“ek omkar satnaam karta purak nirmoh…. ” my phone ringtone was buzzing. I saw an unknown number. The clock was ticking to 12.30 night. “Arey yaar itni raat ko kaun hoga?” I murmured & picked the phone.
” hello shirishbhai, kem chho? ” an unknown caller asked politely.
“Ekdum majama bhai, who is this”?
” Chetan here, ” he said
” Chetan who? ” I didn’t remember any of my student with the same name.
” Chetan Bhagat here shirishbhai,” he said
” Arey bhai. raat ko sadebarah bajey main hi mila aapko mazak Kearney key liye” my blood started boiling.
“Arey nahi nahi shirishbhai main chetan bhagat hi hun, author chetan Bhagat and by the way how was that girl? Did you really like her?”. He said firmly
“Oh what nonsense! I’m a simple family man, how dare you talk to me like this? Whosoever you are mister..”
” shirishbhai please don’t get annoyed I’m asking about ‘ the girl in room 105’ i am talking about zoya… “
“OMG…Chetan bhai! Am I really talking to Chetan Bhagat?” I screamed!
“Yes yes shirishbhai absolutely, let me tell you some more things about your ‘adventures with that girl’, you met her while traveling to Jaipur, she stayed with you in Jaipur and she accompanied you back to Ahmedabad, am I right?” He asked.
” Yes boss yes! But let me tell you she was not alone there with me , Keshav , Saurabh , Safdar, and Faiz were also there “I replied
” So did you like it?, How is the plot, characterization, and all? “He asked
” oh simply superb! This time you have us a different flavor. The plot is quite interesting and intriguing. characters are typical chetanian so unpredictable. You seem to be entering in the grey zone of murder mysteries instead of love -shove and full and half girlfriends. “
“Oh that’s quite glowing response .. But tell me did you really like my new experiment? What was the most interesting part?” He asked
” Well, the story is flawless and smooth, initially it moves in a slow pace but later on it moves fast especially after the death of zoya, but I would like to point one thing here, you need to do some serious research about some areas to which you are unknown as an author .”
“Like what”? Chetan asked.
“I know you have cleverly used psyche of people who belong to certain social institutions and people with staunch religious biases. You have used the popular perception of a typical Muslim family & RSS.” I said
” Oh you mean to say my characterization of Keshav’ s father & Lone family”? He asked.
” Yes certainly, but it’s a thrilling experience,anti-climax & climax of the novel are mindblowing. It seems now India has its own ( sir) Chetan Conan Doyle in making. Btw, can we expect one more murder mystery from sir Bhagat? ” … I chuckled.
” Haha, thanks for this compliments but right now I am busy in receiving readers feedbacks, I may think about it. ” Chetan said candidly.
” Btw, Chetanbhai, how did you know that I have read this book? ” I asked him.
” Oh don’t ask that. You have just given me a title of Sir Chetan Doyle, so, believe me, I have my sources & obviously I cracked your ecosystem, rest you know very well, anyways thanks for your prompt & honest reply at this time, chalo aavjo… ” he concluded.
” Arey arey Chetanbhai pl.tell me who is your source in my ecosystem so I will be careful next time,” I asked politely.
” Mark Zuckerberg… ” He laughed & cut the phone
Dr. Shirish Kashikar
