“CHETAN BHAGAT'S FIVE POINT SOMEONE : A CRITICAL STUDY OF

YOUTH CULTURE”

PG DISSERTATION

(Paper Code-2.3.5) Submitted

by:

HRUDANANDA SETHY

ROLL NUMBER: 22MEN061

PG 2nd Year (Batch 2022-2024)

In partial fulfillment of the award of the degree

Of

MASTER OF ARTS, IN ENGLISH

Under the supervisor

Dr. GURUDEV MEHER

Associate professor
Department of English

RAVENSHAW UNIVERSITY
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my deep gratitude and thankfulness to Dr. Gurudev Meher, Associate

Professor of the Dept. of ENGLISH who guided and encouraged me in
preparing the project. The work wouldn’t have been possible to come to the
present shape without the able guidance, supervision and help by number of
people such as friends, teachers. I gratefully acknowledge my deep
indebtedness to all.

HRUDANANDA SETHY
PG 2nd Year
Department of
English, Ravenshaw
University, Cuttack-
753003
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this project work on “Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone:
A Critical Study of Youth Culture” is the original work of
Mr.Hrudananda Sethy (bearing Roll no - 22MEN061), submitted to the
Ravenshaw University for award of Masters of arts in English, is the record of
research work carried out by him under my guidance and direct supervision.

Signature - Dr. Gurudev Meher

(Research Supervisor)

Department of English
Ravenshaw University Cuttack, Odisha
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled – “Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point
Someone: A Critical Study of Youth Culture in PAPER 2.3.5 for the partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the degree in Masters of Arts in English. This
project prepared by me is original, expect some extracts quoted from
different sources, of my own work.

Cuttack signature of candidate

Date: 5 January 2024
CONTENTS

CHAPTER – 1 Page 1 - 11
Introduction
Objectives of the
study
Review of the literature
Methodology

CHAPTER – 2 Page 12 - 21
Data analysis and
interpretation
Processing data with
hypothesis
CHAPTER – 3 Page 22 - 25
Conclusion Select Bibliography

Sethy 1
Abstract

Chetan Bhagat is an Indian author, columnist, and speaker. Bhagat is the author of
five bestselling novels, Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center
(2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States (2009) & Revolution
2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition (2011). Chetan Bhagat’s debut novel Five Point
Someone – What not to do at IIT! is one of the highest selling English novels
published in India and remained on the bestseller list until now since its release in
2004. The novel begins in an unique way where the author takes the liberty of
sharing his opinion that the book is not a guide on how to get into IIT but it cite
examples of how screwed up our college years can get if we don’t think straight.
Although treated in a mild and rather casual way, the story of the IIT contains in it
matters deeper than can be seen on the surface. That our structure of technical
education has become a lifeless system, and needs revitalisation has been amply
clear. The youth of every country are its precious human resources.The liabilityfor
change,advancement and innovation lies on their shoulders.The modern society
of technology globalization and internet has influenced and shaped the modern
youth in India. Chetan Bhagat through his Five Point Someone The novel depicts
youths, youth oriented views, youth‘s problems, and their inner struggle while
coping with the present education system as well as the picture of youth culture.
The present paper is an attempt to study Chetan Bhagat‘s Five Point Someone as a
critique of youth culture. It also deals with the youth issues and their protesting
voice about the present education system reflected in Five Point Someone. The
objective of this paper is to explore the social comportment of young generation
in India and it also analyses the impact of modernization on present youngsters in
a social context. Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone is the voice of all youngsters
in the contemporary India who desires to achieve the highest standard of
education and job opportunity in this globalized scenario.

