The New York Times has called CHETAN BHAGAT “The biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history,” but you wouldn’t guess it from his unassuming demeanor and down-to-earth persona. The author, much like his books, is understated, simple yet relentlessly charming. Corporate Citizen caught up with India’s Rockstar Writer for a heartfelt conversation on his books, politics, controversies and much more!
It was never meant to be a career choice. I was a banker at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. I was married, with a stable job. My friends were into golf or other pastimes. My hobby was writing. I never expected it to take off the way it did. In the beginning, I had a hard time finding a publisher willing to take my book. Writing was one of those things I wanted to tick off my bucket list and that would be the end of that (or so I thought). That it would take off the way it did was beyond my wildest expectations.
I did. I also did debates and road plays. But even if you look at my first book, Five Point Some-one, it’s about three friends in college. At that time, renowned authors in India like Vikram Seth and Arundhati Roy wrote in sophisticated English for a western audience, whereas my book was written in simple everyday English for people who were novices at reading. I did not think that except for my friends and a few college students, anyone would read my book. But it just went to a different level. Then I thought that perhaps it was a fluke and that it was the IIT factor that made the book work. So I wrote another one and then another one. When all my first three books worked, then I realised that I would lose out on something if I kept working in the bank. So I quit and took up writing full time. It was an experiment that took off very well.
You know, in the MBA course you learn about organisational behaviour and human resources, the softer side of things. In engineering, you only focus on the technical side of things. MBA teaches you how people matter, how they think and feel, and that’s what writing is about. It’s about India, its people and their emotions. I think I became more sensitive towards these aspects because of what management taught me. In my columns that I write for newspapers, certainly, the management style of analysis is obvious. I never write a column without a solution, for which I have been criticised, as some people think I am a nobody and I have no right to give solutions. But I believe in being positive about things. Even this outlook, to some extent, has been shaped by my MBA course.
Another thing I learnt from management is market segmentation. I write my books for the younger lot. At the same time, I write columns for the older readers. As I grow old myself, I have to tap in a new section of readers as well. I have to re brand myself for a different section of my readers while at the same time I must ensure that I never lose sight of my core reader base.
Even when I did Nach Baliye, I was thinking of expanding my market. Earlier, only those who read books knew me. Today, those who have never read a book know me from the TV show, and if they are in a train or bus looking for a way to pass the time and happen to come across my book, they might give it a go due to their familiarity with me on television.
Gorge Orwell, Ayn Rand, Charles Dickens and many others.
Some people have the gift for connecting with their target audience. Why is Salman Khan such a big star? Aren’t there better actors in Bollywood? The answer is technically yes, there are better actors. But Salman Khan has established a connect with the audience which is stronger than that of so many other actors. That’s what makes him such a huge star.
“MBA teaches you how people matter, how they think and feel, and that’s what writing is about. It’s about India, its people and their emotions. I think I became more sensitive towards these aspects because of what management taught me”
"Sustaining success is harder than achieving it. The trick in this profession is longevity. People are always looking out for different sources of entertainment. If you do not reinvent yourself, you cannot stay relevant for long. I go to many colleges and events all across India, to try and connect with the youth, to understand their perspective. I am not getting any younger, and if I want to be relevant for ten more years, then I have to know the pulse of the youth "
Most of the people running successful businesses in India did not graduate from a big management school. After a point, making a difference overrides the desire for money in entrepreneurship, and that’s important. Even if you open a small shop, the desire should be to make the shop the best in the area. When you have that attitude, success is not far away
Five Point Someone was a different kind of book when it came out. It connected with a disillusioned and neglected student base who finally found a voice mirroring their own.
What people don’t realize, however, is that being a one hit wonder isn’t that hard. Singers like Baba Sehgal and Lucky Ali were big hits, but they didn’t last. Sustaining success is harder than achieving it. The trick in this profession is longevity. People are always looking out for different sources of entertainment. If you do not reinvent yourself, you cannot stay relevant for long. I go to many colleges and events all across India, to try and connect with the youth, to understand their perspective. I am not getting any younger, and if I want to be relevant for ten more years, then I have to know the pulse of the youth.
I think it’s a very good idea. Unfortunately, Indians love the caste system. This ideology has seeped into education too. IIMs are considered superior to other management colleges. So IIM students will always have an advantage in the corporate sector. Entrepreneurship is the great leveller. Most of the people running successful businesses in India did not graduate from a big management school. That’s the only way to beat the odds and be a tremendous success. Even what I do is a kind of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is about changing the world. The money is secondary. That is not the driving force. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, for example, has given away 99% of his wealth.
