Book Review - One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat

​Generally, you get to hear people saying they don't like Chetan Bhagat's books but I didn't find any reason why I should dislike his latest book One Indian Girl. This is one typical Chetan Bhagat book, with a simple story line, easy to read. Period.

One comment I have heard is that the protagonist, Radhika, stereotypes Indian women. She is just one Indian girl and there are many such young women in this vast country, and Chetan Bhagat has chosen to write about one such woman.

Another comment that I have heard is that she exemplifies the new Indian feminist. That's a term I am not comfortable with simply because I haven't really understood what that means, in spite of the best of my efforts.

Instead, I would say Radhika is typical of the new generation young Indian woman in a big city who has benefited from the comforts and advantages of these modern times to be independent, confident, devoid of inhibitions, determined and persevering to realise her goals in life.

The story is not just about Radhika as a successful banker, but also about Radhika as a woman.

Be it for a man or a woman, the pulls of the mind and the heart can be in the same direction or in different directions. When it is the latter, there is conflict, and life becomes complicated. Radhika summons the strength of her mind to settle a serious dilemma staring at her.

This is the first book where Chetan Bhagat writes as a woman. He said at the Bengaluru Lit Fest that he wasn't confident, and ended up showing the script to about 20 women before publication, and went on to incorporate some of their suggestions. At the end of it all, I don't think it is a bad job at all.

One Indian Girl by Chetan Bhagat
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews

Dear father, you will be remembered forever

It's a month since my father passed away. I am still coming to terms with his absence. This, in spite of the fact that he was very realistic and practical about what he could and he could not do.

During the last few months he had virtually signed off from all activities, and even spoke about his departure; going as far as telling us that he might not survive October.

Probably, thanks to the strong value systems he practised, and the strength of his mind and intellect, he was up and about, albeit with support, till the very last day. He passed away in sleep around 3.30 am, on November 29.

36 years of teaching

My father, N. Balakrishnan Nair -- or NBN as he was fondly referred to in Sainik School, Kazhakootam, Thiruvananthapuram, where he taught for 28 years -- was born in North Parur, Ernakulam, on October 22, 1929.

He did his primary and secondary school education in North Parur, and completed his Intermediate and B.Sc. from University College, Thiruvananthapuram from 1943 to 1947.

He worked as lab chemist in FACT Aluva, Ernakulam, from 1947 to 49; and did MSc in Chemistry from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, from 1949 to 1951. From 1951 to 59, he worked as a lecturer in Chemistry in NSSH College, Changanessery, Kottayam. From 1959 to 1962, he worked as a junior scientist in Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs in Delhi and Chenganoor, Alappuzha.

His stint in Sainik School was the longest: from Feb 14, 1962 to April 14, 1990. Post retirement, from 1990 to 1996, he worked part time as a volunteer in two orphanages near North Parur teaching children craft work.

A role model, father figure

For my father, students were the first priority. He used to say that it is the duty of teachers to be as helpful to students as possible. Because of his sincerity, commitment, and patience, he was a favourite of his students.

In Sainik School, which is a boarding school, where children join at the age of 11 and leave at the age of 18, he was a guide, mentor, and a father figure. Children always felt comfortable to approach him, confide in him and seek solutions to their issues. They looked up to him as a role model.

The Chemistry laboratory

He loved being in the Chemistry laboratory. Thanks to him, children right from the age of 11, when they were in sixth standard, got laboratory hour during the Chemistry classes. Each student had his own table, with all equipment and solutions for himself. Father used to say no student should have to borrow even a match stick from another student. From learning how to light a Bunsen Burner oneself at the age 11 to doing complicated salt analyses at the age of 18: children did them all themselves. Probably in no other school, students get to work in a chemistry laboratory for seven long years at a stretch during their schooling.

He was extremely humble, and always remained in the background. When students expressed gratitude for the help he had rendered, he used to say, good students make good teachers; all the credit should go to the students and not to him.

Alumni association

My father was instrumental in forming the Old Boys Association in Sainik School way back in 1969, when alumni associations and meetups were not much heard of. He wrote letters to former students, buying postal material from his own salary.

Every letter or greeting card sent by students was replied to without fail. He kept a notebook, a despatch register of sorts, in which he entered the name, address and date on which letters were received, and the date on which he replied to them.

His letters are considered a priceless gem, for the thoughts he articulated, and the way he presented them. Many of his students have preserved his reply to their wedding invitations.

