Three Mistakes Of My Life Part 1

The 3 Mistakes of My Life.

by Chetan Bhagat.

Acknowledgements

My readers, you that is, to whom I owe al l my success and motivation. My life belongs to you now, and serving you is the most meaningful thing I can do with my life. I want to share something with you. I am very ambitious in my writing goals.

However, I don't want to be India's most admired writer. I just want to be India's most loved writer. Admiration pa.s.ses, love endures.

To s.h.i.+nie Antony, a friend who has been with me all these years and who critically reviews my work and ensures that it is fit for my reader's consumption. My family, which continues to support me in all my ventures. Specially, my brother Ketan Bhagat for his critical feedback from Sydney and cricket freak brother -in-law Anand Suryanaryan who told me more about cricket than anyone else would have.

The people of Gujarat, in particular Ahmedabad, where I spent some of the most wonderful and formative years of my life.

My publishers Rupa and Co, who have fulfilled all my dreams and continue to pursue the goal of making India read.

My friends in the film industry, who have given me a new platform to tell my stories from, and who teach me new things everyday, in particular Atul Agnihotri, Raju Hirani, Alvira Khan, Sharman Jos.h.i.+, Vipul Shah, Imtiaz Ali, s.h.i.+rish Kunder, Farah Khan and Salman Khan.

The Madras Players and Evam Theatre Group, who turned my stories into wonderful plays.

My friends in the media, especially those who have understood my intentions for my country and are with me.

My colleagues at Deutsche Bank, my friends in Mumbai and Hong Kong.

G.o.d, who continues to look after me despite my flaws.

Prologue

It is not everyday you sit in front of your computer on a Sat.u.r.day morning and get an email like this:

From: [email protected] Sent: 12/28/2005 11.40 p.m.

To: Subject: A final note

Dear Chetan

This email is a combined suicide note and a confession letter. I have let people down and have no reason to live. You don't know me. I'm an ordinary boy in Ahmedabad who read your books. And somehow I felt I could write to you after that. I can't really tell anyone what I am doing to myself - which is taking a sleeping pill everytime I end a sentence - so I thought I would tell you.

I kept my coffee cup down and counted. Five full stops already

I made three mistakes; I don' t want to go into details.

My suicide is not a sentimental decision. As many around me know, I am a good businessman because I have little emotion. This is no knee-jerk reaction. I waited over three years, watched Ish's silent face everyday. But after he refused my offer yesterday, I had no choice left.

I have no regrets either. Maybe I'd have wanted to talk to Vidya once more but that doesn't seem l ike such a good idea right now.

Sorry to bother you with this. But I felt like I had to tell someone. You have ways to improve as an author but you do write decent books. Have a nice weekend.

Regards Businessman

17, 18, 19. Somewhere, in Ahmedabad a young 'ordinary' boy had popped nineteen sleeping pills while typing out a mail to me. Yet, he expected me to have a nice weekend. The coffee refused to go down my throat. I broke into a cold sweat.

'One, you wake up late. Two, you plant yourself in front of the computer first thing in the morning. Are you even aware that you have a family?' a.n.u.sha said.

In case it isn't obvious enough from the authoritative tone, a.n.u.sha is my wife.

I had promised to go furniture shopping with her a promise that was made ten weekends ago.

She took my coffee mug away and jiggled the back of my chair. 'We need dining chairs. Hey, you look worried?' she said.

I pointed to the monitor. 'Businessman?' she said as she finished reading the mail. She looked pretty shaken up too.

And it is from Ahmedabad,' I said, 'that is all we know.' 'You sure this is real?' she said, a quiver in her voice. 'This is not spam,' I said. 'It is addressed to me.'

My wife pulled a stool to sit down. I guess we really did need write extra chairs.

'Think,' she said. 'We've got to let someone know. His parents maybe.'

'How? I don't know where the h.e.l.l it came from,' I said. And who do we know in Ahmedabad?'

'We met in Ahmedabad, remember?' a.n.u.sha said. A pointless statement, I thought. Yes, we'd been cla.s.smates at IIM-A years ago. 'So?'

'Call the inst.i.tute. Prof Basant or someone,' she sniffed and left the room.

'Oh no, the daal is burning.'

There are advantages in having a wife smarter than you. I could never be a detective.