After a point, making a difference overrides the desire for money in entrepreneurship, and that’s important. Even if you open a small shop, the desire should be to make the shop the best in the area. When you have that attitude, success is not far away. When you have that mind-set, it doesn’t matter whether you are from Stanford or IIM or another B-school or not from any B-school, for that matter.
My first book took a while to take off. But when it did, my professors had a senate meeting (as is the tradition for meetings in IIT) and discussed its implications. People sometimes don’t realise that people who give you feedback want you to improve. How would IIT improve if everyone only sang its praises? There was nothing I had written that was incorrect. I had not made any false representation. So at the end of the day, they took it in their stride.
Now the day has come where the IIT Director calls me, asking me to write about how the government is trying to take away the autonomy of IITs and to raise awareness about it. Whatever they may have felt at that time, now I am the first person they call. I am an asset to them now. My book was made into a movie (3 Idiots) and that has brought a lot of attention to IIT.
What I found is that rural India has the same aspirations as urban India. It’s just that they have a larger learning curve. I advise the youth in rural India to come to cities, educate themselves, and then go back and make a difference. Education is empowerment.
Social media has a very big influence. See, 10% of the pollution comes from cars. 90% of it comes from other sources. With the odd- even formula implemented, cars will run on every other day based on their number plate. So that does not eliminate the 10% contribution to pollution, it just makes it lesser to 5%. Now, factor in the fact that Sunday is exempt, as well as women and emergency services, and the 5% benefit comes closer to 1%. For 1% actual reduction in pollution, the amount of inconvenience to the residents, the increase in the police force to implement the rule, etc., is just not worth it. There are other solutions to solve Delhi’s pollution. There are RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cards which you can attach to every car. These are much easier to implement as well as cheaper. Someone criticized my view on twitter, and the Delhi CM actually re-tweeted it. That is not becoming of a person in political office. It’s almost as if he is inciting a mob.
"The disadvantage is that society draws its own inferences when a man is at home and the wife works. Society expects the man to earn more than his wife. Unlike women’s rights which are spoken of, there is an unspoken discrimination against men who earn less than their wives"
(Laughs)...it’s fun to watch boxing, but that doesn’t mean you should get into the ring. If I join politics, I can’t start from the top. I would have to join at a very medium level. I would have to toe the line as per the party’s bosses. They may ask me to campaign for a candidate who may have a criminal record. What can I do then? I don’t think I could do that. I think I can make a bigger difference doing what I am doing now. If you look at history, the people who made the most contribution to the country did not hold political office. I am extremely political. Which means that if I feel strongly about a topic, I will express my opinion and mobilize support for it. But that’s the extent of it. My followers (especially on twitter) do not want me to join politics, at least as of now.
I like to be fit. I go to the gym, I do yoga, I like running. I like travelling. I used to go to Goa to write, and sometimes I go abroad to write too. I also love spending time with my family every chance I get.
And the book was made into a movie (Laughs). The story is well known. I am a Punjabi, she is a Tamilian. Initially there was a lot of opposition from both our families, but eventually we won them over.
It was very difficult earlier, and that is one of the reasons I quit my day job. I travel 10-12 days a month, but the rest of the time I am at home. Even then, it became very difficult once we had our twin boys. Last year, even she left her job, as it was getting too hectic to balance things.
Maybe. It did help in the sense that it’s good to know there is a financial cushion, although luckily I never had to take any money from her. The disadvantage is that society draws its own inference when a man is at home and the wife works. Society expects the man to earn more than his wife. Unlike women’s rights which are spoken of, there is an unspoken discrimination against men who earn less than their wives.
I am very besharam that way. I decided that as long as I’m doing what I want to do, I can handle the judgements and criticisms. Today, of course, things have changed. Success is the great equalizer, as they say. At one point, the banker supported the writer, but today, the writer can comfortably support the banker.
Initially it was a tribute to my engineering days. Now it’s become fashionable, and everyone expects me to have a number in my novels, so I oblige. Even my publisher is very superstitious about it. Plus it has now become part of my brand. My non-fiction books, however, do not have numbers in their titles.
It’s very different. Screenplays are much smaller and much tighter, and I have to work within many constraints in tandem with the director and producer, as compared to a book where I have full reign to go wherever I please.
I always believe in pushing myself out of my comfort zone. When I signed Nach Baliye, initially I had included a clause that specified that I would not be dancing at all at any juncture during the show. However, when it came to the finale, I realized that the other judges were dancing and if I did not dance now, I would probably never dance at all for the rest of my life, and I went ahead and did it, making a fool of myself in the process (laughs). It’s important to not be stagnant and to try new things. The movie adaptations of most of my books have been successful. The time had come for me to transition to this next step, and I will be involved with the movie every step of the way.
I am writing my next book, and I hope to have it out in October. I cannot divulge more at this point, but I promise it will be fun.
BY NEERAJ VARTY