Father used to say that a school should never forget its students, and he painstakingly built the OBA, as the alumni group was called. Today it's a very strong and well-networked association of all past students, and contributing in multiple ways to help out other alumni as well as the alma mater. There are innumerable anecdotes on how ex-students have reached out to fellow alumni in times of need.

The very latest is this: a few days ago there was mail in our email group, about a alumnus losing his baggage during a flight, and that he wasn’t getting proper answer from the airlines. Within a few hours of posting the email, another alumnus, a pilot, who saw the mail, worked his contacts, and replied saying the baggage has been found, and that it’s being sent to him. There are so many anecdotes like this.

Lessons in life

Very organised and disciplined in his daily routine, father helped inculcate good value systems in students. We thank him not just for the lessons in Chemistry, but for lessons in life as well. One of his principles was that we must always be ready to make small sacrifices so that we can achieve a larger good, and move forward in life. And he made a number of sacrifices, big and small in his life.

Another of his principles was never to judge people, and he never proclaimed his opinions about anything. He believed in giving every individual her freedom of thought and action, and was he was critical of people, mainly politicians, who insisted what languages children should learn or what dress they should wear, or what food they should eat.

He was very reticent, guarded in speaking out, probably because he himself was very sensitive about what others spoke about him. One must be very careful and think through before expressing our views about something, he used to say.

Busy and active life

He truly believed in the old saying: "Idle mind is a devil's workshop", and made sure that he kept himself occupied always.

He believed that there are four aspects to our being: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual; and it is important for us to pay attention to each of them equally, and keep them strong.

He exercised regularly. He never went to the gym, or went for walk in a park. He practised yoga (mainly breathing and stretching exercises) at home.

Importance of diet

He maintained a very strict diet discipline. He avoided sugar, salt and oil, especially after retirement. His food was mainly made up of an assortment of boiled rice and cut vegetables like bitter gourd and beans.

My father was an admirer of Linus Pauling, who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 for peace in 1962. The scientist had advocated the power of Vitamin C to increase our immunity and also protect us from diseases. Quite naturally, my father regularly had vitamin and mineral supplements, to make up for the possible shortfall in the normal food.

He read a lot, and was very knowledgeable. One reason students liked his chemistry classes was because, in addition to equations, compounds and chemical reactions, he used to narrate interesting anecdotes related to historical events and personalities.

He was a member of the British Library in Thiruvananthapuram, and he got me also enrolled as a member soon after my 10th standard. Once in a month we used to go the library. This landmark institution in the Kerala capital was shut down in 2008. (British Library, Thiruvananthapuram, to close down, Hope for British Library, Thiruvananthapuram)

Father believed in the need to have engaging hobbies. Solving word and number puzzles like Sudoku was one of them. He learnt Russian, and spent some half an hour reading Russian books. He read some religious text; and kept himself emotionally strong by being realistic and practical about everything that happened around him.

Hobbies should also be something that involves physical work. He played the violin. He knew bookbinding and introduced it as a hobby for the school students. He also made boxes out of discarded paper containers of toothpaste, cereals etc. He gave these boxes to his former students and their family members when they visited them. They are treasured as priceless souvenirs.

After retirement, the time for these activities increased. He devoted some time in the kitchen as well, especially after my mother became too old and weak to cook food and wash vessels. For him, the kitchen came closest to what a laboratory was.

The downslide

The extent and intensity of his activities reduced over a period of time, but he carried on doing most of these till around October-end. The turning point came on October 10 when he lost balance and was about to fall when he bent down to put the violin back in the box. I was around and held him. From then on, he gradually lost confidence, and began to feel weaker and weaker.

But even a day before he passed away, he mustered enough strength to get up and walk up to the dining table to have lunch and dinner on Nov 28. As usual, after dinner, we went up to bathroom, brushed his teeth, and went to bed.

For about a month, his breathing had become a bit laboured, and one could hear him inhale and exhale, often through his mouth. I would ask him if he had any discomfort, and he would say, no nothing. And, in a sense, that sound had become a reassurance of his presence.

Around 3.30 that night, I didn’t hear that familiar breathing sound. I, for moment, thought he might have turned over to one side. But I didn’t want to take a risk, and decided to check on him. There was no response. Life went out of him; very quietly, peacefully.

Dear father, you will be remembered forever. May your soul rest in peace.

Demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000: Could Modi have done it differently?

