Review : Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat 0

As the top selling author for pulp fiction in India, books by Chetan Bhagat are widely publicized in the media before being released. “Half Girlfriend” is the latest book from Chetan Bhagat and is the story of a student from Dumraon in Bihar, Madhav and the rich girl from a Delhi business family Riya Somani he meets in St Stephens college while trying to get admission under the sports quota. As Madhav is a state level basketball player he easily manages to get admission though he is not very proficient in English. After getting admission to St Stephen’s college they keep each other company despite their very different background.

After a disagreement , Riya Somani gets married to a rich businessman from London Rohan who has the approval of her family. After graduation Madhav does not take up a well paying job offer from a foreign bank, instead opting to return to his native place Dumraon in Bihar to help his mother from the erstwhile royal family in running the village school. As the school does not get any grant from the government it is difficult to provide good facilities. To get a grant from the Microsoft foundation madhav joins an english course in Patna, and he again meets Riya who has taken up a job with a multinational. Her extremely wealthy husband did not treat her properly so Riya got divorced after a one and a half year.

After Madhav introduced Riya somani to his mother, she realize that Madhav’s mother did not like her. So after the Microsoft visit to the school, Riya disappears. Remembering that Riya always dreamt of singing in New York, Madhav plans a trip to New York. He spends time searching for Riya with the little information he has. Finally he managed to find her and like most Chetan Bhagat novels this book too has a happy ending. Easy to read book in simple language targetting the majority of youth in India who are not very fluent in English.

Author : Chetan Bhagat
Published by : Rupa Publications Pvt. Ltd. 2014