Chetan Bhagat

Fiction books - I haven't yet found a copy of the 2012 nonfiction essay collection "What young India wants : selected essays and columns". These are bestselling popular novels written for an Indian English-reading audience, not literature. They are light and enjoyable, and I justify the time reading them as a way to understand appreciate what an Indian reader enjoys.

SPOILERS BELOW

I'm writing these notes to help remember what I read, not to spoil the pleasurable surprises for someone else.

• IIM-A: Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
• Wife Anusha

Five Point Someone (2004)

One Night at the Call Center (2005)

The Three Mistakes of my Life (2008)

Two States (2009)

Revolution 2020 (2011)

Half Girlfriend (2014)

Tigard Library

• St. Stephens College, Delhi Rudna mens residence hall

• Madhav Jah, from Dumraon Buxar district, 80 km from Patya, Bihar (lots of rice fields)

  • raj kumar hereditary prince of oldest princely state, uncles quandered inheritance gambling
  • crumbling haveli
  • basketball scholarship, Sociology major
  • Rani Shiba Durga Jha, teacher mother Dumraon Royal School in Nandan village outskirts of Dumraon
  • friends Ashu, Raman, Shailesh
• Riva Somani from Delhi

  • tall 69 inches, English major, Marwari

  • p33 "Wants house in Manhattan, play basketball on weekends, sing in a bar, age 12 visit, saw NBA game
  • 100 Aurangzeb Road, p49 Audi, 2 Mercedes, Bentley, and BMW
  • parents Mahendra and Jayanti
  • Rohan Chandak 24 yo, inherited 6 hotels. family from Jaipur like Somani, Bentley

Spoilers follow

• He wants romance, she wants friendship
• p61 lemon-colored chikan salwar-kameeze
• p67 "half girlfriend" nothing more
• p75 Deti hai to de, varna kat le: fuck me or fuck off, terrible end of friendship
• p78 Silent Saint of Stephens
• p87 Wedding invitation

• p92 (m15) "One year three months later" HSBC interview, turns down six lakhs/year ($24K) offer, goes home to help with school.

• p95 overwhelmed mother "everyone eats my head"

• p102 MLA Vijay Ojha

• p107 (m22) Six months later, p113 Raj High School, p115 Gates coming

• p116 Ojha wants Lok Sabha (lower house) ticket in next election

• p121 Samantha Meyers Gates Foundation rep in New Delhi, p123 suggests $20K grant, 8 lakh rupee
• p126 two months to speech
• p128 Patna's Pride English Learning Center on Boring Road, private classes from Verma sir
• p130 TC Train Conductor, meets software salesman Sudhir
• p133 meets Gates Foundation reps Chris and Rachel at Chanakya hotel, p134 spots Riya
• p140 Riya selling Nestle's yoghurt in Patya
• p144 20000 ($800) bungalow on Dak Bungalow road, quiet Indiranagar neigborhood of Patna
• p145 Gol Ghar grainery, 1784/1786 British opposite Gandhi Maidan. p146 Maurya Complex retail and food
• p157 Riya coaches, Steve Jobs "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
• p161 Riya tells mother of divorce (1.5 years)
• p168 coughing p177 cuddling
• p180 Gates arrives, p183 Riya front row, p184 Riya there at end of speech, p187 not there
• p186 Foundation Phil, $50K plus $10K/y for next five years

• p189 Riya letter Lung Cancer, three months left, p191 ditches Dainik Bhaskar reporter

• p197 Riya Journal
  • 1 Nov 2002 Riya birthday at 15 (father "touching" at age 12)
  • 15 Dec 2005 Madhav insulting breakup
  • 4 Sep 2006 yes to Rohan
  • 13 June 2008 leaves
  • 17 Feb 2009 mother Rani insults "desperate divorcee" at home
  • 5 Mar 2009 Father dies, left big money
  • 14 Apr 2009 parting note, stayover before speech
• p209 Riya left for New Delhi 17 April, day of speech
• P210 Riya took all 3.5 lakh, $14K visa for US, went to New York
• p212 Gates foundation Michael finds Madhav 3 month internship in NYC
• p214 stays woth Shailish and Jyoti 83rd and 3rd, hunts 1000 venues 10 per night
• p240 Madison Square garden Knicks vs Lakers
• p241 Senior Citizens for NYC Tourism, Daisy from Mexico, practice english for 5 minutes, brochure with Jazz festival
• p246 1105 pm "Ray" new voice at "Cafe Wha" in West Village, Bleecker Street F West 4th
• p249 1112p -20F, trains not running, 86th st 1134p starts running the 4 miles, 1144p 50th street 1156 sees cafe, arrives 1201
• p254 sees Riya, she sees him, stops singing
• p257 upper west 70th and 6th apartment
• p259 3.5 years later, Dumraon Royal School, Chetan visit, "not like this 7 years ago"
  • basketball court, all equipment from the US
  • three months per yer in the US, she does music, he helps at UN and markets rural tours,
  • tourists stay in haveli, teach kids for day, later send gifts
  • son Shyam almost 2