"The Three Mistakes of my Life"
The hype and hoopla surrounding the third novel by Chetan Bhagat, "The 3 Mistakes of my Life", is tremendous, mainly due to the resounding success
of his earlier works "Five Point Someone" and "One Night @ The Call Center". Going by his previous works and the standards that Bhagat has set for himself, his recent offering doesn't quite match up to the humongous expectations that one may have from his book.
The basic premise of the novel revolves around three young people, who became friends, and later business partners, after being the only 3 six-year olds at the Nana Park at Ahmedabad when they were kids.
Meet Govind. A young enthusiastic nerd, who topped the Mathematics exam in his school by scoring a perfect 100. A guy always willing to take initiative, he helps the two of his friends to settle in their lives by opening a cricket store as well. Things seem to go well for this mathematician by working and giving tuitions to support himself and his mom, until he commits a couple of mistakes that change things for him forever.
Meet Omi. His father is behind the management of a temple, and more often than not, he is coaxed into attending pujas at the temple, even against his will. A confused and aimless person in life, he willingly accepts Govind's business proposal since he has nothing worthwhile to do. In fact, it was only due to his and his Mama's connection with the temple that they are able to secure a placs in the temple space at a lower rent with a waiver of the deposit, for carrying on the business.
Meet Ishaan. Popularly called simple Ish, he is the cooler of the lot. Under peer pressure, he joined the Army, but fled citing personal reasons. He always has arguments with his dad who thinks his son to be no more than a worthless individual in the country. Ish gives a damn about people's opinion and does what he thinks is the best for him. Having been a cricket champion of his school and also having played cricket at the district level, he is a popular guy among the young cricketers whom he coaches as well.
Set in the backdrop of the earthquake that rocked Gujarat in 2001, and the Godhra riots that followed later on, "Three Mistakes" involves many other characters as well, the prominent one's being Vidya(the lead female character - Ish's sister, whom Govind gives Mathematics tuitions), Ali(A young and a gifted cricketer, who can put Yuvraj Singh to shame by hitting every ball for a six) and Mama(Omi's Mama). So what works for the novel and what doesn't?
A major portion of the novel looks like Bhagat was sleepwalking through the turn of events that would take place. Too much time and space has been devoted in establishing the characters and the story runs at a snail's pace in the beginning.
As said, there are quite a few unrealistic things involved in the story. Firstly, the ease with which the trio gets a prominent place to set up a business store looks too convincing to be true. All the three of them having something equal to contribute towards the same purpose looks pretty contrived as well. Besides, too much importance has been given to Ali's character which just wasn't the need. Though it may be a real-life one, how many of the common man might know of any twelve-thirteen year old who can disturb the confidence of a seasoned bowler by hitting him for six after six.
Secondly, the relationship shared between Govind and Vidya is hard to digest. The fact is that Govind meets Vidya for teaching her mathematics, but all they do is discuss love, friendship, go out for lunches and make love to each other. The hair oiling episode is completely irrelevant and it is difficult imagining a tutor(whatever the age difference between him and the student may be!) oiling a student's hair. In fact, the kind of relationship they share, they look for like having a live-in relationship than being a tutor and a student.
Thirdly, too many characters spoil the fun that the reader might have been having in bits and spurts. Mama's character was given prominence only because of the massacre at the bank. Besides, Ali's character has been developed beyond requirement. The trio going to Australia makes no sense since nothing materializes out of it. In fact, the ease with which they manage to get into the VIP enclosure of a crucial India-Australia match makes you wonder whether security is really so low in international matches!
Fourthly, there is little continuity in the novel. It moves from one topic to another without giving nay warnings. In a single chapter, while you have the trio running the business shop at one point of time, the focus shifts on Govind-Vidya in the other, and then suddenly you are led into the politics involved in by Mama, Ali's Dad and a certain Parekh-ji, a political leader whom Mama blindly follows. So clearly, with boring sub-topics at the disposal, the lack of continuity really puts the readers off.
Bhagat's idea to introduce himself in a prologue doesn't click at all. It gives an impression as if he is doing the community a favor by writing a book. In a way, he is, but this concept(like he also did in "One Night") just does not connect with the readers. The novel should have done way without any of the two epilogues as well, which steals the sheen of the book, and robs the reader of the impact that the writer had so well created at the end.
However, it must be mentioned to his credit that Bhagat has handled the later portions of the novel really well. The reader starts to take keen interest in the novel only after the Godhra incident when Omi's brother Dhiraj is killed by the Muslim activists' and Mama vows revenge by killing the innocent Ali. The entire episode from there, right till the end, when the action takes place in the bank, is spellbinding. The undercurrent of emotions is extra-ordinary. Ish coming to know about what Govind actually "taught" her sister in the pretext of tuitions keeps the interest alive.
The impeccable style of Bhagat also manages to make you smile at certain times.Like, for instance, the first probability class of Govind with Vidya, when the latter questions why would the former put all the cards in a sack. Amazing! Apart from this, there are few instances here and there which do manage to arrest your attention, like the historic India-Australia match at Calcutta, and the emotions of people attached to it.
To sum up, "Three Mistakes" may not be a patch on Bhagat's earlier works, but it certainly is a time-pass read. Look at it in isolation and you may not dislike it much. The main aspect is that it doesn't have the sustaining power. FPS continues to remain in your memory even after 4 long years, and ONCC wasn't bad either. But for "3 Mistakes", you may end up forgetting all about the novel a couple of days after reading it. Still, at a pocket-friendly price, it is not a bad deal if you have a day to kill!
Rating: - * * ½
© Aliasgar Poonawala, 2008
