Half-Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat (Book Review)

The sixth novel published by the Indian author Chetan Bhagat is titled ‘Half Girlfriend’. It describes the romance between a Bihari ‘village prince’ named Madhav and the elite Delhi-based girl Riya. The story is divided into three acts and is viewed through the eyes of Madhav, who narrates it to the author while in Patna.

The first act of the book gives the reader a view as to what happened when Madhav met Riya in college. Madhav gets admission in the high-class St. Stephen’s in Delhi through a sports quota. He is impressed with as she undergoes her trials and at that very moment falls in love with her. As they both get seats into the illustrious college, Madhav strikes a friendship with Riya and the two get on very well as basketball friends. However, Madhav wants more. He wants her to be his girlfriend. To compensate for it, Riya agrees to be his half-girlfriend. When Madhav finally tries to get physical with Riya, she breaks off the friendship and in the following months gets married to her childhood friend, Rohan. With the marriage, she drops out of college and moves to London with her new spouse. Though distraught, Madhav decides to move on and graduate. He then goes back to the village to help out in the Royal School.

The second act of the book describes Madhav’s second encounter with Riya. Engrossed in the work of the school he tries to raise funds for the school. He seeks help from the local MLA but is refused. His offer is finally accepted with the condition that he has to host Bill Gates as the later makes a charitable visit to Bihar. When he is told to prepare to deliver a speech in English in front of the Gates Foundation members, he goes to Patna where he can take up some public speaking classes. IT is over here, that he meets Riya and she decides to help him when she finds out the reason for his weekly visits to Patna. On the auspicious day, Madhav delivers a wonderful speech and receives a grant from Bill gates but all this joy disappears when he reads Riya’s letter telling him that she has been diagnosed with lung cancer and has only a few months to live. She also mentions how much she loves him and how much she will continue to do so till she dies.

The third act of the book describes Madhav’s frantic search for his long lost love, Riya. Rummaging through the stuff she left behind and contacting various people, he realizes that she has gone to New York. He travels to New York and begins his search for Riya. His search comes to an end on the day of his farewell party when he finds her playing at a bar.

Unlike the Arjun Kapoor starrer with the same name, this book beautifully describes the emptions that Madhav feels throughout his love story with Riya. The reader would be able to get in-touch with the Madhav inside. Chetan Bhagat carries the story along very well however he does make a few grammatical errors which could be overlooked when seen in general. It is a good book for the younger generation though it will be more favorable for those at an intermediate level of English. The English is simple and easy to understand thus making it an entertainer for all levels of English students.