‘Shakespeare, the Ekta of his time’

Ask Chetan Bhagat what one can do for one’s country and the bespectacled author shoots back, not quite a la Kennedy, “Marry outside your state.’’ This pushing of the marital envelope is the premise of Bhagat’s next book. 2 States, The Story of My Marriage is a love story about a Punjabi boy and a Tamilian girl. It’s no small coincidence that this clash of civilisations is something that Bhagat (Punjabi) and wife Anusha (Tamilian) live through on a daily basis. “The book is a work of fiction but large parts are uncomfortably real,’’ he says. “It’s very easy to make your parents agree to your choice but real approval is something else.’’ 
    Marrying out of the community is now quite routine in India—the religious jump is still sticky—but it’s not without its share of hiccups. When Chetan took Anusha—they met at IIMA—on a meet-the-relatives round in Delhi, the first astonished comment was, ‘Gori Madrasan!’ The Thanjavur Brahmin was not amused. On his part, Chetan was taken aback at the completely silent meals he had to sit through with his wife’s family. “Punjabis will have their meals on the bed with plates piled on newspapers,’’ he says. “But at my in-laws’ house, meal times were confined to the dining table and food was had in complete silence.” 
    But what does an inter-community marriage have to do with patriotism? “Everything,’’ says Bhagat. “However broad-minded a family may be, prejudice only comes out at the time of marriage. By marrying outside, the aam admi can do his bit towards making the country one.’’ 
    Lounging in his Cooperage apartment, Bhagat talks about how he decided to give up a Deutsche Bank job to be fulltime writer, house husband and father to his twin boys Ishaan and Shyam. Ditching the plush paycheck wasn’t easy but it was no leap in the dark either—Bhagat is one of India’s bestselling writers. His debut IIT campus-themed novel, Five Point Someone, which had wellrounded characters and comedy, was a blockbuster. Along with his second, One Night At a Call Centre and third book, The Three Mistakes of My Life, he has sold over two million copies. The New York Times hailed him as “the biggest-selling English language novelist in India’s history’’. 
    “Quitting was a decision I spent sleepless nights over but it had to be done,’’ says the accidental author. “Thank god I’m successful. Because sitting across the breakfast table from your mother-in-law, and waving to your wife as she goes to her Swiss bank job isn’t easy.” Their flat has no fancy writing desk, just a table loaded with two Macs. “Sometimes when the boys get too demanding, I take my laptop to a coffee 
shop,’’ says the 35-year-old dad. Although commercial success has been his mate from the start, critical acclaim has been harder to woo. Bhagat firmly describes himself as being in the “entertainment business’’ rather than the literary salon. But a comparison with Karan Johar and Ekta Kapoor (both sell hugely but lack critical cred) draws blood. “First of all, my product is in English, and it’s not regressive,’’ he says quickly. “So what if I write for the masses? So did Shakespeare. He was probably the Ekta Kapoor of his time.’’ 
    Bhagat is confident that his new book will fly off the shelves. “It’s a feel good romcom, a family drama that every Indian will relate to,” he says. “I’ve tried to cast a very wide net with this book, I hope it works.’’ Has he ever thought about giving back to IIT, the institution that gave him first hit novel? “Well, I have made them more human,’’ he replies. “But I’m sure I can do more.’