half the ppl dying in a RGV movie like scene, but i think that can be spared given the nice plot and a decent pace overall… I like his hinglish writing style a lot.

The reason Chetan Bhagat got so popular in the first place was his refreshing attitude towards writing with a distince indian flavour. Thats what made him a huge hit.

My guess is you'll like it unless your a really seasoned reader of authors like jeffery archer, arthor hailey and so on - from that angle Chetan Bhagat has a lot of catching up to do.
But the plot and the few refreshiong aspects i described above make this book my favourite amongst his 3 offerings.

Finally Its fun filled entertainment and something the indian youth can connect to. worth reading once.