Paper –13. New Literature--What according to you are the reasons for his popularity and success of Chetan Bhagat

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Q. What according to you are the reasons for his popularity and success of Chetan Bhagat?

Introduction:-

Chetan Bhagat (pronunciation; born 22 April 1974) is an Indian author, columnist, screenwriter and speaker. Bhagat is the author of bestselling novels. Bhagat writes opted columns for popular English and Hindi newspapers, including The Times of India and Deink Bashkir, focusing on youth, career and issues based on national development. In 2008, The New York Times cited Bhagat as "the biggest selling English language   novelist in India’s history".

Early life

Bhagat was born in Delhi to a Punjabi family. His father was an officer in the army and his mother was a government employee in the agricultural department. Chetan Bhagat done his mechanical engineering from IIT-D and then he went to IIM-A for his post graduation. Some years after completing his education, bhagat went to work in a bank in Hong Kong and at one time, when his many colleagues were promoted, bhagat did not get promoted, he also realized that he was unable to give the required time to literary work. Till then he had already completed 11 years as an INVESTMENT banker. This was a turning point of bhagat's life and then he wrote his first work, in 2004 and quit his job as a banker. Marriage Chetan Bhagat got married in 1999 with nausea who was his classmate in IIM-A. As chitin bhagat belongs to a Punjabi family while nausea belongs to a South Indian family, their love marriage had to face many problems. But at last their love found respect and they were married. And now they are living happily with their two twin sons Shan and Shyam. Bhagat's novel 2 States is loosely his own story.

Literary work

Five Point Someone (2004)

One Night @ the Call Center (2005)

The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008)

2 States (2009)

Revolution 2020 (2011)

What Young India Wants (2012)

Half Girlfriend (2014)

All the books have remained bestsellers since their release and four have inspired Bollywood films (including the hit films 3 Idiots, Kai Po Che! and 2 States). In 2008, The New York Times cited Bhagat as "the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history”. Time magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Bhagat voices his opinion frequently at leading events .He quit his investment banking career in 2009, to focus on writing. He debuted as a screenplay writer with the 2013 film 'Kai Po Che'.His new book Half Girlfriend has created quite a buzz after its release. Bhagat has his columns in The Times of India and Hindustan Times. He was a judge on the Voice of India Star Anchor Hunt. Chetan Bhagat also hosts 7 RCR on ABP news, which began airing 11 January 2014. The show features a series of biographies of India's prime ministerial candidates .Among his other activities, Bhagat is known to deliver speeches at programs organized by corporate, educational institutes, newspapers and media houses like Deink Bashkir, The Times of India and at other conclaves apart     

v Why his market is up?

How to sell the books smartly:

Well according to me Chetan Bhagat is a Marketing genius .He knows what exactly will get his target audience to read.

1. Sub 100 pricing.
People don't mind spending 90 odd rupees on time pass.
This also effectively eliminates piracy/ loss of revenue.

2. Reaches out to a WIDE target audience.
Five point (engineering students), One night (the humongous call centre employee population), Three mistakes (youth in general, who are hooked to his books by now), and lastly 2 states (people in Long distance relationships- like me!!

3. Simple language
it gives people the satisfaction of having read a book... Without having to look at the dictionary even once...

4. Thin books...Convenient to carry in crowded buses/ local trains,
can be hidden easily while reading on the last bench in class/ in terminal at office,
doesn’t scare the hell out of a generation bred on TV rather than books,
Can be lugged around in backpacks/ girls over stuffed purses...

