5 point someone

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. Finally, I read it last month. It's a small book, easy to read and you can probably finish it in a day. The reason I chose to read this book had a lot to do with the hype surrounding the book, the author and ofcourse the movie, 'Three Idiots'.

I am glad I did not watch the movie because the book is seeped in 'IIT' jargon and presents a pretty contemporary picture about the life in a top rated engineering college in India. The title of the book refers to the much discussed 'GPA' in IITs. The GPA is very crucial as it determines the future prospects of a student and Chetan Bhagat has chosen a good title for the book.

The story is all about the travails of three students who join IITs with various aspirations. The three guys come from very different families and backgrounds and somehow become friends. The story deals with the ultra competitive environment in the IITs where every student is a school topper. After the gruelling preparation for getting into the IIT, many students find it tough to keep up with the grinding schedule of the IITs. It is a combination of personal ambition and family aspirations which encourage them to sustain and do well in the end. Chetan Bhagat uses this backdrop for his story and makes a case for the mercenary attitude that parents and professors have towards education in India.

There are three protagonists in the story, one is intelligent but unhappy, the other is not so intelligent but hardworking and sincere and the third is intelligent, but cynical and lazy. Together they try to beat the system and try to enjoy their lives in the college. However, their plans are not so successful and they land up in the ranks of the 'five point something' grades. In the end they realise that their short cuts are not going to help in improving their grades. It is their interests and passion which guide them to better grades.

Is it important to enjoy life and have as much fun as possible or is it important to just work hard and make it to the top? Chetan Bhagat grapples with this question throughout this book. One of the characters, Ryan, represents the 'cool dude' characters that we often encounter in life. The ones who have got things too easy, money, a good life and good grades. The other two characters get influenced by Ryan and try to follow his lead to get things the easy way. In the end, they are forced to use their own strengths to beat the system. Like in life, mere intelligence and creativity does not help in IIT. Intelligence combined with hard work and sincerity is what gets you through.

I think the book was good because of its true depiction of the dilemmas faced my many young people in India.