Depressing bestseller

Revolution 2020 by Chetan Bhagat; Rupa Publications; Price: Rs.195; 296 ppUndoubtedly Indian society owes a debt to IIT graduate and former banker turned acclaimed novelist, Chetan Bhagat whose books have attracted countrywide attention. During the past decade, he has written four novels on contemporary themes, which have resonated with the public, particularly the countrys estimated 100 million urban youth. Until Bhagat arrived on the 21st century literary scene, an English language book or novel which sold 3,000 copies was acclaimed a bestseller. According to news reports, all of Bhagats novels (Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Centre (2005), The Three Mistakes of My Life (2008) and 2 States: The Story of My Marriage (2009)) have sold in hundreds of thousands. To this list add his latest oeuvre Revolution 2020 which reportedly received advance orders for 2 million copies. But while Bhagat has brought the freshness and energy of youth into Indian writing in English with appealingly contemporary storylines, at another level the amazing popularity of his novels is a depressing indicator of the extent to which education and public expectations have been dumbed down in our times. Revolution 2020 is awash with trivial and awkward dialogue which is often downright corny. Moreover if youre looking for social context, credible characterisation, interpretation of motivations and insights into the human condition — essential ingredients of the accomplished novelists craft — you are reading the wrong author. All you are likely to get is a simple tale told in the style of a Bollywood movie with over-painted characters, stagey situations, childish dialogue and a rain of italics to draw attention. Revolution 2020 has two narrative strands. One is a love triangle which follows the lives of friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarati growing up in Varanasi. Although this city steeped in myth and history offers rich opportunities for context and character-shaping influences, it is dismissed in one paragraph as a habitation which some call beautiful, holy and spiritual. According to Bhagat, middle class children raised in this sacred city of vintage temples, burning ghats and discarded widows, are completely unaffected by their environment, and are more interested in tiffin and chocolates, the subject matter of the entire first chapter. The second narrative strand is the rags to riches story of Gopal, the only son of a retired widower school teacher, whose burning ambition is to enroll his offspring into an IIT. Therefore, like most aspirant middle class youth, Gopal is sent to a cram school in Kota to be coached for the countrys IIT-JEE (joint entrance exam), written by over 300,000 youth vying for 3,000 seats in the IITs. Here too, Bhagat had a good chance to honestly detail the hard grind and grudging social lives allowed to youth sent to study there. But in true Bollywood style, Gopal is a paragon of virtue, interested only in Aarati, the spoilt girl (daughter of the district magistrate) he left behind. Predictably, she becomes enamoured with Raghav, a brilliant student — the third…