Key Words: Youth, youth culture, youth issues, youth’s protesting voice
Sethy 2
Introduction

In the 21st century, everywhere in the world, youth is considered as

the power of its nation and it is true as the nation can become powerful only if
its youngsters are contributing for the development of the nation. Though the
nations are trying to do a lot for youth but on the other hand they are worried
about them as they are sometimes wasting their time for useless things or using
talent for works. In the same way, India is also trying to focus on youth and
issues of youth. The former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam always
tried to ignite the minds of people by stating that society should give special
attention towards the youth of the country and their issues because they are
the future of nation. So, it is necessary to utilize the power of youth as well as
intelligence of the youth for building a better nation as Swami Vivekanand says
“Youth is the best time. The way in which utilize this period will decide the
nature of coming years that lie ahead of you”.
Novel reading in India is on high now-a-days. The circulation of novels is
gradually increasing by leaps and bounds across the length and breadth of the
country. The major credit of this remarkable inclination towards English
language novels can be attributed to the popularity and prominence of the cult
of campus novels. Although the popularity of campus novels dates back to the
Americans, it is the phenomenal success of Chetan Bhagat’s debut novel Five
Point Someone that is credited with the revival of popular readership in India.
The success of Chetan Bhagat’s debut novel paved way for an era of popular
English Literature dominat by campus novels. Soon afterwards, the campuses of
some of the most renowned universities and colleges of India such as IITs, IIMs,
JNU, DU began being featured in the pages of upcoming novels. Following
Chetan Bhagat’s footsteps, several other aspirants donned the hats of popular
fiction writers and unleashed their potential by creating campus-based novels.
Some prominent works worth to be mentioned include Mainak Dhar’s ‘The
Funda of Mixology’, Amitabh Bagchi’s ‘Above Average’, Soma Das’ ‘Something of
A Mock Tale’, Harishdeep Jolly’s ‘You Desire: A Journey Through IIM’. These
Sethy 3
works targeted youth and college-goers and came up with fresh subjects that
revolved around the glitzy college life that included campus love-affairs, student
politics, joys and sorrows of friendship drug and booze sessions, examination
phobias, placement dreams, monotony of classroom studies and likewise.
Bhagat, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and
IIM Ahmedabad, is seen as a youth icon than as an author. In 2008, The
New York Times cited Bhagat as “the biggest selling English language novelist in
India’s history”. Time Magazine named him as one of the 10 Most Influential
People in the world in 2010. He debuted as a screenplay writer with the 2014
film Kick. He always focused on youth, career and issues based on national
development.

The Five Point Someone – fever managed to create a strong

foothold among a generation of youngsters, which had almost abandoned
interest in novels and books. A highly technocratic generation that could hardly
spare a minute off their mobile phones, television sets and laptops was
rendered awestruck by the mere simplicity, effortless emotional connectivity
and easy to understand language of this IIT-based campus novel. Almost every
teenage youngster in the country couldn’t but voice out his admiration for
Ryan, Alok and Hari, the then heartthrobs of the contemporary popular Indian
Literature. Chetan Bhagat exhibits uncurbed spirit of the youngster of his
nation and depicts it with the help of characters in his novels. His approach is
youth calling that calls up only youths and also helps to apprehend their
innovative vision for the upliftment of the social evil in society and to have a
glorious world. The incredible success of Chetan Bhagat as a novelist is a
miracle of rare apparatus. He has clearly portrayed ragging, hostel life, work
Sethy 4
pressure from the higher authority, increasing suicide cases, internationally
landed IIT system that stifled student’s resourcefulness by forcing them to value
grades more than anything else; uninspiring teaching and numerous
assignments adding to their woes, while still making them to enjoy one’s life.

The novel very realistically describes the present scenario while

revealing the fact that in India, young people had begun to have far more
options than their parents, but their choices remain circumscribed by
traditional education system, and overbearingly high expectations. In his first
novel, Five Point Someone, his replicas Ryan, Alok and Hari fight against the
patriarchal education system run by the old and obsolete rules made before.
The education system of IIT Delhi depicted in the book is adhere to the same
patriarchal norms and codes of education. The students are so much congested
with assignment, class tests, surprise quizzes and majors’ exams that they
forget what the real meaning of life is. Their hostel rooms appear to be like
prison-cells wherein they are fascinated and the only mistake they commit is
they choose IIT. Chetan Bhagat believes that the youth are the future of the
country.

