From Hari to Shyam…Chetan has evolved highly as a writer

Do these names used in the title ring a bell? Well it certainly did when I was reading (analyzing) the books by the hottest thing around...Chetan Bhagat. Even the Bajrang Dal people would have distilled this out and I have done nothing great in doing so. All the names refer to Lord Vishnu and to be more specific are synonymous names of Lord Krishna. Anyways, this post is not about “the name link” that has been dug out. May be I will do it later since there is surely something about using names which have synonymous meanings to the name of the author as the names of the lead characters in his novels.

And now for those of you who are not aware of what I am speaking since last one paragraph, this post is about the hot shot writer of Indian subcontinent (feels so proud to say this), Chetan Bhagat and his latest book, One Night @ the Call Center. First, Five Point Someone and now One Night @ the Call Center. The back of the cover talks about a writer meeting a girl on a train and then the girl offers to tell the writer a story to pass the time only on the condition that he would turn it into a complete book. When the writer hesitates and asks to tell something about the story then the girl says that the story is about six people working in a call center and about the night when they got a call from GOD. Now since that was already there on the back of the cover, leaving that I will try not to give away anything of the story. But it sure sounds interesting. Isn’t it?

All those who read the first one are aware of the quality of humor and intricacy of relationships depicted by the author. I have just finished reading his new one and did I like it? You bet I loved it. It is one of the best I ever read. The story is a TATA Salt free flow. It has got 10 times better humor and much darker side at the same time (now Americans have finally got a perfect judge in the eyes or should I say in the words of Chetan Bhagat and his characters). Events are happening in a continuous manner in the span of the entire night and we get to know all the characters, their stories and how messed up their lives are. All the characters are painted in various colors and you can visit all aspects of human temperament while you get to know the six lead characters. The Prologue and epilogue both need a special mention owing to there very unique charm. Over here Chetan has spun a very interesting and short track. The only place I felt a little let down was the end sequence between the love couple of the story (I really don’t want to give away any of the story plots, therefore I am avoiding anything from the story). It seemed a little more dramatized as if we suddenely switched from Star One (airing a crossover movie like Everybody Says I’m Fine) to Star Plus (airing Sawaan Kumar Tak’s new so called movie). Now I don’t hate bollywood or something but I hate melodrama in any form and that is what Chetan does in the end sequence I’m talking about. I think that is there mainly for the help of the film director if even this book is decided to be turned into a movie like the first one. But, still if we leave that part then the book is a complete enchantment to read.

The beauty of Chetan Bhagat’s writing is that one can easily relate to the characters and find that the events being narrated are picked from their own lives. The characters are so very alive and real. They are all around you and inside you. The timing of the humor in the entire novel is flawless but apart from being comical the novel has much darker shade than the previous one with precise blend of rage and pain endured by the characters and the way they choose to let it out. As I named this post, the author has truly evolved as a writer with such a different and better story and a flawless narrative and a deep message. It is actually Chetan’s interpretation of the importance of dreams and desires of our heart and can be easily said to be a totally different way of telling what is told in the “The Alchemist”(by Paulo Coelho). What else guys? I am comparing it to an all time classic and take my word for it this book will become one such classic to have changed the ways of people’s lives forever. For those of you who can relate to Shyam and his friends, it will be a trip down memory lane and may be an eye opener of what you would have done in such a situation and for those who couldn’t relate, reading the book will be an experience to know more of the world and the difficulties faced by mortals belonging to different circles of the world. A perfect 10 on 10 since any Indian can easily digest the small portion of filmi drama inserted in the end or may be they even need it. To conclude I would just repeat the words from the back of the cover…Are you ready to take the call?