2 States: The Story of my Marriage

"2 States" was pretty good. I've enjoyed all of Chetan Bhagat's books so far barring One night @ call centre, and was pleasantly surprised to find this was a sequel to his first one "Five Point Someone" that had the characters I liked the most.

Told from the perspective of Krish starting when he joins Indian Institute of Management and meets Ananya in line at the cafeteria where she doesn't like the food. After a little rocky start, they fall in love, move in together in the college and graduate, with most of their school time not told in the story.

At graduation the trouble begins… They're in love, but they're from different states in India with different cultures, and their families instantly hate each other when they try to get them to meet during the graduation activities. Both families are rude to each other, with Krish's mother far outdoing Ananya's parents in her hatred of south Indians.

While it's not looking good, Krish takes a job in Chennai so he can be close to Ananya and work on getting her parents to accept him. It doesn't start smooth, with him an alien in Chennai and Ananya's parents flat out telling them they cannot marry. But since he's working there, he has time.

Once he's accepted by them, then it's time to work on his mother during a weeklong business trip Ananya has to Delhi.

By the end of that fiasco, I was so sure the marriage wasn't going to happen, except that the subtitle of the book is "the story of my marriage" which gave some hope. I cared about the two of them and wanted a happy ending.

Overall it was a good book. Lots and lots of tension, lots of hopeless situations. Krish and Ananya have to really work to get what they want, Chetan Bhagat doesn't simply give it to them without a struggle.

I just loved the book. It is definitely better than all his other books baring Five Point Someone.
The books arouses your interest right as you read the blurb.

Love marriages around the world are simple:
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:

Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.

Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

After reading this blurb I could not put this book down.Even though the book has its share of ups and downs , I recommend this book to all those who loved Five Point Someone.