3 Mistakes Of My Life

The 3 Mistakes Of My Life
-By Chetan Bhagat

What strikes you first about Chetan Bhagat’s novels is the fact that this author writes about Indians and for Indians. His characters are young, ambitious and passionate and have the same moral, social and religious dilemmas as many of the young Indians today. At the same time their context and sensibility too is unabashedly Indian. The new and the third Bhagat book, “The 3 mistakes of my life”, has all these qualities.

The setting is the city of Ahmedabad that though being urban is yet not as metropolitan as many of its metro counterparts. It retains its small town flavour in pols (colonies), traditional Indian households and small vegetarian eateries. It has the protagonist Govind with his passion and acumen for accounts and business, it has Ishan for whom cricket is the element around which his life revolves and it has Omi, a priest’s son and loyal friend who is ready for anything that his friends are game for.


The book is based on real life events. It begins in a dramatic enough fashion with Bhagat receiving an e-mail from Govind who had taken many sleeping pills and was writing to him while waiting for the deadly sleep’s embrace. Chetan was shaken enough by the incident to track the boy down to an Ahmedabad hospital. Fortunately he was still alive to tell the tale. The book is loosely based on the three mistakes Govind made in his life.

 What follows is a mix of cricket, religion, business, love and friendship. Govind sets up a sports shop along with his friends in the temple compound with Omi’s family’s help. The shop prospers as Ishan coaches young boys in cricket and Govind teaches maths to Ishan’s sister Vidya who also captures his heart. Ishan then meets Ali, a child master with a hyper reflex condition that makes him hit each ball for a six. Ali displays the talent which Ishan never had and Ali’s destiny becomes his own.

Enter Omi’s Bitoo mama (maternal uncle), a communal party man bent on converting the young into fighters in the name of Hinduism. Situations come to a head and Ahmedabad burns in riot fires. Omi dies saving Ali and Ishan finds out about Vidya and Govind, a betrayal he does not forgive. These events lead Govind to his death-bed and that is when he writes the email to Bhagat.

Perhaps, this is the biggest compliment an author can receive. Its not when New York Times describes him as the biggest selling English language author in the country or when he crosses the coveted two million book sales’ figure, but when someone chooses to remember him in his last minutes, that makes a writer go beyond the ordinary. After all, isn’t the purpose of all writing is to touch someone’s heart?


“The 3 mistakes of my life” is written simply and has the quality that makes one want to read the book cover to cover in one sitting. The pricing of the book is just right for the target audience - young people. This book like Bhagat’s earlier one, “One night @ call centre, too has the masala, emotion and pace to turn into a potential blockbuster.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

The Secret 
-By Rhonda Byrne 

The Australian author Rhonda Byrne wrote 198 page book “The Secret” which gives the glimpse of a great secret i.e. The Secret Of Life. The essence of the secret is the “Law of Attraction”. It tells that whatever happens to you is the result of your thoughts.

As you learn the Secret you will come to know you can get whatever you want by attracting it towards yourself. Whatever you think may be good or bad, it comes to you. If you are sure of getting something and try your best to achieve it, the entire world will respond to your need. The secret tell you who you really are. You will come to know the true magnificence that awaits you. You can apply the secret in your relationships, life, health, work, money; it promises abundance of happiness.

Twenty nine amazing teachers are featured in this book. It contains the secret teachers’ words and miraculous stories of the secret in action. When you think in harmony with the frequency of something, you attract it to you. If you think about wealth, you will receive wealth. If you think instead about your debt, you will receive more debt. You attract what you think about; your thoughts determine your destiny. Thus The secret is to think positively, to become a magnet for the goal you desire and to use the law of attraction to make your dreams come true.

The secret brings joy to billions around the world. It does not matter who you are or where you are, the secret can give you whatever you want by just a change in your thought. Therefore you become what you think most and you also attract what you think about most. Your life right now is the reflection of your past thought and what you are thinking right now is creating your future. Your thoughts are your destiny.

Hence you are the most powerful magnet in the universe .You contain a magnetic power within you that is powerful than anything, and this unfathomable power is emitted through your thoughts.

If you have a clear perspective in your mind about what you want, and make that your dominant thought you will bring it into your life. The law of attraction will give you what you think and focus with all of your intentions.

Rhonda Byrne tell us to Replace your previous thoughts by good thoughts because your currents thoughts are creating your future as what you think about the most or focus on the most will appear as your life.

She also mentions to make a list of some secret shifters. By secret shifters it means feelings that can be changed in a snap. It might be beautiful memories, future events, nature, person you love, your favourite music. Then if you find yourself angry or frustrated or not feeling good, turn to your secret shifters list and focus on one of them. Different things will shift you at different times, so if one doesn’t work go to another. It only takes a minute or two changing focus to shift yourself and shift frequency. By this way you can create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.

Emotions are also valuable tools that instantly tell us what we are thinking. So to know what you are thinking ask yourself how you are feeling, how is your mood.

