Novels of Chetan Bhagat: A Seismic Shift in Indian Writing in English

English

Indian fiction in English has come a long way from the triumvirates of the thirties to the modern recent English fiction writers. The language which was once treated as a language of the foreigner or the language of elite class is viewed differently. As the number of readers of Indian English fiction has increased considerably, so the quality of writing has also improved. The writers are now no longer active users of English but they have English as their first language (Lingua franca). They express themselves with native proficiency. They are the writers who think and write in one language which is English. They have travelled in various continents and they have something substantial to tell their readers. Indian English fiction is now the part of world literature. It has struggled, endured indifferences of the West and now finally emerged as a clear winner among the recent fiction writers across the globe. Among the new young writers the most talented and impressive is Chetan Bhagat. With his novels, Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The Three Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States: The Story of My Marriage (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), Half Girlfriend (2014), and One Indian Girl (2016) Chetan Bhagat has single handedly reshaped the Indian English novel. The influence of Bhagat’s writings has been so full of impact, that even Hindi films are adapting his novel on the big screen.

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