Love, Corruption and Ambition...the words Chetan Bhagat uses to describe his latest offering, Revolution 2020. After being conferred the crown of the 'paperback king', Bhagat leaves the environs of metros and writes this book in the backdrop of Varanasi, the city of temples.Though the pace of his novel not quite matches the velocity with which the holy rivers flows down the sacred ghats.
Anyways, the story revolves around three people: Gopal, Aarti and Raghav who apparently know each other since the day they came out of their mothers' womb.The trio had a fun- filled childhood and became great buddies but as they grow up they find themselves at crossroads: a career.Gopal and Raghav get glued to engineering whereas Aarti opts for a career as a flight attendant.
Raghav comes on top and cracks the JEE getting into BHU, whereas the poor boy Gopal couldn't get a rank that could fetch him a good engineering college and his father a life without grudge, misery and litigation.Aarti, the daughter of the DM seeks admission in a degree college.Aarti and Gopal both extremely close friends, know each other inside out.The boat rides and the regular meetings make them indispensable for each other.
As the story delves deeper, Gopal moves to Kota to prepare harder and give another shot at JEE-the holy grail of examinations and AIEEE.He does so more for his impoverished father than for himself but his ordeals at Kota are much lesser in intensity than the pain of separation from Aarti.The account of the coaching industry feels real(perhaps the only positive thing of the book) but also makes the reader think about the way the coaching mafia mints money by luring naive aspirants to capture their dreams giving false claims.
'Bargaining for the fee of a college', is an anecdote that I found capricious.Moving on, after spending 305 days at Kota, Gopal returns to the city of Temples only to learn that his tenacity to crack an entrance exam has decreased but his intensity to make Aarti his forever has increased.He's baffled to find out that Aarti in time being has become intimate with Raghav and only looks at Gopal as a 'friend'..yawn.
The story from there on resembles a melodramatic bolly flick with love triangles with the edges of the triangle changing every page.Instead of exploring the pedantic nature in relationship, Bhagat tries to build his story on the rivalry between the two boys.
From triangles, Bhagat intercepts through the whole 'commercialization of education issue' which is swallowing the education system as Gopal, trying to come to terms with his father's death finds solace in the company of Shukla Ji, an intimidating MLA from the town.Shukla Ji is an opulent politician(every politician is) who has undisclosed wealth that he has illegaly sought from the GAP(Ganga Action Plan) and other citizen-oriented initiatives.Raghav, in the interim has sacrifices an offer from a software company to become an editor(read activist) who wants to bring cheats like Shukla in the public eye.The murky world of politics and journalism are describes in a shallow way and show lack of research and brevity.The biggest flaw though is the female protagonist, Aarti, who seems more perplexed and confused as Rakhi Sawant at a charity event.Shame.
As the languish book draws to a close, the inevitable happens as the story becomes predictable and passive.The ending is vague and resemble an earmarked Bollywood drama where you feel like empathising with Gopal.There is a change of heart as he sacrifices his love for his friend.Thus the triangle converts into a line, finally...
R2020 disappoints not only because of naive caricature of the leads but also due to the lack of strength and conviction in the story.One doesn't quite understand the essence of the 'revolution' and what would be its consequences.Further, if you compare this to its previous bestsellers- Five point someone and 2 states, your disappointment is bound to ascend.It lacks the clever wisecracks and editing of FPS and the contemplative way in which the difference between north and south Indians was depicted in 2 states.Its a big disappointment for all his fans :(
Publication :Rupa Co.
Cost: Rs 140/-
Rating:2.5 (wanted to give 2 but the oozing critic in me said aadha point aur de)
Udit Bhatia
Electronics & Communication Engineering
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
Pounds us under duress
Falling is not in our lexicon
