They say He is only a consequence of our failure to explain anomalous events, which don’t seem to follow the laws of physics. Or our way to concede that there are things beyond rational explanation. But they say Rationality itself is our invention. Things are rational because they satisfy your necessity for a cause and an effect in operation behind a certain event. You invented rationale. And ’’God’’ is how you explain things that do not follow this pattern of ’’logic’’. Does it mean that ’’God’’ is merely the trivial solution to an equation that would otherwise would have become inconsistent?
Relax. I’m not going to bang about my keyboard and answer that. I know you’re thanking God now. Cheers!
# # #
There are some people who find a style which others seem to like. And if you see that something, which you did sometime back was welcomed, you want to do more of it again. Like I’d want to brew the same kind of coffee my Dad had loved four days ago. I cannot find any syndrome more likely to affect an artist. Singers have fallen into this trap and so did moviemakers. Trying to make business is good. But that grossly at the cost of becoming cliched.
But then suddenly, Chetan Bhagat happens to the literary world. He finds his style- informal, conversational, frank. And people fall for it. I have met very few who found his first book, Five Point Someone, lacking in originality for the narration. Some might have found the story pointless or the ’’ideology’’ redundant or stupid. But everyone was all praise for the ’’style of writing’’. And he got affected by the syndrome too. ’’One Night @ The Call Center’’ offers you no different style. The same way of describing people. The same way of narrating conversations.
But there’s a catch. He didn’t have to pay the cost of becoming cliched. Instead, he carved a nice little niche for himself. Chetan Bhagat is not merely an author. He’s a stylist in his own capacity. And a thumping good one!
’’One Night @ The Call Center’’ is a story which isn’t a story. Have you met a long lost friend over a gala evening and spoken to him or her about the years that passed between the last time you saw him or her? Filling in on the past that you didn’t share, which you would have had you been together? I bet you enjoyed those conversations. There is always a courtship in them. Or probably a marriage. There is always a struggle for success. And a happy ending, or a promising beginning to something. I’m very sure you really relished glorifying those years of yours and you relished him exaggerating his.
’’One Night...’’ starts of like one of those conversations. As if this character is telling you about those years he didn’t spend with you around. And then, slowly, without any jerks, it smooths out and emerges into something unheard of. It ends up with a conversation with God.
A lot of people complain that the theme is unrealistic. Some say it is even prepostrous to write such a thing. They never said that to Tom Clancy. Or to Harold Robbins. Or to Robert Ludlum and Conan Doyle. The fact remains that the most interesting kind of literature is that where reality slowly mingles into the unreal. It’s like getting a high.
Except, this time you are with God. Thankfully... !
Chetan Bhagat has this uncanny knack of creating characters wonderfuly. There is an informal definition of each person. And the definition and the characters are marvelously consistent all through. It’s like a real conversation with your long lost friend...
Well, I guess that’s enough from my side. I know whatever I said sounds very strange indeed. The beginning was something, the body of the review is strange and, heck, it doesn’t really seem to have an end...
Ah... I guess, I can’t give you a proper end to this review...
Or may be I can... But I’ll do that when I get a call... From God...