He further says if an obstacle is put on the initiative of the student,

he can’t be innovative. There is a phenomenon in every youth but we kill it in
his childhood by disgusting himself. To some extent, the parents are also
conscientious for making or marring the life of their children, e.g.- Cherian’s son
runs under the train and dies because he fails three times inthe entrance exam
for IIT. Every time whenever he fails, he is cursed and criticised acrimoniously. His
life can be saved if he is liberated to choose the study of his own choice. Teachers
want their students to follow them blindly whether their logic is acceptable or
not but they can’t tolerate if any student dares to cross-question them. They
compel the students to run in the mice race. It is the race wherein
 Sethy 5

they have to run mindlessly “for four years, in every class, every assignment
and every test”.
Today’s youth represents the first generation which is growing
up in social modern order. This fact alone distinguishes them from previous
generations. Most of the problems faced by today’s youth are not restricted
to anyone ethnic or religious group, but affects young people in general. Most
discussion on youth have focused on issues like drug addiction, crime,
violence, sexuality and poverty. In present days, in addition to these
problems, youth are affected by new challenges which include the following: -

• An identity crisis: Who am I?

• Lack of self-confidence and low self-esteem: I am worthless.
• The negative impact of the electronics media: Entertainment, watching
porn.
• Confusion and ambiguity concerning moral issues: What is right and
what is wrong?
• Competitiveness in education – the uneven playing field: Excellence by
whom? Not me.
To get his readers connected with his fiction, Chetan Bhagat portrays the picture
of the present generation. As Bhagat himself has said in one of his interviews in
The Hindu.
“It is not high literature” he admits “both of my novels portray the
aspirations, mind-set and problems of the present generation in a very simple
language. And since I belong to the young generation, I feel I have been able to
strike a right chord with my readers. When they read my books, they are able
to relate themselves to the characters and the plots.”
 Sethy 6

Objective of the study

• To study the greatness of Chetan Bhagat as a novelist.

• To study Chetan Bhagat’s place in literature not only as a novelist but
also as a youth icon.
• To study the youth culture in Chetan Bhagat’s selected novels.
• To study the youth’s importance in Chetan Bhagat’s selected novels.
• To study the self-identification of the characters in Chetan Bhagat’s Five
Point Someone.
• To study the friendship relationship in the novel.
• To study the campus novel’s characteristics in Chetan Bhagat’s selected
novels.
The aim of the study is fulfilled as will be concretely
brought up in the section on the validation of the hypothesis of the present
study. The seven objectives of the study are accomplished in the following
chapters. This very paper explores the importance that the novel Five Point
Someone by Chetan Bhagat has in real life. It mirrors the harsh reality of the
modern-day youth that is sophisticated. This also highlights the happiness and
adventures of student’s life in the college campus in IIT Delhi.
 Sethy 7

Review of the literature

A novel set primarily in a college or university community in which the
main characters are academics, often employed by the English department.
Academic novels or Campus novels frequently exploit the fictional possibilities
created by a closed environment in which a number of highly distinct, often
idiosyncratic personalities are thrown together. In the academic novel, the
sequestered character of the campus often results in an atmosphere of comic
inconsequentiality. Most academic novels are humorous and many explore the
implications of the variously attributed maxim that academic politics are so
vicious because the stakes are so low. Even so, academic novels have on
occasion addressed more serious themes, including power, sex, class and
banishment and exile. Novels such as George Eliot’s Middlemarch (1874),
Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure (1895), Willa Cather’s The Professor’s Home
(1925), and Dorothy L. Sayer’s Gaudy Night (1935) dealt with academic settings
or characters. But the modern academic novel is generally thought to date
from the mid-twentieth century. In the current novel Five Point Someone we
study about the campus life of three IIT Delhi students Ryan, Alok and Hari. We
study about their philosophy on life, love, view on education and many more.
The author Chetan Bhagat has described beautifully the adult life of a student
in IIT campus. An example of the campus novel is
Changing Places (1975) is the first British campus novel by David Lodge.
The subtitle is “A Tale of Two Campuses”, and thus both the title and subtitle
are literary allusion to Charles Dicken’s cities. Changing Places is a comic novel
with serious undercurrents. It tells story of the the six- month academic
exchange program between fictional universities located in Rummidge
(ostensibly Birmingham in England) and Plotinus, in the state of Euphoria
(modelled on Berkeley in California). The two academics taking part in the
exchange are both aged 40, but appear at first to otherwise have little in
common, mainly because of the differing academic systems of their native
countries. The English participant, Philip Swallow, is a very conventional and
 Sethy 8

