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nikitasd11's review against another edition
2.0
It was interesting to read about the potential stuff young people in India wants however it also seemed quite out of touch
alekhyadas's review against another edition
1.0
I'm Young and from India, but I surely don't want to read this book ever again!
The book is intellectually lazy! He tries to prove his calibre by self-promoting his writing skills at every single point of the book!
I thought I'll read about some incidents about India and other stuff from Chetan's perspective and this is what I get.
What the hell! Pure waste of time and money!
The book is intellectually lazy! He tries to prove his calibre by self-promoting his writing skills at every single point of the book!
I thought I'll read about some incidents about India and other stuff from Chetan's perspective and this is what I get.
What the hell! Pure waste of time and money!
bewildered_and_blase's review against another edition
4.0
What young India want’s
I got this author recommended by an somewhat old “I-spend-every-winter-in-india-hippie-dude” on a tropical island just a few weeks before I went to Mumbai, where I found a couple of his books for really cheap. And thought why not give it a chance. This title in particular was probably one of the best choices to read while in Mumbai (or in general spending a few months in India)
Chetan Bhagat has written a couple best-selling novels, best-selling in India means a lot, because the audience is quite big. This book however is his only non-fictionous book - describing indias current situation, divided into sections; “our society”,”politics” and ”our youth” .
The language is quite simple, which is a plus, both if you’re on a crowded train in the 20 mio metropolis, on the road, or simply aren’t that familiar with political writings. I think Bhagat wanted to write a book for everyone. Sometimes this works well, when he approaches Indians to think whether they want Kashmir or want better schools, a better infrastructure and better irrigation in agriculture, and thereby asks the people to lay down their nationalism and move on from these wars or when he explains why voting based on caste might be a bad idea. Sometimes it gets a bit too fluffy though. My favorite example is the essay called “don’t worry be happy” and explains why women should be handled with more respect - a serious issue, but although he is firm about his statement, it seems half hearted and far, far away from western feminism standards - his arguments can be stripped down to something like - we shouldn’t stress women that much, because they are nice, look good in movies, clean up, bring up our children and bring peace - besides we should treat everyone well… of course this is due to his background, but this chapter kind of disappointed me. Travelling alone in India, I can tell there is a lot of work to do…this only reassures me. But then again, this only reflects how even liberal Indians think about women…
Bhagat isn’t diplomatic or unpartial at all…he thinks the government shouldn’t restrict business and sees America as a great nation from which india can learn a lot…points of view, which can be a bit disturbing to especially Scandinavians . However, it is a really helpful book, since it can get difficult to understand Indian politics by talking with Indians. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this population of such diversity, but talking politics is quite hard since many are affected by national pride, voting by caste or simply due to poor English skills.
Recommended for everyone who wants a serious, critical angle or introduction to indian politics.
4 out of 5 stars
I got this author recommended by an somewhat old “I-spend-every-winter-in-india-hippie-dude” on a tropical island just a few weeks before I went to Mumbai, where I found a couple of his books for really cheap. And thought why not give it a chance. This title in particular was probably one of the best choices to read while in Mumbai (or in general spending a few months in India)
Chetan Bhagat has written a couple best-selling novels, best-selling in India means a lot, because the audience is quite big. This book however is his only non-fictionous book - describing indias current situation, divided into sections; “our society”,”politics” and ”our youth” .
The language is quite simple, which is a plus, both if you’re on a crowded train in the 20 mio metropolis, on the road, or simply aren’t that familiar with political writings. I think Bhagat wanted to write a book for everyone. Sometimes this works well, when he approaches Indians to think whether they want Kashmir or want better schools, a better infrastructure and better irrigation in agriculture, and thereby asks the people to lay down their nationalism and move on from these wars or when he explains why voting based on caste might be a bad idea. Sometimes it gets a bit too fluffy though. My favorite example is the essay called “don’t worry be happy” and explains why women should be handled with more respect - a serious issue, but although he is firm about his statement, it seems half hearted and far, far away from western feminism standards - his arguments can be stripped down to something like - we shouldn’t stress women that much, because they are nice, look good in movies, clean up, bring up our children and bring peace - besides we should treat everyone well… of course this is due to his background, but this chapter kind of disappointed me. Travelling alone in India, I can tell there is a lot of work to do…this only reassures me. But then again, this only reflects how even liberal Indians think about women…
Bhagat isn’t diplomatic or unpartial at all…he thinks the government shouldn’t restrict business and sees America as a great nation from which india can learn a lot…points of view, which can be a bit disturbing to especially Scandinavians . However, it is a really helpful book, since it can get difficult to understand Indian politics by talking with Indians. Don’t get me wrong, I really like this population of such diversity, but talking politics is quite hard since many are affected by national pride, voting by caste or simply due to poor English skills.
Recommended for everyone who wants a serious, critical angle or introduction to indian politics.
4 out of 5 stars
harshada's review
2.0
Picked this up just to confirm personally how bad it is.
The ONLY silver lining I could think of was that, since the book is about politics and issues in the country, it might be that his target audience (who are usually folks who like easy reads about young Indians which also confirms every stereotype there is) might ponder over these topics for even a minute. And maybe a thin slice of them might even be inspired to introspect and educate themselves about these issues.
Except that imagined silver lining, it's a pretty bad book. Complex social problems have been given overly simple solutions which you might hear from a child. For example he urges the government to just sit and talk to our neighboring countries and settle on peace. This way we could cut majority of resources provided to the Army and use that for infrastructure. Simple.
He also thinks terrorism is better than corruption since Terrorism only take innocent lives, but corrupt politicians prevent hospitals from being built, which means that innocent lives that could be saved are not. :|
And of course his favorite subject was also covered - engineers, or to be more specific male, nerdy, socially awkward engineers because those are the only type of engineers that exist.
The ONLY silver lining I could think of was that, since the book is about politics and issues in the country, it might be that his target audience (who are usually folks who like easy reads about young Indians which also confirms every stereotype there is) might ponder over these topics for even a minute. And maybe a thin slice of them might even be inspired to introspect and educate themselves about these issues.
Except that imagined silver lining, it's a pretty bad book. Complex social problems have been given overly simple solutions which you might hear from a child. For example he urges the government to just sit and talk to our neighboring countries and settle on peace. This way we could cut majority of resources provided to the Army and use that for infrastructure. Simple.
He also thinks terrorism is better than corruption since Terrorism only take innocent lives, but corrupt politicians prevent hospitals from being built, which means that innocent lives that could be saved are not. :|
And of course his favorite subject was also covered - engineers, or to be more specific male, nerdy, socially awkward engineers because those are the only type of engineers that exist.
ananya_s's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
2.25
krishmys's review against another edition
4.0
EVERY INDIAN MUST AND SHOULD READ THIS AND THINK OF A REVIEW THEMSELVES... that's all i can say...
ayushinayak's review against another edition
3.0
A collection of essays, as i have already observed from the literature point of view, Chetan Bhagat can grow by leaps and bounds. As he one of the first author writing in this genre in India, he is worthy of appreciation and this collection is one pivotal proof. So, i recommend all Indian lost souls that this book is a must and for addicts and worms like me this book can be ignored!!!
bhuvan_ashok's review against another edition
2.0
could have been better.. but still it had some provoking thoughts !! Congo for that chetan