‘Five Point Someone-What not to do at I I T by Chetan Bhagat -Atlanta Dunia -

‘Five Point Someone-What not to do at I I T by Chetan Bhagat

Rupa & Co. New Delhi (Paperback-270 pages)

By Mahadev Desai

Chetan Bhagat’s captivating, hilarious and breezy debut novel ‘Five Point Someone’ about life on a college campus, has not only garnered rave reviews but also become a national bestseller. In March 2008, New York Times called him the ‘biggest selling English author in India’s history”. Astronomical sales of a combined million copies of this and

succeeding novel ‘One Night @ The Call Center’ is a testament of the popularity of the novels. The novel, written in simple, lucid prose with deft humor, set in hallowed IIT, Delhi campus about three below-average students, Hari,the narrator and his bosom friends Ryan and Alok, living and studying together for four years, wishing to graduate as well as have ample fun along the way is gripping. “With the pace of an autobiographical account, the characters are simple people with whom one can identify with almost instantaneously.” Comments Times of India. “In his first novel, a former IITian gives us a glimpse into the eccentric, elitist world of India’s most prestigious engineering institutes” adds India Express.

The comedic plot is simple. Hari, Ryan and Alok spend four years in Kumaon hostel. Alok is short, and portly with thick glasses. He comes from a poor family. His mother is a teacher and a breadwinner for the family as his father is paralyzed and bed-ridden. He is desperate to graduate, find a good job to maintain his family and also financially help his elder sister get married. Ryan is handsome, and well off financially. He has spent most of his life in a boarding school and hates his parents. He is more creative of the three and is more fun-loving. He is soon fed up with strict IIT's academic regimen of lectures, tutorials, quizzes, vivas and tests that leave little time for fun. A C2D (Cooperate to dominate) plan is hatched, whereby they take turns to attend classes and share notes, etc. Ryan gets a kinetic Honda which they use for sightseeing, going to movies, restaurants, and visits to Alok’s home. They also frequent a roadside food joint for butter-paranthas, lemonade and cigarettes. But the most enjoyable and relaxing place for them is the roof of the eight –storey Insti building. Here they drink vodka; smoke joints and listen to Pink Floyd music. Blossoming love between Hari and Neha is also amusing and heartwarming. Cute-looking, fashion-design student Neha, daughter of strict IIT Professor Cherian, while driving in her car, knocks down Hari who is out jogging. And they become friends. They call each other once-a-month,


	Chetan Bhagat graduated from IIT Delhi in 1995. Post IIT he did an MBA from IIM-A from where he graduated in 1997. He is an investment banker with Deutche Bank and lives in Mumbai, with his wife Anusha and their twin sons. He has a keen interest in spirituality and Yoga.

meet in ice-cream parlors and share ice-creamy kisses! The scene where Hari, with Ryan and Alok’s help climbs the roof of Neha’s home at midnight and then sneaks into her bedroom to wish her a happy birthday and offer her flowers (that too plucked from her garden!) is hilarious.

How hard they try, and despite trying various stratagems, they just cannot improve their grades. Hari always gets tongue-tied in vivas (even after downing vodka!). In the final year, Ryan thinks of Operation Pendulum-a Mission Impossible type plan-to steal the Test Paper from Prof. Cherian’s office. Hari manages to borrow the bunch of keys from Neha, and gets a duplicate of the key to Cherian’s office. They get caught red-handed and are punished by the Disco (Disciplinary Committee). But US educated Prof. Veera who is impressed by Ryan’s lube project, rescues them from harsh punishment.Hari,Ryan and Alok work very hard in the final semester, graduate and find good jobs.

Chetan is driven by passion to write and he is a good story teller. The characters are believable and one can easily relate to them. The novel tugs at your heartstrings and has resonated well with young Indian readers,(the can-do generation) and especially with all those who have lived on Indian college campuses, sharing their dreams, aspirations and anxieties with fellow students from diverse backgrounds. Chetan does not moralize in his novels. Admittedly prestigious institutions like IITs are highly competitive but the ‘mice race’ to get top grades, and high-salaried jobs needs to be debated. Creativity, thinking out-of-the-box needs to be encouraged. And there ought to be room for bit of fun too! Both his novels have inspired major Bollywood films.