2 States - 1 take

I’m not a big fan of Chetan Bhagat, and I’m sure he doesn’t flatter himself with any pretence of serious literature either. So it was no big surprise that 20 pages into his latest book – 2 States – I lost interest, since the plot moved out of IIM-A although the reviews said it was entirely based out of the institute – reason why I picked it up in the first place. It’s really a love story that blossoms on campus between a Punjabi guy and a girl from Madras – Tam-Bram, complete with a dad devoted to The Hindu, a 6th grade brother who dreams of IIT and an aspiring Carnatic musician mother! (Hence the title 2 “states”, apparently this is Bhagat’s own story – he is married to a Tam) To its credit, the plot manages to escape the Ghisa-pita cute mushy rom-com trap. But what saved the day was that the guy wangles a job in Madras to stay close to the girl and woo her family. And I just loved the portrait he’s painted of our favourite city. It’s not just a superficial, patronising account of caricatures that Bollywood still cannot shake off when it comes to depicting the South. This guy actually gets deep and dirty into the thick of things. The fleecing auto rickshaws, the “Thalaivar” posters on Mt. Road, pot bellied cops on Marina, dosas at Sangeetha, the IIT mania, the NRI-maaplai obsession, bachelor accommodations where anything other than a no-booze-no-meat-no-girls life is frowned upon, senior citizens who get a kick out of throwing pop quizzes on the ragam, talam, swaram and shruti of any audible carnatic music, Kapaleeshwar kovil, malli-poo..... It’s all in there. He threw in the overwhelming presence of stainless steel at Ratna stores too!!! Agreed he isn’t entirely innocent of the stereotypes – the dark skin, the exhibition of gold, etc, but then they are stereotypes because they are true for the most part. And to be fair to him, he’s got an entire set of digs reserved for his own Panjus as well. The Madras portion of the book took me back to the days when we used to enjoy watching Angad discover the city. And in a way, it wasn’t too different from how I discovered Madras. Sure I’m a Tam-Bram, but for all practical purposes I was an outsider. Anyway, fortunately for the couple, they manage to convince both sets of parents (a Bhagat novel is nothing if not for a Utopian ending). In fact, they win over the Tams before they wear down the Punjabis. Thats when I shook off my nostalgic stupor and realised, I was after all, reading fiction!!!