conformist. British academics and somewhat in awe of the American way of

life. By contrasted the American, Morris Zaps, is a top-ranking American
professor who only agrees to go to Rummidge because his wife agrees to
postpone long threatened divorce proceedings on condition that he moves out
of the marital home for six months. Zaps is at first both contemptuous of, and
assumed by, what he perceives as the amateurism of British academia.
As the exchange processes, however, both Swallow and Zaps find that
they begin to fit in surprisingly well to their new environments. In the course
of the story, each man has an affair with the other’s wife. Before that, Swallow
sleeps with Zap’s daughter Melanie, without realising who she is. She,
however, takes up with a former undergraduate student of his, Charles Boon.
Swallow and Zaps even consider remaining permanently.
The book ends with the two couples convened in a New York hotel room to
decide their fates. The novel ends without a clear-cut decision, though the
sequel Small World: An Academic Romance, reveals that Swallow and Zaps
returned to their countries and domestic situations.

“The definition of a machine is simple. It is anything that reduces

human effort. Anything. So, see the world around you and it is full of
machines.”
A student, Ryan asks: “Sir, what about a gym machine, like a bench press or
something? That does not reduce human effort. In fact, it increases it.”
This is a clarion call for the teaching fraternity to equip themselves to
handle the cream students of institutions like IITs and encourage the students
to think beyond the textbooks.
‘Five Point Someone’ focused the friendship of the prominent characters
of the novel: Hari, Alok and Ryan. It is of this trio’s screwing the grades at the
big time because of their over attachment with each other to
 Sethy 9

have a fun and detachment from studies. In college life, romance is like a
harbinger which conveys the message of love in the tender hearts. The
romanticism evoked with the love affair of Hari and Neha, the daughter of Prof.
Cherian is noteworthy. Hari gets ready to do anything for his lady love Neha.
Hostel life is all about friends, alienation from families, smoking cigars, drinking
vodka and listening to Pink Floyd. Commitment to relationship overrules the
fresh admitted undergraduates to such an extent that they are ready to do
anything for earning name and fame. Ryan Oberoi always prioritise his friends
more than his parents.
Moreover, Ryan’s description of his senior is monstrous and gruesome.
Ryan compares him with the old mythological, overweight, darkly dark, large
teeth figure who always invites terror. This is a symbol of wickedness which
symbolises through senior. But here wickedness stands for social and
educational evil. Ryan describes his senior as “……. looked like a demon from
cheap mythological TV shows – six feet tall, over a hundred kilos, dark, hairy,
and huge teeth that were ten years late meeting an orthodontist. Although he
inspired terror”

“You know guys, this whole IIT system is sick. Because, tell me, how many
great engineers or scientists have come out of IIT? I mean that is supposed to
be the best college in India, the best institute for a country of billion.But has IIT
ever invented anything? Or made any technical contribution to India? Over
thirty years of IITs, yet all it does is train some bring kids to work in
multinationals. I mean look at MIT in the USA…. What is wrong in the system…
This system of relative grading and overburdening the students. I mean it kills
the best fun years of your life. But it kills something else. Where is the room for
original though? Where is the time for creativity? It is not fair.”
Competition is so intense in IITs which has duly created lot of pressure
among the students and the Professors’ made a remark at the end of this
class:
 Sethy 10

“Best of luck once again for your stay here. Remember, as your head of
department Prof. Cherian says, the tough workload is by design, to keep you on
your toes. And respect the grading system. You get bad grades, and I assure
you – you get no job, no school and no future. If you do well, the world is your
oyster. So, don’t slip, not even once, or there will be no oyster, just slush.”
Hari, Ryan and Alok joined IIT with good All India Rankings but gave lot
of preference to fun and friends instead of focusing on majors, secret quizzes
and assignments. The consequences were inevitable that they became
underachievers. Their GPA (Grade Point Average) came to the bottom line

