Review of Chetan's latest book - 2 states

Chetan Bhagat's latest book - 2 states is something that I have been waiting anxiously to read since the news of it being published became public.

Humour is Chetan's strength and he maximizes his strength throughout. If it is the typical Indian setting & the romance between two students of IIM's that makes us relate ourselves to the story and start reading the book, it is the brilliant use of wit that makes us finish reading the 270 odd pages.

The 'IIM - A' canteen is where the two central characters of the book - Krish and Ananya ( both of them students) meet each other and become friends. While Krish goes for the beauty of the girl to start socializing (with better reasons than socializing at the back of his mind,) Ananya is driven by the for the 'safe guy feeling' to socialize with him (may be even she had similar thoughts,) typically how guys and girls start becoming friends!

Ananya throws attitude at him at the beginning accusing him of trying to flirt with her (because of the confidence or rather over- confidence that she gets with over a dozen guys proposing her within the first couple of weeks in the campus, reminding us of one of those many girls we come across in our daily lives who roam around with their heads held high for the wrong reasons and throw this attitude even if they get the attention of half an eye ball! ) But, he stands his ground and maintains his self ego and more importantly self respect.

With the numerical problem solving abilities that Krish carries with him as a result of being an IIT ian, he becomes the ready made choice for Ananya to look up to. They get together and meet more often than normal classmates with 'studies' being the binding force. As the author rightly puts it, 'put a guy and a girl in a room and fill it with boring text books, sparks are sure to fly!'

Sparks fly and graduate to become fireworks with time as Ananya moves in to Krish's room. Something keeps them going for the next couple of years in IIM - may be the warmth of a companion while living away from home or the fact that they could work (study) in tandem - because of the organizing skills of Ananya and the math skills of Krish or simply the sex. They do not commit until the last few days in IIM.

Apparently by an introspective talk with god and a feeling of guilt, Krish proposes Ananya in a very dramatic way on the day on campus placements in front of representatives from HLL - where Ananya finally lands a job. Our hero Krish gets a job with Citibank as he was able to convince the employers of finding a match between his skill set and the company's objectives and opts for Chennai as that is where his damsel's family lives and also gets posted.

Krish as expected finds it difficult to get adjusted to living in the land of Tamils initially. But, once he gets his eye in (oops sorry.. cricket lingo) does a good job of adapting and wooing Ananya's family (which is a part of their plan to get married with the consent of their respective families.)

The couple then go to Punjab to execute the second phase of their plan (Ananya making Krish's family like her.) She finds the going even more difficult as according to Krish's mom, marriage is an arrangement where one finds the most appropriate price to sell one's son with considerable weight age given to the number of letters that follow his name and the prevailing market rates.

After a few days of her staying with his family, Krish takes Ananya along with him to one of his niece's weddings where Ananya's smartness comes to the fore. A combination of mis-communication and over-expectation of dowry leaves the groom's family feel cheated and the bride's family helpless. This situation brings the marriage to a standstill and only a miracle could make it happen. Through her sheer boldness and persuasive skills she convinces the groom that it is not a big deal and ensures the marriage ends with smiles on every one's face. Needless to say she immediately becomes the darling of the kith and kin of Krish's family!

Usually in movies and books written in the Indian context, only the 'Hero' gets to do such acts but the author showing the 'Heroine' making the impossible possible is commendable. This is a representation of the changing face of India were the physically stronger sex is finally appreciative of what the emotionally stronger sex can do and their impact in all spheres of life.

But, how can an Indian marriage get over so smoothly without any drama? Both the families develop a hatred towards each other when they meet. This grows into draconian proportions and leads to the break up of the couple. The usual sleeplessness, improper nutrition and beard growing rituals haunt Krish and takes him to heights like needing counseling and medication.

This is when the story takes a cinematic twist as Krish's father steps up (who otherwise has a 'I don care what happens to anyone's life other than mine,') travels all the way to Chennai and sorts out the difference between the two families with his speaking skills. This part is quite un-believable!

Re-bonding happens, the sick, unhealthy Punjabi chap turns into a handsome hunk and marries the always beautiful Ananya with the consent of both the families. The author's patriotic finishing touch that speaks about stuff like 'how does it matter whether we are from two different states, we are after all people of the same nation' makes one stand up in attention and sing 'Jana gana mana....!' which I think is a fitting tribute to a book that is a representation of an India where state borders are diminishing and the country as a whole is better unified than what it was a couple of decades back.

Why do we dream of what we do?

This article I am writing is not about what we consciously dream of but of what our subconscious speaks to us through our dreams.

We speak different things to different people. To some people we speak our minds but to most we apply a filter and speak out only those things that are appropriate and those that would not create any confusion or problem. But deep beneath, not actually that deep. Just take away the filter or simply get a lil drunk, when the filter will vanish and what comes out will only be what we mean.
It is not uncommon to hear people speak about philosophy or about people who really love when they are drunk. Both these aren't acceptable to be spoken straight forward per the so called 'Societal norms' as people just cannot accept reality and pure love.