5. And definitely the candy floss romance...
The rebellious average-Joe hero, everyone can relate with...

v He is not writing novels but writes novella:His books are not show much bulky so people read only in one seat so his books are not bulky and pages and pages so people like to read.  

v Youth is central theme

1. Love, Sex and Marriage

Throughout his novels Chetan Bhagat has given emphasis on the treatment of of love, sex and marriage as theme. In Bhagat’s fiction the attitude of youths towards love, marriage, and sex is not at all emotional; on the contrary it is quite casual. Love, as it is an instinctual feeling the young generation feels the vibrations of it every now and then, but the way they propose it and the carrying out love have definitely changed. As we see in his fictions, there are love proposals and rejections, but everything is taken quite healthily or say in a matter- of fact way. In India, where marriage is a sacrament, a man and a woman living together without getting married is a sin. But the majority of Cretan’s protagonists enjoy Pre MaritalSex. No other writer of the past, but Bhagat sanctified sex in his works. They watched the reluctance of the woman in it, whereas Bhagat has installed it in the willingness of the woman. Perfect examples for this stance will be the sexual relationship between Hair antennas in Five Point Someone, Shyam and Piranha in One Night @ The Call Center, Govind and Vidya in The 3 Mistakes of My Life, Krish and Ananya in 2 States, Gopal and Aarti in Revolution 2020. In Bhagat‘s opinion, girls are in no way inferior to boys. They are equal to them in all respects. He is an advocate to the liberation and empowerment of women, but the pity is that he has equaled them only in doing the wrong things and taking wrong turns like Neha enjoying her loss of virginity and thanking her partner, which shows her hunger and want for sex. He has even raised the issue of Inter caste Marriage in his works.

2. Representation of Youth

In the third chapter there will be the detailed study of the representation of youth in the novels of Chetan Bhagat. Almost in every novel he has highlighted his deep concern about the youth today i.e. what are the problems, hopes and aspirations of the youth. His novels give us a clear picture of his concern and the present paper is based on those issues Confidential. May it is through Ryan’s voice or Vroom’s, through Govind or Krish, through Gopal orsimply by means of certain articles in the leading newspapers. Throughout his novels he hastried to present the different problems that the youth is facing. Everyone is trying to get success in their struggle in love, business, employment, relations etc. The youth presented in the fiction has hope and aspiration. They are optimistic. Because of these novels has mass appeal.

3. Modern Culture and Modern Trend in Indian Society

The third theme aims at establishing the detailed study of the Modern Culture and Modern Trend in Indian Society as reflected in the novels of Chetan Bhagat. He stresses the importance of redefining the social values. He writes about India as an Indian. He writes about each aspect of India like its culture, its problems, and its language and depicts the life of young generation. According to Bhagat today's young India wants a good life, a good job and romance -- "meri naukri, meri chokri". Bhagat says;"The youth want to first fulfill their own needs and only after that are they willing to support a certain cause. Today's youth wants good well-paying job ('nature') and a nice girlfriend ('chore') in a decent urban city. I don’t think there's anything wrong with that but what is important is to earn that living honestly, with integrity and excellence and without compromising the core values that build our society". The traditional Indian society is in a state of metamorphosis. The old practices and customs have not given way to new and hence creates conflict in the life of the characters. Chetan Bhagat has written in his novels about love, sex and marriage. He has presented new generation women in his novels. All this happened in the modern culture that he very well spoke.

4. Status of New Generation Women:

It is tried to study the Status of New Generation Women as reflected in the novels ofChetan Bhagat. His characters are social rebels and his female protagonists remind us of the Natural female instinct. The place of action of his novels is set in the hustle and bustle of Metropolitan Indian cities. With the growing urbanization and globalization, a number of opportunities have opened up all around. Men and women are no more seen through the old spectacle which marksmen as superior and women as inferior. In this global atmosphere, sofa belittled women are given their due place and respect. With their own intellect and abilities, they are seen to be working shoulder to shoulder with men. They earn their own living and make career choices.

v Conclusion

Thus, Chetan Bhagat very successfully has treated above themes in his novels. Indian youth somewhere felt himself one of the characters in his novels as the central one, as it is the story of his life. Chetan Bhagat very well treated Love, sex, marriage and aspiration, hope, premarital relation and struggle of Indian youth. It is the Indian youth that made Chetan BhagatIndia’s ever best seller Indian English author. Chetan Bhagat very well used the social sites, gadgets in his novels. It is not only Indian youth but also the youth in worldwide felt ChetanBhagat as great writer. Finally it is recommended for new researchers that one must study his works in the light of Multiculturalism and feminism. This research could contribute greatly in the field of literary Criticism.