R{ƎVO⅃}UTION TWENTY20

“Don't be serious, be sincere.”

Little light on Writer's Introduction

Chetan Bhagat

Born on 22 April 1974 is an Indian author, columnist, and YouTuber. He was included in Time magazine's list of the World's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Five of his novels have been adapted into films.

Chetan Bhagat's writing style is very different from other authors. He is known for making books readable for the average Indian. He has constantly been an inspiration to aspiring writers.

He believes in keeping it simple which helps him engage with the audience, who don't really want to refer to a dictionary while reading books. The audience also finds it easier to relate to his books as the context of his books is usually based on actual events from their lives.

Bhagat also invests a lot of time in creating the characters of his books so that his target audience can relate to them in a better way. His stories usually have an Indian touch to them which makes them even more interesting. With his vivid and humorous way of depicting stories, he has inspired reading habits in many young Indians.

Works of C.Bhagat

⁕Five of his novel adapted into films.

1) Hello - One night at call center

2) 3 Idiots - Five point someone

3) Kai po che! - 3 Mistakes of my life

4) 2 States - 2 States

5) Half-Girlfriend - Half Girlfriend 

As this novel is in our syllabus of Contemporary Literature in English. We are asked to do in a detailed study of R{ƎVO⅃}UTION TWENTY20 by Chetan Bhagat.

About the Novel

1) Social realism in the novel

The various ingredients that make contemporary Indian society seem despicable were pointed out by Bhagat in his fifth novel, Revolution 2020. Chetan Bhagat delves deep into a very serious malaise of Indian society – corruption. Corruption has existed since time immemorial and has pervaded every facet of Indian society, from getting a certificate, to getting a government job or getting approvals to start a school or college. The bribes paid could run into many lakes of rupees. The despicable and uncouth reality of Indian society has been laid threadbare in this novel. The novel talks about how the basic inception of corruption in modern times can be traced to opportunistic leaders, who are consumed by ambition and use corruption as a means to fuel their ambitions. The bleakness existing in Indian society, according to Bhagat, is due to political bankruptcy, social sins, malpractices and crimes of various hues. Revolution 2020 discusses in detail how the Indian government aids in corruption. Bhagat's book talks about how government employees and political leaders actually operate, which lead to untold corruption everywhere. Corruption, the dark side of Indian society that Indians are generally accustomed to, manifests itself in the rotten educational system, coupled with the dishonesty and bribery that exist in public life forms the essence of this novel.

The protagonist comes from a humble background that faces tremendous pressures in life. The novel describes him as an ordinary person with a slight paunch. It goes on to add that the “rest of him was whitish complexion, modest five feet seven-inch height, and his side-parted hair was reassuringly normal. His father didn't give him any pocket money and he didn't have much in his own pocket.” The protagonist lost his mother at the age of four, and his father owned only disputed agricultural land. Like Samir in Five Point Someone, the protagonist of Revolution 2020 is forced by his father to pursue engineering. Bhagat points out those students in India are not encouraged to opt for careers or studies based on their passion or choice. Rather, it is the will of the parent that is forced down upon their throats. The protagonist says, "I would be one of those unfortunate cases who had done well, but not well enough". They become distraught when they are not able to fulfill their parents' desires that were imposed upon them. As a result, students have to lie to their parents when they don't do well, for they wouldn't want to see their parents getting hurt. Parents on the other hand are also insensitive, who tend to scold them rather that reassuring them when things don't go as planned. Bhagat infers that this could be one of the reasons why young people contemplate suicide. The plot revolves around the protagonist, his friends Raghav and the local beauty Aarti who is a District Magistrate's daughter. The three of them belong to middle class backgrounds. The protagonist's father is an ailing retired teacher, who is not inclined to spend all of his money on his medication, as the well-being of his son; the protagonist occupies a higher priority. The protagonist wants to enter one of the prestigious IITs. He has to do the JEE, the entrance test, in order to get into one of them. But he is not successful. His father sends him to Kota, Rajasthan, which is renowned for institutes that impart training for one to clear the JEE. Yet, the protagonist fails in his subsequent sitting for the JEE. His father passes away in the meanwhile. He starts to live by himself. His relatives do not seem very interested in taking him under their wings.

2) Significance of the title 'Revolution Twenty20'

As given in this cover page of the book we can see background image of Varanasi as holy city of india and there's love triangle within it and one thing to be noticed here is in the original one RƎVO⅃UTION is written as it highlights love within REVOLUTION.

We can find Three major concerns given here is Love.Corruption.Ambition in the characters of Raghav, Gopal and Arti.

As novel opens up we can see the newness of relationships and the love triangle of contemporary era. As we just passed through the pendemic 2020 there were lot of corruption and scandles were on n on going Revolution Twenty20 by chetan Bhagat comes with the concept of Corruption in education , how holy place of India is reflected here , how love becomes an ambition and turns into corruption later on.

3) Do you think that an opportunity of a good novel is wasted because the story is told from Gopal's perspective? Can it be better if narrated from Raghav or Aarti's perspective? How would it be better if it was narrated from Raghav or Aarti's perspective?

Well i don't think so that story told by Gopal's perspective is wasted because in a way we don't find much of politicians do speak about their things out in public though it was all wrong what Gopal was doing but none can help in that as we'll have a lot of Gopals around us what we see is one sided tale what here Gopal is telling is his story throughout his life and how he ended up in corruption. Judging the story only on the bases of his scandles is wrong in a way. If it was narrated by Aarti then it would be more about love than corruption and it could have turn into a feminst prspective if aarti would have narrated.