Book Review : '2 States, the story of my marriage' - Chetan Bhagat

Chetan Bhagat's fourth book '2 States, the story of my marriage' comes about a year and half after his third book 'The 3 Mistakes of My Life' and is no less enjoyable than his first best-seller 'Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT'.


'2 States, the story of my marriage' is claimed to be inspired by the author's own love-story. The plot revolves around Krish Malhotra, a Punjabi brought-up in Delhi and his IIM-A classmate Ananya Swaminathan, a Tam-Brahm, who fall desperately in love with each other and want to get married soon. They soon discover that falling in love and getting married in India was not as easy as it sounds. "Love marriages around the world are simple : Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married. In India, there are a few more steps : Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl. Girls' family has to love boy's family. Boy's family has to love girl's family. Girl and boy still love each other. They get married.", says the blurb. And if the families don't like each other, we have enough material to write a 269-page book that is '2 States, ..'.

The narrative, done through the eyes of Krish, is crisp and humour-laden. The extend to which Krish or Ananya go to convince the other parent draws a big smile on the reader's face. A major portion of the story is concentrated on the Punjabi vs Tamil differences in culture which is most of the time funny, but might get offending at times; especially when Krish's mother keeps referring to the 'Madrasis' as black-skinned and Punjabis as 'white as milk'. On the other side, Ananya's parents also find enough fault in Krish's big-mouthed mother who seemed "Intellectually culturally zero" to them! But that send the sparks flying and the love-stuck couple has to get their acts together to get the families together if they wanted their love to have a future.

Chetan Bhagat has managed to successfully bring out finer nuances of the 2 states by statements like "Nothing soothes an upset Punjabi like dairy products" when Krish tries to pacify his mom after she came to know that her son had a "Madrasin" for a girl-friend or when Krish enters Ananya's home in Mylapore and thinks "A Punjabi house is never this silent even when people sleep at night". The characters of Krish's mom is easily very close to real life and so are Ananya's bank-employed father and Carnatic music-trained mother.

The book can be easily waved off as a 100% entertainer and nothing more but for some thoughtful yet simple lines like "The world's most sensible person and the biggest idiot both stay within us. The worst part is, you can't even tell who is who" or "Sometimes in life you just meet someone or hear something that nudges you on the right path. And that becomes the best advice. It could just be a bit of common sense said in a way that resonates with something in you. It's nothing new, but because it connects with you it holds meaning to you". How many times have we all felt this!

It is these subtle thoughts that "2 States, the story of my marriage" keep the reader engrossed till the last page and empathize with the lead pair in their roller-coaster ride. A thoroughly enjoyable read which can be finished in one sitting. I'm sure this book is the answer to pass time on a rainy weekend or an uneventful train journey. A likely Bollywood-wooer, I see very high chances of it getting adapted into a movie.

The paper-back edition is published by Rupa Publications and is priced at Rs 95.

PS : Have never written a book review for my blog. And I guess I never will! This was written for a newsletter in office and since I was going through the worst of "no-topics-to-write-abt-on-my-blog" dilemma (don't feel justified to call it "writer's block".. writer who :-p) and so decided to Ctrl-V it here as well :-)

A day in her life..

I stood near the door of this boutique all day long, as if waiting for someone.

Dressed in a denim jeans and white tank top, I could give many a ramp-model a run for her money. My golden locks fell all around my shoulders with its dark streaks glinting in the rays of the morning sun. My stilettos added another 4 inch to an already tall figure. I wore a jazzy belt to accentuate my size-zero waist. And I just stood there all day long, tilted slightly towards my left and my hands in my pocket, with a tiny smile plastered on my face.

Kids smile at me and sometimes tug at my arms. They are the only people I like. Twenty-something-females would stand and stare at my clothes for a good minute before walking away, much to my embarrassment. And if that wasn't enough, some crazy men would link arms with me and pose for photographs!

And I said nothing, I did nothing, but to stand there all day, as if waiting for someone.
For what else was a day in a mannequin's life like!

Cockeyed Notes

I yearn so much for you that it makes me go red with embarrasment.
Everyday I shamelessly look forward to the day I will meet you again.
The thought of having you for a full day, dawn to midnight, after a lonely week sends me so giddy that all other thoughts look petty and are forced to make way for you.

And when you do walk in, the music in me reaches a crescendo, deafening my senses.

Oh Friday, here you are, at my door-step today. How much I missed you!

Bottles, Dals and Kitchen decor!

Most of my pet-jars in the kitchen seem to have one or the other kind of dal. Some white, some round, some cut, some yellow, some small, some large. I don't have a clue what half of them are. Thanks to this great fact that you can't substitute one type of dal for another in any Indian dish, I ended up with all these varities. And with each visit of parents, one more new type gets included!
This weekend, as I washed and dried all the bottles under the sun I decided to do some dal-sorting. Most of the dals were beyond their expiriy date. Some jars even had a small, yet, thriving eco-system in them.
Idea! I had 3 pretty-OK shaped bottles. Few nice looking but not edible dal packets. And some time to spare.
So came up with these for my kitchen window sil :-D
Felt they looked nice!

