2 States: The story of my marriage by Chetan Bhagat

Rupa & Co. New Delhi (Paperback 269 pages) 
Reviewed by Mahadev Desai 
 

Chetan Bhagat has by now acquired almost cult status with the young Indian readers with his three blockbuster novels, five point someone (2004), one night @ the call center (2005) and the 3 mistakes of my life (2008). All three books have remained bestsellers since their release and have inspired major Bollywood films.  The New York Times called Chetan ‘the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history. Chetan has written yet another best seller, ‘2 States: The story of my marriage’, inspired from the real story of the author and his wife Anusha who is from Tamil Nadu. At the outset, the author sums up the novel: 
 

‘Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.  
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.  
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.  
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.’    
 

The novel about inter-community and inter- State marriage between a Punjabi boy Krish Malhotra from Delhi and Tamil Brahmin girl Ananya Swaminathan from Chennai(who drinks and eats meat though!) is highly engaging, hilarious and breezy. It is a case of love at first sight when they meet in IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Ahmedabad mess. They decide to study together in the dorm at night and their love blossoms. Soon they are sleeping together. A year and half later both complete their studies, secure well paying jobs-Krish in the vaunted Citi bank in Chennai and Ananya, a marketing position in reputed HLL,and decide to get married. So far so good.   
But the problems begin when they decide to invite their parents to the convocation, so they can get to know each other. Krish and his grumpy abusive father, who is retired from army, don’t get along too well so he doesn’t attend the convocation. After the convocation, Krish and Ananya arrange an outing with their families which doesn’t help at all. Krish returns to Delhi with his mother who is highly prejudiced against dark-skinned Madrasi girls and wants to marry off Krish to one of the wealthy and fair-as-milk Punjabi girls. She even drags Krish to see the daughter of one of his aunts. Fortunately for Krish, the daughter knows about Ananya so the matter ends there.  

The bank decides to post Krish in its Chennai branch. Chennai is a bit of cultural shock for Krish. He stays in a chummery with other bank trainees. He adjusts to listening to Tamil talk; Carnatic music; eating idlis, dosas and staple rice dishes on banana leaves; and even wearing a lungi!(with a belt first time).  Krish wins over Ananya’s conservative parents by giving tuitions to Ananya’s scrawny nerd of a brother, and helping dad who is a Deputy Manager in a bank, to prepare a PowerPoint presentation ‘business plan’. He also persuades his boss Bala to invite Ananya’s mother to share the stage with famed singers Hariharan and S.P.Balasubramanium and sing at the bank’s client’s appreciation dinner.  
 

After getting a nod from Ananya’s parents Krish takes Ananya to Delhi to get his parents approval.Krish and his mother take Ananya to an over-the-top lavish Punjabi wedding where Krish’s nosy, gossip-loving aunties take amusing digs at South Indians.Krish manages to get his mother’s approval for marriage.He and Ananya arrange a second get-together for their parents in Goa.  But this time too Krish’s father is absent and after a few petty differences, the families part with hurt feelings.  

Krish, who is now posted to Delhi branch, pleads in vain to sulking Ananya. In the end, it is Krish’s father who gives a pleasant surprise and helps Krish and Ananya tie the knot in Chennai. A couple of years later, this coming together between two states and two communities results in twins-maybe to deliver a message, as Krish says, “They (new born twins) will be from a state called India.’ 

The novel is full of hilarious wise cracks and one-liners like: “Her aunt slid a hand into her bosom ATM and pulled out a wad of notes. I wondered if her cleavage also contained credit cards.”

 “A sardarji in Chennai was akin to spotting a polar bear in Delhi”

“Saying no to Harish is like declining the Nobel Prize”.

Reading the novel is like watching a Bollywood movie. It is written in simple, lucid prose with tongue-in-cheek humor. The characters are believable and one can easily relate to them.Chetan quit his international banking career in 2009, to devote his entire time to writing and make change happen in the country. He lives in Mumbai with his wife Anusha, an ex-classmate from IIMA, and his twin boys Shyam and Ishaan.