Many Indias Make One India

Abstract

2 States is a novel written by Chetan Bhagat, who turned English fiction into a mass phenomenon in India. The book, which is partly autobiographical, is about the struggles of a north Indian Punjabi boy and a south Indian Tamil girl, to convince their families to let them get married. The book is largely about the cultural differences between the two states and their repercussions — both comical and serious. It is also a simultaneous commentary on how circumstances in today’s India are throwing together people from different cultures, bringing these differences face-to-face and forcing their resolution.