And after school (shala)... college, obviously

five point someone by chetan bhagat seems like a sequel to milind bokil's shala (and i am happy now that i read shala first). on literary (and few other) parameters, there could be no comparison. shala is way ahead of fps but then fps also has its own style. fps is supposedly very real to how life on campus is in iit. and as for students everywhere, there are a lot of distractions around for them to lose the focus from studies. but indian politics, bollywood, cricket do not figure in fps. yea, gulf war does provide one out of campus distractions - maybe that is a difference between iitians and mortals - they are distracted for sure, but possibly by much more important issues.

some incidents seem to be bollywood inspired - a completely dch shot (yes, filmy very filmy - maybe chetan had a fps film in mind anyway and gave a shot at the novel first), hari's first meeting with his future girlfriend, the one about her father ... okay, i will not spoil the fun. the story is about how three very different characters become friends after getting in iit and the four tormenting years of an engineering college (well not an engineering college... one of the top technology .... yea yea yea) that follow. iit has always been an enigma for many (mostly to those who gave a go at the iit-jee and got depressed but this book allows us a sneak peak at what goes on there (only an iitian can tell me how close to truth that is). just like everywhere in life, there are toppers, average, and losers and the losers there have the same (or similar or relatively speaking) insecurities as (losers and average - spot anything?) elsewhere. gpa's are not just a part of the iit, they are everywhere.

frankly, it seems a slightly more than a refined blog - but maybe that is one of the reasons it is utterly enjoyable. i finished reading fps in one and a half day - that just proves it is unputdownable, a must-read. for non-engineers, it might feel a bit like auto-rickshaw ride with some bumps - i mean if a chartered accountant-author tries to interspread some details about his CA studies in his novel, that is how it would feel to me.

what next... a novel about starting work after engineering, compromises in work, frustrated in work, and suddenly attaining nirvana in work?