Book Review: What Young India Wants
Buy What Young India Wants from Flipkart.com
Chetan Bhagat’s attempt on nonfiction is appreciable. Non-fiction seems to rule book market for the time being in India it seems. Everyone – politicians, ex-diplomats, bureaucrats, film stars, poets, cricketers, ex-priests, former thieves and your old nanny – seems to be writing some sort of commentary, memoir or criticism. So why should creative writers keep aloof from those enthusiasts who is there waiting for their opinions. And when a fiction writer – popular, young and one who young minds identifies so much – writes nonfiction it will also be generating so much hype that you pick one for yourself.
Chetan Bhagat is a very household name for the new young Indian reader with all his novels becoming bestsellers and novel-turned-films reaping much success in the box-office. He had been writing news paper columns and is being trotting the globe as a motivational talker. He comes with his compilation of non-fiction, news paper articles and something from his talking tours in a book titled ‘What Young India Wants’. It’s a selection of articles that has been written over a period of two years for ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ and ‘The Times of India’. The book contains as the author says, pieces of writing he had written in various passions – anger, frustration, hopelessness over the state of affairs in India. He tries to bring into n
otice what young people needs now from society and government.
Chetan begins with a letter to the reader narrating his life. Fans would be extra pleased to have some information of his life as they are very much aware that his novels has some autobiographical touch here and there, but they are not going to get too much here. He just tells why and how writing happened for him and the reason for this non-fiction compilation. The issues that he tries to debate in the book are things that he feels are plaguing India. From great Indian procrastination to our culture, corruption to deprivation, liberalisation to stock scams, student suicides to vote bank politics, Chetan Bhagat sweeps many issues and handles them in such an ease that any common man can understand the issues and the intricacies behind them. He asks many questions to the reader and comes up with some solutions and opinions on them. Sometimes he also comes up with ways through which anyone can reach to a solution to solve the problems that we face. With his experience as a professional with some lead banks around the world Chetan can easily understand the intricacies of our economic system and co
Book Review bymments on it rather elaborately.
The articles are compiled in three sections. Towards the end he adds two metaphorical short stories too.
The book is written in a very easy and lucid style, a trade mark of Chetan Bhagat novels. The introduction part will make you feel engrossing. He posts many well intentioned questions in between that are supposed to make the reader stop and think or ruminate upon but, it sometimes hinders your reading nerves. And most convincingly he tends to tell about what young India wants – job and girl. Well it’s for you to judge. The titles to the chapters are catchy.
Amith David
