Northie weds Southie

Chetan Bhagat’s last book, ‘The Three mistakes of my life’ was more or less of a mistake(fourth?) itself. It read more like a movie script than a book, with improbable story lines, shallow characterization and more than a little melodrama. So, when a friend of mine gave me Bhagat’s new book “Two States” to read, there was somewhat of a doubt if I would be wasting some brain cells reading this one too. But it turned out okay. The book that is.

Bhagat has revived the protagonist of his very first novel(Five Point Someone) for this book. The story is the same old story of most Hindi films. Boy meets girl; they fall in love; families are opposed. That sort of thing. For good measure, Bhagat throws in the North-South divide. And some emotional turbulence in the protagonist’s life (not done too well though). Most of the book is about how the hero and heroine cope with the cultural divide and win over both set of parents. Along the way, Bhagat also manages to do some soul searching (a concept that seems to fascinate the MBA types to no end).

The story may be simple, but the treatment is different. Plus, Bhagat manages to keep the reader’s interest with witty lines sprinkled throughout the book (especially the stereotyping of races). Character development isn’t a priority in Bhagat’s novels, so don’t expect much on that front. Lastly, there are no major “suspend your belief” kind of moments in this book, like in ‘One Night @ Call Centre’ and ‘The Three mistakes of my life’. 

All in all, Two States is an okay read. Good enough for the 95 bucks that one will spend on the book. Rating: 3 out of 5.