For author Chetan Bhagat, the habit of number-crunching since his days in IIT and then at IIM-A is now deeply ingrained in his system. Keeping the tradition of including Arabic numerals in the titles of his novels, he is all ready to face the world with his next — 2 states: the story of my marriage.
In fact, Chetan admits that one of the biggest challenges would be to make sure that his in-laws still want to talk to him after the book is released. He surprises us, “I hope they will still be my in-laws.” Interestingly, wife Anusha’s parents will actually be flying down from Kolkata to attend the launch of the book, early next month.
Perhaps it is no secret that Chetan, a Punjabi, and Anusha, a Tamilian, had to work hard to have both sets of parents agree to their relationship and subsequently their marriage. To provide a further glimpse into their personal story, Chetan decided to take up penning this book after being convinced by his fans on his mail and social networking sites. The author recounts the making of the book, “It was May 2007 when my last book came out. Leaving my banking job, I had decided to become a full-time writer. Unlike 3 Mistakes, this book was relatively quicker to complete as it deals with my own life.”
While Anusha emphasises that when Chetan announced to her for the first time that his book would heavily lean on their life story, she indeed was a little wary. The mother of two says, “A lot of material from each other’s parents has gone into the book.” In fact Anusha also stresses that before writing the book, both Chetan and she spoke to their parents assuring them: — “It is not about you.”
While Chetan accepts that a lot of portions of the book have been dramatised — at the insistence of his wife, he credits his fans for conceptualising this book. He says, “My fans wanted to know more about me. People had heard about my and Anusha’s story. People needed to understand.” Chetan goes on to add, “I was weary sharing several aspects, but I wanted the load off me.”
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