Chai, Chai - Bishwanath Ghosh - A Review

I am a Regular at the Annual Land Mark Sale every year. Browsing the shelves of the well-stocked bookstore, I got hold of this odd looking title – Chai, chai.

I grabbed this book for two reasons.

q  Being a Wannabe travel writer, I am desperate to get tips on travel writing.

q  Itarsi as a station fascinated me during my travels to Allahabad for 4 Years during my college days. (The same place where the writer got his idea to pen this book).

Bishwanath has chosen a cool theme to start his journey as a travel writer. Does he tell us a story that is at once convincing, likeable, and riveting? The book starts off well and held Interest for me during the author’s visit to Mughalsarai. Thereafter the visits and narrations become predictable. The author loses us the moment he walks out of the station and starts off on his aimless wander. The dialogues with every by passer shows the author’s desperateness in trying to build a story to read.

His penchant for Whisky and small talk is some thing that keeps the story going, but fails to keep us engaged with the story. The Journalist in him treat each occasions independently and he reports occasions rather than weaving a story.

Overall I liked reading the book more for the theme and familiarity of the places and not so much for the content and continuity. The Book brought back old memories of train travels, Itarsi’s famous Bread and Omelet, Conversations with a varied cross section of travelers, and of course chai and our endless pursuit of a Quarter every time the Train Stops in a remote station.    

I would have loved calling the book – Whisky and Vada pav. Full Credits to Bishwanath for showing the way to fulfilling one’s desire to write.

2 States - Chetan Bhagat A Commoner's Review

During the Launch of the book last Friday, Chetan Bhagat’ has commented that he is a 80% entertainment and 20% change writer. He sure sticks to his vision statement (if I can call it that) in this book. As an IIT/IIM Graduate, he has chosen writing as a Profession and like any successful double combo working professional is doing well in his chosen profession.

He is clear about his end customers, has done his break-even analysis well with his Publishers and is intent on meeting the Customer’s objective. His end customers are more like me, who want to read light (stuff that makes you take to reading as a hobby) and not heavy on the purse. True to his background, he has segmented his market well and is delivering to the needs of the Market.

The readers are advised to consider this as a story of fiction drawn from the personal experiences of the writer. The Story is about a Punjabi boy and a Tamil Brahmin girl tying the knot under trying circumstances and living happily ever after. The girl is a chicken eating and beer loving Tamil Brahmin coming from Mylapore, the holiest of holy places in Tamil Nadu known for their puritan tastes. Chetan has done a very good job of depicting the household of Swamimathsn’s, their tastes and lives of Tamil Brahmin in general. Being a Tam Bram my self, I enjoyed every bit of his conversations with his in laws, their take on carnatic music, and discussions at dinner table. Every bit, authentic and enjoyable stuff.

The boy’s family has a divided house, a confused father who for the most part of the story is a villain and turns a good guy towards the end giving a sudden twist to the story. The Punjabi love for money, good food, loud tastes and masti is well chronicled. Being a Punjabi himself he has done justice to his brethren.   

The 20% change agent in him pitches in to convey the feeling of an India that should be undivided by religion, culture and togetherness. I wish, he does not change this percentage very often. May be he will, over a course of couple of more books, when he decides to address a different market.

The 80% entertainer in him has shifted course a bit. The objectives of his earlier writings were pure desire to write good stuff. This book to me was written with Shahrukh and Asin in mind as lead roles for a blockbuster. The scenes where Ananya convenes a meeting with twenty year olds to get the Duke clan to go with the marriage is pure filmy.   

 

 As a Wannabe Writer, and a fan of his, I have to admit that he has changed the ways India reads. The one thing going for him is that he writes from his personal experiences that bonds with most of the middle class. No matter what puritans say, he sure has struck the right chord with the readers and this book is no exception. Paisa Vasool and a sure ROCE (Return on Capital Employed) of 100 %