Five Point Someone gets 10 GPA

I must be the only person to read the book “Five Point Someone” after reading the excerpt of the book called “One night @ Call Center” which I got as a forwarded mail. It is Chetan Bhagat’s next book to be released soon. Even though I read glorifying reviews on the book, I was impressed enough to buy it. But this small four page story introduced a simplistic yet effective story teller called Chetan Bhagat to me and hence this review.

“Five point someone” is about three friends Hari, Ryan and Alok. They are IITians. They are under performers (5 pointers). They have different ideas about life, different ambitions, different psyches and different problems but yet they become friends. It is all about how they spend their four years of life in IIT and how they managed to get a degree and a job after all odds in a span of four years. The author narrates the story which he claims as his own college story through the character Hari.

The most likeable thing about the book is the fun these guys have in all the circumstances, no matter how serious the situation may be (as we were in our college days). The sarcasm prevails all through the narration and that makes it quite an entertaining page turner. The characters are well etched out and almost after first few pages we are familiar with who will react how in any given situation. The author takes us to the world of these three guys where nothing matters except having fun. It is a big relief to read about under performers and their perspective on IIT system, instead of fundoos and muggers who know hardly anything except studies. It is one of the rare books which I read in on sitting and that say how racy the book is.

Having been a REC student, I had a close to IIT experience in my college days. So, I could relate to almost everything that happens to these guys in the book. It made me feel good and nostalgic about my college days. Eating in road-side dhaabas, night-outs, ragging, GPA system, assignments, bunking first hour, first sem GPS creating a lasting impression, Venkats, Aloks, frequent treats for no reason, boozing at the roof-top, using jargons while speaking that only a student of that college can understand (insti, ManPro, muggu etc.,) love, friendship, sacrifice all were part our college life too. And that made me to enjoy the book even better. I think there was no any special care was taken to include all these details that replicate the true college ambience as the author has written it straight from the heart.

There are some interesting subplots too. Though it gear up the pace of the story with some small twist and turns, I suspect whether these happened really. Firstly, the author making a promise to write a book about their college life when he finds Alok got injured badly due to suicide attempt. It is hard to believe that such a promise was really made by him to himself considering his character sketch. That was one of the strangest thought one can get in such a tragic situation. The love line of Hari is also unrealistic. They obviously fall in love with each other without any valid incidents or reason for their attraction towards each other. The Operation Pendulum (stealing the semester question paper from Prof’s room to get an A) also make me think that will anybody go this far. The C2D concept is really interesting, but in practical it is tough to apply.

Anyway, I like this book very much. Enjoyed the time spent to read it. I am going to read it again. Eagerly waiting for “One nigh @ call center” as the excerpt had an interesting premise.