Visualisation is an influential means to secret. Visualise what you want, imagination is everything. It is a preview of life’s coming attractions. One should even have focused thoughts. She also enlighten that power of living is to have an attitude of gratitude..Be grateful of the things you have. Always think you have in abundance. When you open yourself to feel abundance of the universe , you’ll experience the wonder, joy , bliss and all the great things that the universe has for you- good health, good wealth, good nature. But when you shut yourself off the negative thoughts you will feel the discomfort you will feel the aches you will feel the pain and you will feel as if every day is painful to get through. Even if you expect then expect the things you want it will draw those things to you. It will itself come in abundance.

If you want to attract a relationship make sure your thoughts words actions and surroundings don’t contradict your desires. But before that treat yourself with love and respect, and you will attract people who show you love and respect. Thereafter to make any relationship work, focus on what you appreciate about the other person and not the complaints. If you focus on the strengths you will get more of them.

Laugh a lot, Laughter is the best medicine; it attracts joy releases negativity and leads to miraculous cures. Think thoughts of perfection. Praise and bless everything in the world and you will dissolve negativity and discord and align yourself with the highest frequency- love

Thus the rational of is to The secret is to have positive thoughts which help to shape your life. It tell to do the things that you love and that brings you joy, as you commit to joy you will attract an avalanche of joyful things because you are radiating joy. It guides us to be happy from now and feel good from now.

The main fun is that there are many shortcuts to the secret and you get to choose the shortcuts that work best for you.

The secret lies within you the more you use the power within you, the more you will draw it to you. Once you discover the secret you won’t need to practice anymore, because you will be the power, you will be the perfection, you will be the wisdom, you will be the intelligence, you will be the love and you will be the joy. Therefore solution to everything lies within. The secret focuses our hopes self ward and not God wards. It is about self empowerment, self fulfilment, and getting whatever we want. She articulates that you are born to add something, add value to this world.

Two States

2 States 
-By Chetan Bhagat

Chetan bhagat is the famous Indian author who has written five point someone- what not to do at IIT (2004), one night @ call centre (2005), the three mistake of my life (2008) and 2 states – the story of my marriage (2009).

Chetan bhagat magnanimously dedicates 2 states his recent novel to his in-laws, this book is based on his own experience yet he says it should be treated as a fiction. If you are waiting for a love story which ends with a love marriage of not only the bride and groom but also an attachment of the families from two different states then this is the best book you shouldn’t miss. It clocks in just 270 pages but unlike his other novels it is very fast read.

“2states : the story of my marriage” is a love story in which the friends from two different states studying in same college fall in love with each other , they face hardships and have to pass through many hurdles in convincing their parents and persuading them to get married.

The book is about the IIMA couple Krish who is north Indian Punjabi and Ananya a Tamilian Brahmin who fell in love with each other. They make a live in relation during their college time for 2 years. The only catch is Ananya and Krish do not want to elope or be alienated to their families therefore they chose to convince their families to get married.

First Krish then Ananya take turn to convince each other’s families so that they can be accepted by them. Krish gets his transfer to Chennai where Ananya lives so that he can please her family. He goes through various stumbling block. To get involved in Ananya’s family he starts taking tuition of her brother, he helps her dad to make a powerpoint presentation for his office and make her mom to sing in a music concert of their office where she get a lot of recognition and appraisal. He gets 4 gold rings to propose the girls family ¸where they agree to accept the boy.

Now the chance for the tamilian girl comes, she comes and stays in Delhi in a guest house and often visited Krish. Krish mother never liked Ananya and his dad was not considered as a member of family. Ananya tried to please Krish mom and went along with them for Krish’s cousin wedding. She was liked there by all as she skilfully solved the dispute between the two families which occurred because of the dowry for car. When she resolved the case everyone from Krish family started liking her and in turn Krish mom gets ready to accept Ananya as her daughter-in-law.

Krish and Ananya gets accepted by the other’s family. Now they decide to bring both the families closer so they plan a trip to Goa. Where Krish takes his mom and Ananya brings hers family along. They travelled there together and stayed in same hotel. In spite of family sharing close bonds in between started sharing negative and rude remarks. Due to which Ananya and Krish gets apart. After this incidence they return back to their respective states.

Returning back to Delhi Krish tries a lot to contact Ananya but she refuses to talk with him. Even after trying a lot Krish fails in getting Ananya back, he gets shattered that he spends his nights googling ways to commit suicide.

A twist in the tale occurs and an unlikely suspect (krish dad gets to know that his son is not happy with what all happened in his love life. He decides to go to Chennai and apologizes for the rude remarks made by his wife.) manages to salvage the situation, which ends in Krish Malhotra, the Punjabi lad from Delhi getting married to the love of his life, Ananya Swaminathan from Chennai! Krish's very Punjabi family lands in Chennai for the typical South Indian wedding is the highlight of the book and will probably have you rolling in laughter! 

There was a twist in the story at the end. You must read this book once to know what the lovers from different communities goes through to make their family ready. Chetan bhagat writing style include young and modern characters, bollywood-ish plots, proposal on knees , a love story and a twist in the story. All these elements are present in this book.

It is a very well written and extremely entertaining book. the story is very light hearted , casual yet had an intensity , depth and emotions to it, especially in the relation of the protagonist.

By Mehak sapra

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