The Familial Love Marriage

Six months ago, the Indian phenomenon called Chetan Bhagat was juggling two jobs. He worked as an investment banker for Deutsche Bank, and he moonlighted as ‘the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history’. Today, by “divine intervention”, Bhagat has quit banking and parlays much as a novelist, speaker, columnist, blogger and a tweeter.

2 States: The Story of My Marriage, his fourth book that continues with the legacy of numerals in his book titles, is a tale about Krish and Ananya, who are from different states of India. The two fall in love and want to get married. But they face the gargantuan task of convincing their parents. Because, “in India, a love marriage is not between a boy and girl, but between the two’s families”, says Bhagat. The story bears a unique resemblance to the author’s own life. He, a Punjabi, married Anusha, a Tamilian and an ex-classmate at IIM-A, and both had to work hard to have their parents approve of their relationship.

The novel is an easy read, as all of Bhagat’s earlier works are, but it could be easily rated the wittiest of them all. Within the witticisms, Bhagat vehemently attacks a fractured India where regional sentimentalities destroy both the innocence and economics of love. To his credit, the conversations between the characters ‘out-tauts’ the tension in the narrative, enabling the message to hit home.

“The idea in all of my books is to take on youth-based issues,” he says. And the Indian youth has responded rapturously both in terms of response and readership. Here’re a few pointers to Bhagat’s success. In the webosphere, Bhagat has more than 25,000 fans on Facebook, over 81,000 Orkut fans, and more than 15,000 follow him on Twitter. Plus, Five Point Someone (2004) had 150 reprints. One Night @ the Call Center (2005) was the fastest selling English novel in India. The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008) sold more than a million copies in a year. And 2 States booked 400,000 copies before its launch. He is “making India read like never before”, beams Kapish Mehra, head of Rupa & Co, his publisher. Perhaps 2 States will make love birds of different feathers unite like never before.