Chetan Bhagat has been credited with converting a lot of young people who used to cringe at the sight of novels into avid(well sort of) readers and quie rightly so.It’s the ingredients of his stories that have made him a writer of the masses(he has a huge following unlike any other conemorary Indian author) not classes(the so called serious book lovers and critics).
What I mean is he might never go on to win a Booker but his books will always sell like hot cakes.As we have seen in all three of his books the story is about a bunch of young people who have their fair share of flaws dealing wih the various trials of life and the narration is always full of witty observations.His latest offering "The three mistakes of my life" is a lot different from his earlier books in a way that it isn’t just about the main proagonists but also about the society and it’s influences on their lives.
The Characters:-
Govind- The narrator of the story.Has the inherent Gujarati passion for business and dreams of being a successful businessman in the future.Lives with his mother who runs a small snack shop and helps her run the household by offering Maths tuitions in the neighbourhood.Called Mr Accounts by his friends (has a tendency to bring in maths into any discussion), he is full of ideas and thinks solely from the brain.
Ishant- One of Govind’s friends, knows one thing and knows it well, Cricket.Used to be a famous player in his school days but failed to make it big.An eye sore for his father as he spends most of his time watching matches on TV.Disgusted with a lot of things in life and thinks solely from his heart.
Omi- The other close friend of Govind, lives in the temple with his father who is the priest.Passionate about nothing in particular but likes to be in the company of friends and likes stuffing himself with food.He has no qualification for a job and still doesn’t want to take over the bells of the temple from his father which seems to be his only career choice.Doesn’t think at all.
Vidya- Ishant’s sweet younger sister who has just completed her 12th standard and wants to study further but not in Ahmedabad.In addition to having all the typical teenage girl traits she is quite smart at reading people’s minds.
Ali- A 12 year old kid who is exceptionally gifted in hitting balls for sixes and is spotted by Ishant .Ishant starts to coach him and has lofty ambitions of deeing him play for the national team.Although Ali is super talented in cricket he doesn’t enjoy it that much as he enjoys playing marbel on the streets.His father is a political worker for the "secular party".
Bitto mama- Omi’s maternal uncle who is passionate about his brand of Hindutva which is instilled in him by his political leader.Mama is a member of the "Hindu party" and dreams of being a big political figure in the future.
Gujarat in the recent past was rocked by two horrific disasters, first the earthquake and then the post Godhra riots.These provide the backdrop for Govind’s narration of his story.The three friends set up a sports shop in the premises of the temple.Business is doing well but Govind has plans of moving to a bigger place.He does all the planning and accounts.Ishant handles the customers and they keep coming back to him for his cricket tips.Omi gets them the shop from his mama at a very comfortable price.They start making money and start diversifying as well.Ishant starts coaching kids in cricket.Govind resumes his maths tuitions and Omi helps the kids in exercizing.Business peaks during the India-Australia series (Kolkata miracle) and Govind starts to see his dream of moving to a city shoping mall and away from the constant bickering of Bitto Mama come true.But then earthquake strikes and their business is literally jolted as they had paid the advance for a space in a mall which has now turned to rubble.More than a year of savings buried under the debris, his first mistake.
Govind takes a while to recover from the loss yet comes back with one objective of repaying all his loans asap.Meanwhile he starts giving Vidya maths tuitions on Ishant’s insistence.The conversations between Goivind and Vidya are the most enjoyable part of the story because he is constantly in a state of shock and amazement.Ishant comes across Ali and devotes all his time into making the kid the future of Indian cricket.As the affinity between Govind and Vidya increases into friendship and then into romance Govind starts feeling guilt concsious that he is violating the protocol(never do it with a friend’s sister).Ishant suceeds in converting Ali into a fine batsman and they take him places (literally).First they go to Goa (trip hesitantly funded by Govind form the business fund)and meet Brett Lee who is there with the touring Australian team and then to Sydney (trip funded by Lee himself).Ishant stands vindicated at the end of it all and is quite sure of the prosects of Ali in the future.But Govind on the other hand commits his second mistake of making love to Vidya.
Bitto Mama looses his son in the Godhra massacre and vows revenge on the Muslim race.Alongwith a mob he goes on killing as many Muslims as he can.Then comes the most gripping part of the story where Bitto mama’s mob hungry for Ali’s blood square off with Ish, Govind and Omi who fight hard to save the kid.They succeed in saving the kid but not before Govind commits the third mistake of his life which robs Ali of his gift.
It definitely is a typical Chetan Bhagat story with ubiquitious funny remarks even in the most serious of situations, the near perfect depiction of the characters, a wonderfully racy story and a great feel good ending.Yet I found it very uncharacteristic of the author to dive into the rubbish of Hindu-Muslim politics.All in all a superb story very well told.