Man on the move

After his two best-selling books which have topped the Crossword Top Ten Books list, Chetan Bhagat is back with his third novel.

On a personal level too, he has new things to look forward to. Soon he will be winding up from Hong Kong and will be moving back to India, this time to Mumbai instead of his native city, Delhi. “I have been missing India too much. So, I decided that instead of writing about India from Hong Kong, I might as well move back there,” he said. “Maybe once I am there, I will start writing about Hong Kong!” he laughed.

This time the romances and thrills in the novel will be happening in Ahmedabad. “Although the novel is based in Ahmedabad, it isn’t about IIM-A. People tend to assume that just because I have studied there, my book will be about the institute. But, I didn’t want to do a campus story as I already have done one on that subject (Five Point Some-one, 2004, was based on life on the IIT-Powai campus),” he said.

The plot revolves around three boys, who start a business together. “I am very impressed by the entrepreneurial culture of Gujarat and I feel that India should get to know about it,” he said. Although he stresses that the novel isn’t autobiographical, Law Garden, Vishala, Dairy Den-in other words, all the hangout places and things he remembers about Ahmedabad will be a part of the story.

Ask him why he chose Ahmedabad as the setting for his story and he replies, “Firstly, I think Bombay and Delhi have been written about enough, but Ahmedabad is still an under-exploited city,” he said.

“Secondly, the title of the book has been nearly finalised to be The Three Mistakes of My Life and I don’t want to comment on that further,” he laughed. “Thirdly, my novels usually are based in the places I miss in my life, but which live on in my memories,” he said.

Ahmedabad is one place he surely seems to be missing. “I love Ahmedabad because that’s where I met my wife,” he said. Other memories of the city include tasty Gujarati food, the city’s  spirit and garba! “I have this vivid memory of renting a dress for an evening-for a garba night out with my friends.

That’s the only time in my life I have rented a dress,” he laughed.
Offlicially, he visited Ahmedabad two years ago, but he was on a secret visit here just three or four months ago to research his novel. “Ahmedabad has transformed over the years.

It has become swankier; there are more multiplexes, more ACs, but as long as it retains its culture and the friendliness of the people, it will still maintain its charm for me,” he said.

But, the book isn’t the only thing Chetan is looking forward to. Hello, based on his One Night At the Call Center (2005) is slated for release in mid-March. Excited about the release, he said, “I have seen the movie and I feel it has been done very well and yes, the director has remained true to my novel to quite a good extent.

” The movie has been directed by Atul Agnihotri and stars Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, Katrina Kaif and Celina Jaitley.
The Three Mistakes of My Life will be published by Rupa and will be launched in June or July and no kudos for guessing where it will be launched - Ahmedabad, of course!