On November 8, just when a large number of Americans were queuing up to cast their votes in, what would turn out to be a historic presidential election, here in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise and unscheduled appearance on national television at 8 pm, in what would turn out to be a startling economic policy pronouncement that made as much as 86 per cent of India's currency invalid.

His aim was to wipe out the massive amounts of counterfeit banknotes in the denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1000; and also to render invalid huge stacks of these currency that have been set apart to fuel unlawful practices like street protests, terror activities and corruption.  

Modi, who has survived cataclysmic social upheavals in Gujarat as its chief minister, knows well not only the power of symbolism but also that for anything to have a lasting impact it has to be swift and strong. The November 8 'surgical strike' on people who are wrecking India's economy and financial well-being, fitted well into the Modi style of governance.

The severity of Modi's decision can be gauged from the fact that it took at least one full day for the new economic order to sink in. Almost immediately, the stark reality of what is in every Indian's wallets struck each of them -- invalid Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes and very few valid Rs 100 notes. Indians simply ran out of cash. And, to make it worse, banks and ATMs too ran out of cash. So, Modi's assurance that the invalid notes can be exchanged in banks for new ones amounted to not much.

Today is the ninth day; and instead of things getting better, seemingly it's getting worse. For example, today, the revenue secretary announced that the old notes can be swapped for new ones in banks only up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per person. It was Rs 4,500. Since many ATMs aren't working, there is no point in depositing in accounts, since the money can't be withdrawn. 

While Prime Minister Modi deserves credit for taking this bold step, the lengthening queues outside banks and ATMs are fueling discontent among people and making both purchases and selling difficult. In short, it's hurting the economy, may be in the short term. But how it will play out in the coming days is not known.

Why Modi is correct

* Corruption is endemic in India. When the going gets tough, reach out for the banknotes, seems to a national mantra. Though it is commonly associated with government-related services, people bribe their way to convenience very often. While in some instances, cash can speed up matters, on other occasions it can mean serious compromise in quality. And, when government services are corrupted, nation's financial health weakens.

* Black money is in plenty. This is a large amount of unaccounted wealth. The beneficiaries are individuals, and groups of people who run organizations. The losers are the country (the government) and institutions, both private and public. Basically Indian financial culture is such that it promotes illegal wealth. For example, people don't mind forgoing the bill in return for a discount. They fake bills and financial agreements to escape tax. Many resort to cash transactions to avoid leaving a trail which would result in payment of tax. Poor people are only too willing to accept wads of currency from political parties who seek their votes. It's a huge ugly mess.

* Fake banknotes in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were so many that banks themselves were dispensing them and honest people too had them in their wallets.

* India has to reduce its dependence on hard cash. There has to be more of cheque or electronic transactions that will leave a trail. Unless people are pushed into it like this, the lethargic, complacent average Indian will not change.

Could this have been done differently?

* The Prime Minister had to make it a surprise announcement, since any inkling of this would have resulted in people turning black money into white, defeating the whole purpose of the exercise.

* It was common knowledge that - considering the amount of fake notes in circulation - demonetization was the only option. The most intuitive of the businessmen might have seen this coming, sooner than later.

* While the announcement of demonetization would have had to be a surprise, at the backend the government could have set the stage to minimise the hardship for people. 

* The RBI (Reserve Bank of India, the banking regulator) could have increased the supply of Rs 100 notes and instructed the banks not to put Rs 500 and Rs 1000 back into circulation. Instead new Rs 500 notes could have been put into circulation. It would have been a gradual process, and no one would have found anything amiss there. 

* May be a month into this quiet backend operation, the Prime Minister could have made the announcement of demonetization of the "old" bank notes. This way, while the end objective of curbing black money (it can't wiped out totally) would be achieved, the subtlety of the operation would have ensured that people had minimum inconvenience. 

What is at stake?

* This has both political and economic implications. Modi's advantage is that the opposition is fragmented, rudderless and leaderless. Elections in UP and Punjab could end up as a referendum on Modi's governance.

* Undoubtedly, business across the board has been hit. There isn't any cash around. Many people say this is just a temporary phenomenon. But how things would be dramatically better after a few months is not known.

* Nothing will totally wipe away black money from the economy. It can be reduced to a considerable extent. The government will have to follow this up with raids on tax evaders, bringing them book or even imprison them. Otherwise, this will just go down in history as a political stunt which amounted to nothing but inconvenience to the people.