I searched the inst.i.tute numbers on the Internet and called. An operator connected me to Prof Basant's residence. I checked the time, 10.00 a.m. in Singapore, 7.30 a.m. in India. It is a bad idea to mess with a prof early in the morning.

'h.e.l.lo?' a sleepy voice answered. Had to be the prof.

'Prof Basant, Hi. This is Chetan Bhagat calling. Your old student, remember?'

'Who?' he said with a clear lack of curiosity in his voice. Bad start.

I told him about the course he took for us, and how we had voted him the friendliest professor in the campus. Flattery didn't help much either.

'Oh that Chetan Bhagat,' he said, like he knew a million of them. You are a writer now, no?'

'Yes sir,' I said, 'that one.'

'So why are you writing books?'

'Tough question, sir,' I stalled.

'Ok, a simple one. Why are you calling me so early on a Sat.u.r.day?'

I told him why and forwarded the email to him.

'No name, eh?' he said as he read the mail.

'He could be in a hospital somewhere in Ahmedabad. He would have just checked in. Maybe he is dead. Or maybe he is at home and this was a hoax,' I said.

I was blabbering. I wanted help for the boy and me. The prof had asked a good question. Why the h.e.l.l did I write books to get into this?

'We can check hospitals,' Prof said. 'I can ask a few students. But a name surely helps. Hey wait, this boy has a Gmail account, maybe he is on Orkut as well.'

'Or-what?' Life is tough when you are always talking to people smarter than you. 'You are so out of touch, Chetan. Orkut is a networking site. Gmail users sign up there. If he is a member and we are lucky, we can check his profile.'

I heard him clicking keys and sat before my own PC. I had just reached the Orkut site when Prof Basant exclaimed, 'Aha, Ahmedabad Businessman. There is a brief profile here. The name only says G. Patel. Interests are cricket, business, mathematics and friends. Doesn't seem like he uses Orkut much though.'

'What are you talking about Prof Basant? I woke up to a suicide note, written exclusively to me. Now you are telling me about his hobbies. Can you help me or...'

A pause, then, 'I will get some students. We will search for a new young patient called G. Patel, suspected of sleeping pill overdose. We will call you if we find anything, ok?

'Yes, sir,' I said, breathing properly after a long time.

'And how is a.n.u.sha? You guys bunked my cla.s.ses for dates and flow forget me.'

'She is fine, sir.'

'Good, I always felt she was smarter than you. Anyway, let's find your boy,'

the prof said and hung up.

Besides furniture shopping, I had to finish an office presentation. My boss, Michel's boss was due from New York. Hoping to impress him Michel asked me to make a presentation of the group, with fifty charts. For three consecutive nights last week I had worked until 1:00 a.m., but had gotten only halfway.

'This is a suggestion. Don't take it the wrong way. But do consider taking a bath,' my wife said.

I looked at her.

'Just an option,' she said.

I think she is overcautious sometimes. I don't bite back.

'Yes, yes. I will,' I said and stared at the computer again.

Thoughts darted through my head. Should I call some hospitals myself?

What if Prof Basant dozed off again? What if he could not collect the students? What if G. Patel was dead? And why am I becoming so involved here?

I took a reluctant shower. I opened the office presentation, but found myself unable to type a single word.

I refused breakfast, though regretted it moments later as hunger and anxiety did not go well together.

My phone rang at 1.33 p.m.

'h.e.l.lo,' Prof Basant's voice was unmistakable. 'We have a match at Civil Hospital.

His name is Govind Patel, twenty-five years of age. A second-year student of mine found him.'

'And?' 'And he is alive. But won't talk. Even to his family. Must be in shock.'

'What are the doctors saying?' I said.

'Nothing. It is a government hospital. What do you expect? Anyway, they will flush his stomach and send him home. I won't worry too much now. Will ask a student to check again in the evening.'

'But what is his story? What happened?'

All that I don't know. Listen, don't get too involved. India is a big country.

These things happen all the time. The more you probe, the more the chances of the police hara.s.sing you.'

Next, I called the Civil Hospital. However, the operator did not know about the case and there was no facility to transfer the line to the ward either.

a.n.u.sha, too, was relieved that the boy was safe. She then announced the plan for the day the dining chair hunt. It would begin at Ikea on Alexandra Road.

We reached Ikea at around three o'clock and browsed through the s.p.a.ce-saving dining sets. One dining table could fold four times over and become a coffee table pretty neat.