That loser Chetan Bhagat
The two things that can get Indian literature students to cringe is calling Shakespeare an author and calling Chetan Bhagat an author (for two very different reasons). 'Real' readers of literature know that there should be a feeling of mutual disgust when his works are spoken about. They should laugh at any person who lists his works as their favourite. His writing is not meant to be swooned over, but stepped on. After all, it is published in a font used in children's books and uses analogies heard in daily life. It's written with the vocabulary a 5 year old would understand. There is nothing eccentric, chaotic or magnificent about it. Even not-so-real readers of literature, who survive on Stephanie Meyers, E L james, Sidney Sheldon (now *shudder* Tilly Bagshaw) and other popular Western writers treat him with scorn. It is fashionable to hate him, an internet fad- like Justin Bieber getting punched by Orlando Bloom. It is just the trend. Like neon accessories. The very students who have been credited (by the news media) for his popularity are becoming the reason for his (widely rumoured) downfall.
Who does this writer think he is, writing in a way that people can understand? So what if he wrote about Gujarat riots, weed, inter-state marriage, student pressures in a way that people would remember? In a way that makes it stick in the mass conscience. So what if he got the 30 minus Indian crowd to leave behind (for a while at least) American novels and read about issues in their own backyard. If he takes a political stance on twitter, of course we will retaliate with an attack on his personality. Debate and discussion on the issue is not the right way to sort things out. Calling him a horrible writer is. In India, we always need a celebrity punching bag handy to project our frustrations on. All the anger against rickshaw drivers and ex's who jilted us finds its way into social media.We should feel righteous about it, he deserves to be criticised.
Call him a phenomenon or a phenomenal waste of space, there is no use denying that he is the reason for a paradigm shift in how our country views novels in terms of profitability and popularity. The man is a story teller in his own right. The passionate criticism and abuses thrown his way are either misplaced or a show of jealousy. Writers are over-rated and under-paid. The customer is always right, the reader always has the final say, the author is dead.
Who does this writer think he is, writing in a way that people can understand? So what if he wrote about Gujarat riots, weed, inter-state marriage, student pressures in a way that people would remember? In a way that makes it stick in the mass conscience. So what if he got the 30 minus Indian crowd to leave behind (for a while at least) American novels and read about issues in their own backyard. If he takes a political stance on twitter, of course we will retaliate with an attack on his personality. Debate and discussion on the issue is not the right way to sort things out. Calling him a horrible writer is. In India, we always need a celebrity punching bag handy to project our frustrations on. All the anger against rickshaw drivers and ex's who jilted us finds its way into social media.We should feel righteous about it, he deserves to be criticised.
Call him a phenomenon or a phenomenal waste of space, there is no use denying that he is the reason for a paradigm shift in how our country views novels in terms of profitability and popularity. The man is a story teller in his own right. The passionate criticism and abuses thrown his way are either misplaced or a show of jealousy. Writers are over-rated and under-paid. The customer is always right, the reader always has the final say, the author is dead.
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