About One Indian girl-Book by Chetan Bhagat

The Fictional novel by Indian super-start novelist Chetan-Bhagat. Chetan Bhagat, the name is only enough to pick up this book, and it is his style, that will not let you down. But I think this book has not got that much crazy response from fans. Maybe because it becomes touchy(hurt) when someone points to your mindset.

Feminism definition(As per google):

the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

Just think about how you define it, keep it before you start reading a book and this book will definitely challenge it.

Protagonist Radhika Mehta has - a typical Indian middle-class family-father(who speaks occasionally), a mother(she has only worry of daughters marriage), and an ideal sister(best for the rich groom).

In childhood, her father told Radhika, if you want to fly, the sky is yours. you can achieve anything. She had proved it. She is an MBA from IIM-A and VC of GoldmanSachs distressed group at age of 26. She is good at money even better I say, 5 million dollars a year at an age of 26, it is not better even….!! But she sucks at relationships.

Arranged marriage was set up by family(specifically Mom). Look, it does not mean she had no relationship. It means she could not find a partner whom she can convince that, she has a damn good paycheck, and she can also become a good wife.

Her first relationship was broken up because she was flying higher than his boyfriend, in her career. He can’t afford her, because of what he had seen since childhood. An egocentric patriarch society. The Second relationship had a different issue of acceptance. He can’t accept her, as a wife, the reason is she is good at her work and he had not thought of her as a wife material(or mother of their child).

On the wedding day, a prospective husband (groom) is the third guy, whom she knows only from 2–3 skype calls and 1 in-person meeting. She is confused about whether he matches her previous experiences or he is the suitable one for her. In between Full family drama of an Indian wedding, revisit of past incidents happen before wedding days. All this mess was going onto her mind, and the story is all about what she chooses. The resolution was more difficult for her than solving financial catastrophes for companies …. !!

I want to mention one quote from Ms. Radhika Mehta:

That frankly you, or for that matter, any girl, doesn’t need a man to define her. You need a man to support, inspire…understand you. Help you be the best person you can be, banker, mother, both, whatever.

For me, this dialogue just changed what I was thinking about What is feminism. To improve women’s contribution to the societal activity, patriarchal mindset and rules have to be changed. This book left us in thought if our definition of feminism is really trustworthy or we have to rethink it as a 21st-century society.