Well as usual I have deviated from my topic. But, the last para kinda sets the context for the topic of this write up which is 'what do we dream of? or what does the subconscious speak to us?

It is really interesting to note the kinda stuff we dream about. I can vouch for a fact that all that we dream about are things that we thought about at some point in time or the other but for the damned 'societal norms' or for the heck of being in the good books of others kept it to ourselves.

All these societal norms and other fallacies like that apply only to the world outside. The world inside is simple, beautiful and true. The subconscious speaks to the mind about things that it thought but did not let out or experience for some reason or the other.

Our dreams can vary from a scary experience like seeing a loved one dead to a beautiful experience like dating the hottest chic on the ramp to an indulging one like flying in a personal aero plane above the Alps. Such is the audacity of the sub-conscious. It doesn't care about how you feel on being communicated through a dream about something that you can cannot accept that easily. It just let's out things that are put in.

You put anything in your mind, it comes out through some form or other other. And, if it doesn't come out, it remains there troubling you for a life time. In my next article or probably some other article I will cover more about two more philosophical & psychological topics that were briefly hinted through the course of this write up. They are :

1. 'What goes in come out' and it's universal applicability.
2. 'The world is scared to accept things as they are.


Have a good sunday!

Difference between being alone and being left out

The people who think they are left out are the ones that are the weakest. How can some one be left out? I totally agree to what is being said and proved around the notion 'man is a social animal.' But, one can never be left out. Everyone has so much to discover from within themselves, so much to speak to their mind, so much more conversation that that their higher sense has to make to the mind.

When you turn your mind inwards you understand what all your mind says and does. You see and realize and some point in time that the mind goes behind everything gives sensual pleasure be it money, things and women. In this bargain it fails to differentiate between what is necessary and what is luxury, what is good and what is bad, what is true and what is false and most importantly what is temporary and what is permanent.

All this the higher sense within us understands but the mind which dominates us diverts us from this and rules the roost. Guess I am deviating from the topic. Let me speak more about the difference between being alone and being left out.

Ya... so what I mean to say is very simple. There are more than one being within yourself. There are actually three within you. One is the real you -'the soul,' the second is the one with which you connect with other things and beings in this world - 'the mind' and the third is the frame within which the first two are contained, I mean 'the body.' The brain is another entity too. And if you are a 'feel' person there is 'the heart' too.

Going by this there are at least three beings that everyone has. Interacting with any of these is a lot of fun and a rewarding experience. When this is the case, someone can be alone, but how can they ever feel left out? Ya.. they may not be surrounded by people but they have themselves to spend time with.

Spending time alone is also a great thing to do. It shows you things that you have never seen before and let's you feel things that you have never felt before. If at this point in time you have come to a conclusion that I hit my head against a boulder and blabbering stuff, or I am drunk or I have simply lost it, please feel free to reach out to me and I will be happy to share my excitement around this topic with you.

Remaining unaffected by how people perceive you

Everyone of us wake up in the morning go about doing our chores, dress up well, socialize etc. If you notice carefully, there is one thing that is common in all what we do and say. It is how people perceive you for what you are and your actions.

Thinking about it in further more detail, we would be alarmed to discover the effect of people's perception about us have on us. If we get a lot of compliments from others about us, that drastically improves our mood for the day. If we hear lot of derogatory remarks from others about us, that spoils our mood for the day.

The question to be answered is, why on earth does the comment of some one else be it positive or negative have an effect on you. Psychologically speaking, any mood is a state of our own mind and not about what people think about you. But, the exact opposite seems to be happening in every one's life.

I am not trying to advocate rudeness in behavior or encouraging everyone to be a loner. Of course, it is important to be amongst people and that is precisely why it is said 'man is a social animal.' However, a social animal need not be an animal that is a slave to the society.

Everything that happens in this world is not because of what others do to you or what others do not do to you. It is because of how to you take things. This is precisely what teachers of ancient karate tried to preach. The enemy to be conquered is not your opponent. The real enemy is within you.

Taking cue from this and applying it to our daily lives, we can pretty much understand that it is we who decide how happy we are, how sad we are, how handsome/beautiful we look and how well we live our lives. It is not the perceptions of people that decide it.

When we start getting into the habit of thinking primarily about what people will think, how they will perceive you, you will end up living a life without having done anything that you wanted to do and not even earning a good reputation from people. Because, irrespective of what you do people will still rack their brains to find out something wrong in to speak about partly because most people are so jobless and partly to satisfy their self ego. Self ego is satisfied when one feels better about himself/herself in comparison to the others. When the find fault in you, they feel faultless at least relatively faultless and that gives them a false sense of self-confidence by which they feel good.