Book Review: The Three Mistakes of My Life

It is quite ironical that someone would name his third book as "The Three Mistakes of My Life" but when the writer in question is Chetan Bhagat, well, you can expect anything as far as names and langugage are concerned! Alright, this one is also extremely Chetanesque as far as characterization is concerned. You have the typical shy, introverted hero and the extremely bold and unconventional heroine. This one is also about friendship. This one has its share of a struggling single parent. This one also has its own little bit of fantasy! Yet, what makes the book enjoyable is the natural, easy on the mind narrative style that has come to be so much recognized as Chetan's which even makes a book- hater devour his book eagerly.

It is also interesting as to how Chetan makes each of his books so very personal. If it was his own experiences at the IIT in Five Point Someone, it was his rendezvous with a pretty, young girl on an overnight train that starts One Night at the Call Centre. This time around, it is an e mail from a guy in Ahmedabad that starts it all! The three lead characters are so very well thought out- all of them have their own unique thinking pattern which often differs drastically from that of the others, yet all of them are so together, and you really second Vidya when she tells Govind that the friends have known each other from the time they were sperms! It is kinda good to note that in Chetan's stories, it is always the girl who makes sexual advances- looks like it is his way of shedding the demure, conventional image of the "bharatiya naari" and boy, it does work so well!

Govind, Omi and Ish have their own respective passions- business, religion and cricket- and those are the three things that the book is based upon. It is clever on Chetan's part to base it in a city like Ahmedabad which has its own background and ends up being a character in the book. It is interesting to note how each character grows and matures as the story progresses and how an extremist like Omi gives up his life to save the muslim boy! Chetan's maturity as a writer comes straight across starting from his theme selection to the manner in which he takes the narrative forward and this one moves at supersonic speed with subtle humuor and identifiable and real situations thrown in for good measure. I personally did not find the Australian chapter attractive though!

The bestest selling English author in the history of Indian literature is here to stay and let us hope that he keeps entertaining us with more such creations! He might not be philosophical like Vikram Seth, nor can he ever be as sensitive as R K Narayan, but Chetan is definitely the representative of the Indian Gen next! He is the Karan Johar of Indian literature- you can either love him or hate him but there is no way you can ignore him!

If you want a lazy afternoon of yours to zoom past you in supersonic speed, grab a copy of this one! You would not regret your decision, you can take my word for that!