Chetan Bhagat Success story

Chetan Bhagat, a renowned author, columnist and motivational speaker, was born in New Delhi, India, on 22nd April 1974. He was born into a middle-class Punjabi family, where his father was an army officer and his mother was a government employee in the agricultural department. 

Since young, Chetan Bhagat was an outstanding student, who was hardworking and determined to succeed in life. It was his perseverance that earned him a place in one of the most prestigious educational institutes in India – the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). 

He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi in 1995 and went on to pursue a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, an institute that millions of Indians dream to enter.

His intelligence, hard work and dedication earned him the recognition as the “Best Outgoing Student” in IIM. 

He later got married to Anusha Suryanarayanan in 1998; she was his fellow student at IIM-A.  After graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, Chetan Bhagat worked as an investment banker in Goldman Sachs Hong Kong for 11 years. Although he was an outstanding investment banker, he realised that his passion was in writing. 

As an investment banker, Chetan Bhagat was earning very well and to leave such luxuries and constant flow of wealth for his passion was a risky decision. Yet, he left the world of money behind and shifted to Mumbai to take his passion to greater heights. 

This is something that all of us can learn from Chetan Bhagat. Today, in this competitive world, we get carried away by money and fame, and we are unable to let go of luxurious lifestyles to pursue our dreams and hobbies. 

Not all of us like our jobs; yet, we stick to our jobs and leave our passion behind. We are so afraid of taking risks in life and failures that we are ready to lead meaningless lives.

So, although Chetan Bhagat knew that it would be difficult to make ends meet as a budding writer, he took up the challenge and pursued his dream. 

And today, Chetan Bhagat is the author of bestselling novels such as ‘Five Point Someone’, ‘The 3 Mistakes of My Life’, ‘Revolution 2020’, and ‘What Young India Wants’.He now leads a happy life with his wife and twin sons Ishaan and Shyam. Chetan loves to live a simple life watching cartoons with his children who wish to become super heroes. He is a health conscious person and practices yoga regularly.

Career :

Chetan Bhagat published his first novel first novel 'Five Point Someone' in 2004 and this very first venture took him to the peaks of fame and popularity. The book depicted the story of an IIT student who considers himself to be below average than all the other students in IIT. This book won the Society Young Achiever's Award and Publisher's Recognition Award. The story was adopted into a film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and starred famous Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor. His second book was 'One Night At A Call Center' and this too was a great success. This book was made into a movie and was named 'Hello' and Chetan himself wrote the script. The movie was noted by the special appearance of Bollywood star Salman Khan and was an average hit. His next novel has cricket as the major theme. It is named 'Three Mistakes of My Life'. His fourth book is named 'Two States'. 

 His novels have inspired some of the greatest Bollywood films, including ‘3 Idiots’ and ‘Kai Po Che!’ Apart from writing novels, Chetan Bhagat contributes regularly and actively to social and national issues by writing columns in newspapers.

Many of his columns have made their way to the Indian Parliament and triggered important discussions. In fact, he wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi, highlighting the issue of corruption that is faced by millions in the country. 

Contribution :

Chetan Bhagat's contribution to the field of entertainment is noticeable. He never confined his literary talents to just writing novels. As a responsible social person, he also writes columns in newspapers, citing and dwelling on various social and national issues. Many of his columns were noticed by parliamentarians and triggered serious discussions in the Indian Parliament. He has addressed issues like corruption by sending an opening letter to Sonia Gandhi and also has spoken about the political issues that revolved around Baba Ramdev. 

For his contribution to the society and the welfare of the people, Chetan Bhagat received ‘Society Young Achiever’s Award’ in 2000 and ‘Publisher’s Recognition Award’ in 2005. At the age of 36, Chetan Bhagat also made it to Time Magazine’s list of ‘World’s 100 Most Influential People’ in the world in 2010.

Chetan Bhagat managed to scale great heights and reach the peak of success because he followed his heart and pursued his dreams. When you are genuinely interested in something, you will work hard and dedicate your life to making your dream a reality. 

Awards and Accolades :

He won the Society Young Achiever's Award in 2000 and the Publisher's Recognition Award in 2005. Chetan Bhagat also a found himself place in the Time magazine's list of "World's 100 Most Influential People" in the year 2010. 

Timeline :

1974: Chetan Bhagat was Born in Delhi

1991: Enrolled in IIT

1995: Enrolled in IIM Ahmadabad

1997: recognized by IIM Ahmadabad as "The best outgoing student"

1998: Got married to AnushaSuryanarayanan

2004: published his first book "Five Point Someone - What not to do at IIT!" 

2005: Published his second book "One Night @ the Call Center" 

2008: Published his third book "The 3 Mistakes of My Life" 

2009: Published his fourth book "2 States: The Story of My Marriage"