Year 2011
I am ready to barter my present for the gone days, anytime. Those were the carefree days, when the only worry was not reaching school on time. I wasn’t much of a reader back then. I had only touched upon Tinkle comics, Amar Chitra Katha and Enid Blyton's books.
I don’t quite remember the circumstances. Maybe I was too bored or had run out of TV shows to watch, I was strolling around the house, aimlessly. I noticed a book 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat lying in my parents' bedroom. I had heard of him and the rage around his books, especially this one. Curiosity got the better of me and I read the blurb. The 12 yr. old me found it fascinating and I decided to check out the book-- for the sake of it. The next day, I spent the entire day at school reading it and gave it back to my mum who was searching for it.
“Why were you reading it? It isn’t for children. Did you understand anything?”, she asked.
It was the first book I had read which was aimed at adults. Little did she or I know that I had embarked on a beautiful, unceasing journey. Thanks, Chetan.
____________________________
Shyam is a student studying in 10th class in Koyyuru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh. His parents are daily wage labourers, who earn meagre wages, enough to sustain a hand-to-mouth existence. He goes to a Telugu medium school, which is inadequately staffed with bare minimum facilities.
He has big dreams. His parents constantly remind him,"Chaduko ra. Lapote maalage batukutav" (Please study, otherwise you'll end up like us). He is a bright and meritorious student and wants to become an engineer. He always heard that reading books is beneficial and wanted to go beyond the numerous Telugu books he had read. He asks his English teacher to suggest him a book. The teacher tells him to read R.K.Narayan's 'Malgudi Days'. Somehow, Shyam gets hold of the book and enthusiastically starts to read. He couldn't progress without getting stuck by a word or phrase here and there. Finally, he gives up. He thought,"Maybe I should not pretend to behave like the city kids. I should behave according to my status".
One day, he and his father had gone to the city. While waiting for the bus to arrive, he saw a kiosk selling books. He went to have a look and saw an English book titled "One Indian Girl" by Bhagat. It costed only a hundred rupees. He went home and started with the book. Surprisingly, it was very easy to comprehend, with a relatable plot described in lucid language. When he read the last sentence and put down the book, he had a sense of satisfaction and achievement. His parents were proud seeing their son read "an English book". He thought," Maybe, I can do it too".
__________________________________
You might have got an inkling to where this is headed. A lot of people bash Bhagat's work as "sub-standard" or "a gimmick in the name of literature". I used to belong to this tribe of haters. Recently, I realized, I got it all wrong. Here are some common arguments put forth to denigrate his work and my counter-arguments-
1) "Vaishnavi, how can you even try to defend him? You know what quality literature is"
Most certainly, yes. What I do not know is struggling to find good mentors to improve my language and grammar. I do not know how difficult it is to find the 'perfect book' which propels you to read more, because I had a lot of people around me to give suggestions. I have never felt the lack of a good peer group, which plays an important role in exchanging or countering ideas in a constructive way. My peers at Xavier's were way too smart and well read. I have never faced dire poverty that would have hindered me to pay those 500 odd Rupees for a novel.
Imagine yourself as Shyam for a minute. Don't you think he would have faced all these situations, whenever he set out to read? You most likely would have given up. I definitely would have. I went to an English medium State board school; where the English teachers actually spoke in English, unlike the rural municipality schools. Even then, during the initial days, I struggled to understand the classics, because we didn't have any Shakespeare or Wodehouse in our curriculum. I can only imagine how impossible it is for the vernacular medium students, who barely start learning the English alphabets in 5th class.
They dream to speak English fluently. They want to read English books. But where do they start? Agatha Christie, Doyle, Dickens, Taleb, Miller? Even urban English-medium bred people cannot understand a lot of their works, let alone the beginners. How can they relate to the 19th century Victorian era or the First World problems? Or do we give them crap like 50 shades of Grey? Chetan Bhagat, I feel, fits right into the puzzle.
2) "But, we do have a lot of Indian authors. Can't we give them those?"
Quite honestly, no. Indian authors may have relatable plots but their language remains very flowery. Our greats like Tagore, R.K. Narayan are incomprehensible to many. Frankly, whenever I sit down to read Vikram Seth, I sit with a dictionary. Along with his tediously long books, his vocabulary is very difficult for me. Same goes for Tharoor. Jhumpa Lahiri can be a tad unrelatable at times for the regular Indian.
3) "Great! If you are telling them to read bullshit, might as well tell them to read Durjoy Datta or Sudeep Nagarkar too. They are along the likes of Chetan Bhagat".
Purely from a literary point of view, Bhagat's writing is pathetic. The same plot twisted and given a new shape every time. His range of vocabulary is suitable for a primary school kid and at times is unnecessarily vulgar. Along with poor sentence formation, his verbose descriptions are very boring. But, he is not writing to impress you. In various interviews, he clearly mentioned that his target audience is the rural India-- the section of India that is scared to read English novels. He is smart and has created a niche for himself by putting his IIM- marketing skills to great use.
As far as Durjoy and Nagarkar are concerned, it would be a disgrace to call them authors. Their books can't even qualify for coffee table books. Bhagat tries to touch upon an issue in every work of his-
Two States( best work of his, in my opinion) - The North-South divide and Indian arranged marriages
Revolution 2020- Corruption embedded deep in the bureaucracy and the scam of private education
One Night at the Call Center- Dark side of call centers, which often doesn't come to the forefront
3 Mistakes Of My Life - Communalism and Godhra riots
Half Girlfriend- A very bad book, nevertheless touches upon the state of education in Bihar
One Indian Girl- Feminism
He has also tried to diversify himself by venturing into a different genre- murder mysteries through The Girl in Room 105. A good attempt, I'd say.
Bhagat tries to to put something on the plate instead of absolute rubbish like Durjoy or Nagarkar. He wants the young India to read. All his books are affordably priced between 100-150 rupees which further drop as they get older. Here's something I see as a win-win situation for both the author and the readers. His books could potentially be stepping stones into the world of Milton and Jeffrey Archer.
4) "All his books are filmy. Almost every book of his is a movie".
Come on, such a lame statement to make. Logic suggests, it's the filmmakers to blame.
_______________________________
Your command over English, your accent, your opinions, your excellent taste; everything is a result of your privilege and upbringing. Slinging mud at Chetan Bhagat, isn't cool and doesn't make you look cool. Comparing him with Dickens or Sidney Sheldon is like comparing apples with oranges. If a certain author doesn't appeal to your taste, avoid him. Live and let live. Your unsolicited opinions don't matter a dime. There are many Shyams out there excitedly waiting for his next novel or 12 yr. olds who could accidentally renew the joy of reading.
(Got a signed copy once)
Comments
Post a Comment