The 3 Mistakes of my life - Chetan Bhagat

India has seen quite a few English writers in the past, from R. K. Narayan known for his simple, yet lively writing to Shashi Tharoor whose breadth and variety has captured people's imagination. Though I wouldn't place Chetan Bhagat in the same league, he has managed to capture a pretty big audience, the youth of India, between 15 and 30 years of age, by targeting his writing to their needs and basing his works on their lifestyle. After a hugely popular "Five Point Someone" and a popular "One Night at the call center", Chetan Bhagat presents his 3rd book, "The 3 mistakes of my life". Having read "One night at the call center", I wasn't very impressed with his writing style nor his "God speak" theme in the book. But I must give credit to his simple writing style, use of appropriate lingo and realistic description of details. I chanced upon this book, it has been a while since I read a book, so I thought this 250-pager story could be breezed through and would also provide me the required warm-up to bootstrap my reading habit again.

This book is a story that delves deep into the life, emotions and aspirations of a young Gujarati businessman. The story is set in the early part of this millenium and covers many news events like the earthquake at Bhuj, the Godhra train incident, India's spectacular series triumph against Australia and the Gujarat communal violence. Chethan Bhagat narrates the Gujarati lifestyle in good detail with emphasis on the psyche of the Gujarati youth. The story is pretty gripping in the second half of the book. Though Brett Lee becomes Fred Li and Modiji is Parekhji, the essence comes through pretty well in the book. On the flip side, the book reminds me of a typical bollywood movie, love story to fight scenes and all the melodrama in between. I wouldn't put this book in the must read category, but do read it if you want a peek into the society one of the most enigmatic states in India, a state flanked with phenomenal progress on one side and communal bias on the other.

Overall, a light read that can be raced through, if you have nothing else to do.

Five Point Someone -- Chetan Bhagat

Have you ever bunked your classes to hang out in college canteen for a cup of tea and greasy samosas? Ever burned both ends of midnight candle mugging MEPA? Combined studies anyone????? 4 years of blissful ignorance, raging harmones, proxy attendance, ragging, GRE, Toefl, Uncertain future, suicidal tendencies and special hang-out spots - unless you are a caveman, i surely know ya'll miss these moments ( my case, substitute suicidal with psycho ). Well relish all these fav moments in this Laugh-Out-Lout riot involving 3 super loser IITians and their ridiculous attempts to scrape through 4 grueling years to score a five pointer. Written by Chetan Bhagat ( who himself was an IIT /IIM alumni ), this one will literally make you roll on the floor LOL. Buy it from amazon or you can borrow it from me for a cookie :)

Goddess For Hire -- Sonia Singh

A charming biography of a re-incarnated goddess. Maya Mehra is a second generation American-Indian in the uber-yuppie, very open minded state of California. She is content being the spoilt brat of her parents -- the fact that both her parents are doctors cements her right to provide for the livelihood of Gucci, Versace and the likes. But the rich are not protected from the AuntiMania. Aunty Dimple and Aunty Gayatri (they deserve the most special mention of all her closely-related Aunties) along with Mummy and Daddy are very worried about her 'roaming about without a companion'.

Imagine the fate of the world when she discovers that she is the re-incarnation of Kali.

The book is a satirical (and funny) anecdote of Maya finding her true dharma and her Greg.

Look out for ticklers in the book

"Maya's sort of the family pet project." Nadia giggled. "We all keep waiting for her to grow up and find herself."

Not to be confused if you are looking for a book with a purpose. This is a total girl entertainer, no brains, and a mills-and-boonish story line.

Cheers you up during a Sunday afternoon cuppa.

Buy this book on Amazon.com

If you live in Seattle, you can also borrow it from the Seattle Public Library. (Thanks Sandeep for the link)