Five Point Someone

Well, this has been one of the bestsellers in India for some years now - but I only happened to read it today. Well, started it two days ago and finished it today. Why the delay you may ask ? Well I am never one for laying my hands on a book the minute it arrives (except the latest Harry Potters). Nor do I believe in letting other people's opinions decide whether or not I am going to read one. If it sounds interesting and if I have not been horribly disappointed at any of the author's previous books, I believe in giving it a fair chance.

So by what could justifiably be called a sudden impulse I decided to read this book which has been topping Indian charts for quite some time. My brother, a senior at IIT, Powai had warned me against reading it. His exact words were to the effect that if I did go ahead and read it, his opinion about my taste in literature would deteriorate. My friend, an MTech student at the same place had also read it sometime back and gives his view here.

Anyway, why I am bothering to write all this stuff ? As I mentioned earlier, I don't care about other people's opinions when it comes to books, right ? Well, I guess, it is just blogging culture to try and link to all related stuff .. blah blah .. whatever ... ok let's get to the deep end of it.

Overall impression - Nice stuff. Sure, it won't be hailed as a literary classic or even be looked at in more serious circles, but for college kids and those just passed out, definitely an enjoyable read. The Tabloid Of India calls it as Dil Chahta Hain in print (ah there I go again) and for once is pretty much spot on.

Superb pace, easy informal style definitely the great plusses. Plus you can easily identify with the characters ... ah well deep insights, you might say ... but there you go - I said it is not ground-breaking stuff ... nor is my review about it anything out of this world. It's just that you "like" it you know ... so much ... taking you back to college days ... and well it does not give any earth-shatteringly deep message either ... but then little things you know ... like whether it is right to judge someone by his/her GPA, the importance of the IIT stamp, the way they are handled provide a nice sentimental touch to go with the basically fun-filled story of 3 friends.

Well besides the trio-thing, the other similarities with DCH include a fallout and reunion of two of the friends. Well, as we know DCH went on to be a mini-classic. Well, not quite but it will - 50 years down the line - it definitely portrayed so well a generation - the decade of the 2000s. Will FPS go the same way ? I heard it is soon to be made into a Hindi flick ... well for now ... I would say it is definitely more than a five pointer ... and hell should I really be judging in those terms ??