He adds, “And that is when I realized that GPAs make a good student, but not a
good person. We judge people here by their GPA. If you are nine, you are the
best. If you are a five, you are useless. I used to despise the low GPAs so much
that when Ryan submitted a research proposal on lubricants, I judged it without
even reading it. But these boys have something really promising. I saw the
proposal the second time. I can tell you, any investor who invests in this will
earn a rainbow.”
Through this novel the writer intends to convey a social message that
GPAs are not the ultimate factor to decide students’ potentialities and
creativity. To become a topper with 10.00 GPA is a great achievement
undoubtedly but there is something more in life which is yet to be achieved i.e.
commitment towards family, friends and our internal desires and goals.
 Sethy 11

Processing data with hypothesis

In the modern-day education system as well as the youth, we

found so many faults are there. The youngsters are imposed upon
the teacher- centred syllabus and hence they losing their creativity
being a machine.They are studying just for the sake of getting a good
paid job. In my project work, I take this assumption that the youth
should say directly “No” to oppose against the wrong. In education
system, the youth should be taught to get knowledge not only marks
and grades. In Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone we found Ryan
who opposes the education system and says that modern education
system making students dull not educated. That’s why Ryan comes
up with the Mice Theory to explains the problems in IITs: “This IIT
system is nothing but a mice race. It is not a rat race, mind you, as
rats sound somewhat shrewd and clever. So it is not about that. It is
about mindlessly running a race for four years, in every class, every
assignment and every test.”
 Sethy 12

METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is “a general approach to study

a research topic” that leads a researcher to gain the objective.

According to Silverman research methodology in social research can
be positivism, qualitative etc. The methodology of this research is
quantitative research. Silverman explains that “quantitative research,
small numbers of the texts and documents may be analysed for a very
different purpose”. The aim is to understand the participants
categories and to see how these are used in concrete activities,
qualitative research aims about their ability to reveal the local
practices through which gives and products are assembled.
Set against this backdrop, this research work attempts
several objectives. First, it explores Chetan Bhagat as a contemporary
novelist and check the mantra of his success. Second, it discusses
about various themes used in his novels which are basically about the
youngsters. Chetan Bhagat has raised his voice against social issues
which pertain to hopes, aspirations and problems of youth. Each of
his novels discusses problem(s). May it be his first novel “Five Point
Someone” based on ragging of new comers, pressure under which
students commit suicide, dowry system etc., or “One Night at Call
Centre”, where youth is shown aimless and trying to gain perfection,
in “Two States”, which is an autobiographical novel, discusses
problem of inter-caste marriage, his
 Sethy 13

“Revolution 2020” shows high hopes and aspirations of youth to

become rich and powerful and corruption in education system. In
short, following points can be enlisted to discuss in research thesis:
• Plight of contemporary society
• Specific condition of youth as per Chetan Bhagat i.e. their
struggle for settlement in life and career problems.
• Youth today- their concern towards society, whether
constructive or destructive or rebellious.

• Is youth clear headed or confused, optimistic or pessimistic?

• No consolidation amongst youth as compared to earlier ages
i.e. they are directionless and isolated.
• Moral decline among the youth, their opportunism, selfishness
and cut-throat competition.
A research strategy has to be followed to give meaning and
completion to present task of highlighting and discussing in detail
valid issues raised by Chetan Bhagat in his novels and to find out to
what extent are these issues worth discussing. For this purpose, his
first novel has been made base book and rest of his novels which
followed each other in sequence, have been thoroughly studied and
minutely analysed. Apart from Chetan Bhagat, other renowned
others, who have written on youth, have also been read and
compared with the ideology of Bhagat. The authors referred, for the
sake of studying deep and understanding well issues raised by Bhagat,
have been enlisted in reference. I will visit libraries of colleges and
 Sethy 14