(click image for an enlarged view)

Want to try? Its too simple to be explained in steps. So here goes some tips:

1. Ensure that the jars are perfectly dry before you begin this!
2. Take care to use a funnel to put the dal through narrow-mouthed bottles.
3. Masoor dal gives a vibrant look to it. Use it in plenty.
4. I used an old packet of rock salt for the white portion. Salt/Sugar can also be used.
5. I even stuffed a few dried-red-chilles near the top of the bottle.
6. You can add ANY stuff from your kitchen here. Don't stop at dals. I have added even a saunf layer!
7. And yes, you might have to sacrifice some of the good green-gram and other dals which you use frequently. Don't depend ONLY on the stuffs which have outlived their expiry dates!

That is it, I guess :-D
My attempt doesn't look all that neat. But I got so excited with the idea that I had to-had to-had to blog it :-p

On wedding Invitations/Response in Kerala

I can't be sure if this is an exclusively-mallu phenomenon but many Keralite would have come across such things at some point of their life.

Weddings, for the parents of Mallu grooms and brides, is a litmus test of their social-skills.Most often, they go much beyond litmus test and turn out to be a memory test, public speaking test,vocabulary test, writing skill test, management skill test and not to mention, physical and mental ability test as well.

And if you fail in any of these tests, there would be a sizeable fall in the number of guests, which is the only other parameter, along with the number of payasams in the sadya, that determine how "grand" the wedding was.

Now, what are the stimuli for a fall in the number/displeasure of mallu guests at a given wedding?

1) "He sent me an invitation over post! He is probably settled in Mumbai. But can't he come here and invite us all in person! We needn't attend this wedding. We shall tell him that we are attending Unnikrishnan's mother's niece's husband's brother's son's wedding on the same day! Halla Pinne! "

2) Now a look at the invitation. "Check this.. he has written 'We invite you with family'.. he has missed the word 'cordially' and he has addressed it to 'Mr. Gopalakrishnan and family'.. not 'Mr & Mrs. Gopalakrishnan & family'! Is this how you invite family! Bah!"

3) Now, suppose he did come all the way from Mumbai to invite in person, this is how things will move."Wedding is in Thrissur? How will we come? Have you arranged bus for all of us from here? What? Bus is from Trivandrum? You have not arranged bus from Cochin?? Thats so difficult!"

4) Now if bus is also arranged to have them taken from Cochin to Thrissur, there is another glitch. "Remember, when we invited him for our son's wedding last year, he didn't even acknowledge the invitation sent by post. And all he sent was a telegram wish. That was late by 2 days. Chetta, Should we go?"

5) Finally after much thought Chettan and Chechi decide to go. Along with them are chechi's sister, her kids and chechi's aged amma and achan. Once there Chettan again has a problem. Groom's Achan is not seen at the Mandapam's gate. Where is he! He should have come to welcome us!! After all, we are his grand father's brother's wife's sister's son and family!

6) Thats when he sees groom's father and mother on the mandapam, blessing the newly wedded couple and carrying out other rituals. Chettan remarks "See, this is why I told you we should not have come! That guy is busy on stage. He doesn't bother if we came or not!"

7) At the lunch, the exhausted father of the groom comes to say thanks to all the guests who have joined. At chettan's place "Hows the sadya?". Chettan says "It is great mone! Kalakki!" and once he leaves, chettan whispers to chechi "The rice is not even cooked well! And the pappadam is over!"

8) At the end of it all, chettan and chechi go to bless the newly wedded couple. The father of the groom asks his son "Mone.. you remember this uncle?". The groom gives that sheepish smile he has reserved for stranger-guests. "Aaah.... uhhhmm... no, we have not met I think". Chettan is disheartened but nevertheless gives a slap on the back of the groom and says "Aaah... how can he! He was a baby when I last saw him. See how he has grown! HAHAHHAHA" and that gurgling chortle continues for a good one minute until the videographer asks him to move out of the stage and asks the next family to come up!

Addicted to 55 words!!

Some more 55-stuffs :)

Goodbye Home

Mother thinks I am growing too big for my house and I should leave home now.
I think its not fair!
I am pushed out of my home. I can't fight back the force.
Flashes of light. Ouch, it hurts!
I cry my lungs out.
Somebody looks at me and shouts "Its a baby boy!"

SMS Birthday

Beep Beep. 1 new SMS. "Honey, I am caught in something important here! I shall reach late from work. Can you please pick your birthday cake on your way back from office? And don't forget to call me when you blow the candles and cut cake. I will wish you over the phone. Love you!"

The Red one or The Blue one?

She : "How is this blue one?"
He : "WOW!"
2 minutes later.
She : "Is this red one fine?"
He : "WOW!"
2 minutes later.
She : "And this white one?"
He : "WOW!"
2 minutes later.
She : "So which one do I buy?"
He : "I dunno. All of them looked great on you!"
30 minutes later.
She : "So which one do I buy? Red one?"
He : "I dunno. All of them looked great on you!"
30 minutes later...
She : "So which one do I buy? Red one?"
.........


versus

She1 : "How is this blue one?"
She2 : "Hmm.. good! You like those puffed sleeves?"
2 minutes later.
She1 : "Is this red one fine?"
She2 : "Great! suits you so well!"
2 minutes later.
She1 : "And this white one?"
She2 : "Ok-ish. Not as much as the blue and red."
2 minutes later.
She1 : "So which one do I buy?"
She2 : "Go for the red one!"
She1 : "Yup.. I loved that too!"
30 minutes later..
At home.

Moral : Women take LOTTTA time to shop. True, if her companion is a man.