MY VIEW. MY TAKE.-CHETAN BHAGAT REVOLUTION 2020-LOVE.CORRUPTION.AMBITION- The ISBF Gazette_Issue V

Chetan Bhagat’s latest novel is not, as the title suggests, about a revolution. It’s the story of a love triangle, set in the time of engineering entrance exams in Varanasi. The love story unfolds on the holy ghats of Varanasi, and is not like the pace of the river that flows through one of India's busiest temple towns which is the backdrop of 'Revolution 2020'. It is a story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find love, happiness and success. Gopal, the son of a retired teacher, ridden with debt and litigation, was destined to fall head first and hard in love with the daughter of the District Magistrate from the inopportune day he decided to steal a slab of the chocolate cake she had brought for lunch. The friendship that started in the fifth standard through the hapless incident gradually took its own course over the Ganga over innumerable boat rides and unspoken ballads of love, one sided of course. Aarti, the daughter is personally honest but not averse to looking the other way at corrupt dealings. Raghav completes the trio as the exceptionally intelligent local boy that many have pinned their hopes on to bring glory to the dusty town by cracking the JEE – the Holy Grail of examinations. As the plot takes the three to depths of desperation, love, ambition and crushing disappointment, Bhagat tries to reflect on the state of India's private education that is not just the life-blood, but sometimes the only hope for millions of students from small towns turning their bright eyes at an uplifting future. Bhagat offers a glimpse into the entrance exam coaching system, a dark sensor of the reality for students who leave their homes to try repeatedly for a course that is brutally structured to eliminate the weakest. Bhagat's idea and description of a people's revolution is not just naive but also incomplete and the reader is left wondering till the end about what exactly the nature of it will be if at all it happens. The idea of 'Revolution 2020' deserved more time and better indulgence instead of being relegated to few chapters in the end. The book’s title could have been anything else, for Revolution 2020 is not the major theme in the book. It is reasonable for an average reader to expect more ground breaking stuff than a regular two-boys-love-the same girl-love-story sprinkled with corruption in India.