extension of libraries of my area to find out relevant material related

to my research topic in form of books of authors other than Chetan
Bhagat who have worked on similar issues. Along with that I will read
research articles – both available in those libraries as well as online
articles. I’ll read journals related area of my research topic. Novel
concentrates on all grouping of written work. It fuses most properties
of these classes. “The novel is fundamentally social structured. It
examines the condition of people through mental fight and non-
verbal correspondence, genuinely before they get enthusiastically. It
is like focusing on stalking of lion rather than bouncing upon prey.”
Bhagat attempts to portray mental stirring of his staff. His characters
read words and expect action. The post-front line parts are
bounteously present in
Bhagat’s books. A unique skilled worker searches for answer of 3
request in his survey: “One, what reasons have we to live? Two,
what and why do we live? Three, is it invaluable living as we live?”
Life is thing that written work speaks truth. In his presented novel
Five Point Someone – What Not to Do at IIT, he grants his knowledge
that book is not helper on most capable system to survive.
 Sethy 15

Conclusion

The present novel Five Point Someone is youth-oriented novel. Youth’s

inner voice is raised in this novel. Youth’s emotions, their problems and
their expectations are described properly. The novel suggests how the
students and teachers can adopt new methods and techniques to
improve their knowledge. Only textual knowledge is not sufficient for
both learners and teachers. The students have their own ideas in their
mind and the teacher must allow them to express their views. By doing
this the teachers can see the involvement and active participation of
the students in teaching-learning process. Teacher should motivate the
students for self-learning and he should not discriminate the students
on the basis of their grades. Professors should invite students to share
new ideas that allow them forward thinking for the sake of the
development of the nation. Chetan Bhagat speaks about today’s youth
that they are the harbinger of innovative ideas, true lovers of life; they
are free thinkers and icons of liberty. At the end it can be said that
Chetan Bhagat has changed the Indian Novel in English to expose the
realities of life of youngsters. He depicts different aspects of
contemporary Indian society through his Five Point Someone. He has
emerged as a realistic writer with objective opinion but leaves his
readers to contemplate the prospective solutions of the problems they
are grappling with. The narrative technique, language selection,
episode selection and cinematographic treatment of the subject
content are par excellence,
 Sethy 16

while reading novels and watching movies based on its readers get
lost in it.

Last but not least, we hope to bring out an updated and

significance criticism on Chetan Bhagat thus encouraging and helping
future research on the master. It is thus obvious from the above
description that this research work will go a long way in addition
substantial point in previous finding of the study as it is also expected
to establish some new facts and truths in the above.

Select Bibliography
Abraham, M.H, and Geoffrey Galt Harpham. A Glossary of Literary Terms. Delhi:
Cengage Learning India Private Limited, 2015.

Bhagat, Chetan. Five Point Someone – What not to do at IIT. New Delhi: Rupa
Publications India Private Limited, 2004.

Buchanan, Ian. Oxford Dictionary of Critical Theory. United States: Oxford

University Press, 2010.

Lodge, David. Changing Places. London: Vintage Books, 1975.

 Sethy 17

Lodge, David. Small World: An Academic Romance. London: Vintage

Books, 1984.

McCarthy, Mary. The Groves of Academe. United states: Harcourt, 1952.

MLA Handbook. 9th ed., e-book ed., Modern Language Association of America,
2021.

Rajeswari, Dr.P. “Portrayal of Youth Society in Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point

Someone.” International Journal of Research & Review, 7 July 2018, vol.5, pp.
76 – 79.

Sharma, Mirdula, et al. NTA UGC NET/JRF/SET ENGLISH. Arihant Publications

(India) Ltd, 2021.

The Hindu 11 September 2005: 28

Three Idiots. Directed by Rajkumar Hirani, Vinod Chopra Films,2009.

Tukaram, Jadhav Arvind. “Representing Metropolitan Youth

Culture: An assessment of Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone and One
Night @ the Call Centre” The Criterion: An International Journal in English
Vol.3.2 (2012): (1-5). http://www.the- criterion.com/V3/n2/Arvind.pdf