Revolution Twenty20

Introduction:

“Once upon a time, in small-town India, there lived two intelligent boys.

One wanted to use his intelligence to make money.

One wanted to use his intelligence to start a revolution.

The problem was, they both loved the same girl.”

“Revolution 2020—a story about childhood friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti who struggle to find success, love, and happiness in Varanasi. However, it is not easy to attain these in an unfair society that rewards the corrupt. As Gopal gives in to the system, and Raghav fights it, who will win?” (Blurb on the last cover-page)

Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition is a 2011 novel by Chetan Bhagat. Its story is concerned with a love triangle, corruption, and a journey of self-discovery. R2020 has addressed the issue of how private coaching institutions exploit aspiring engineering students and how parents put their lifetime's earnings on stake for these classes so that their children can crack engineering exams and change the fortune of the family. While a handful accomplish their dreams, others sink into disaster.

The author stated that the novel is based on the "rampant corruption" apparent in the Indian educational system (Firstpost)

Characters in the Novel:

1. Gopal Mishra—one who wanted to use his intelligence to make money—ultimately joins hands with corrupt politicians to walk on the path of corruption and starts a private engineering college, Ganga Tech College, in Varanasi.

2. Raghav—one who wanted to use his intelligence to start a revolution—ultimately runs his own newspaper, 'Revolution 2020,' to bring in change in society and make the nation free from corruption. He has cracked JEE and AIEEE and joins BHU-IT instead of famous IITs or NITs so he can pursue journalism along with engineering. He follows his passion to be a journalist who can bring in 'change' in society rather than opt for an easy job in a multinational company or public sector company like his father, who was an IITian and works as an engineer in BHEL.

3. Aarti, daughter of an IAS officer who is the District Magistrate of Varanasi and love interest of both Gopal and Raghav.

Visit this page for long list of all other characters in the novel . . . (Click here)

Thematic Study:

The novel 'R2020' deals with the themes of Love, Corruption, Ambition and Revolution.

Click here to read more on the thematic study and activities

Click here to read in detail about these themes.

Narrative Technique:

Chetan Bhagat's narrative technique has a sort of method that he follows in most of his novels. His signature style is to start with a prologue and end with an epilogue. He himself appears in these prologues-epilogues and listens to a story from one of the characters of the novel and then allows him to tell the story in first-person narration.

Can we apply

Gérard Genette

's narratology to this novel?

(Click here to read more on narrative technique.)

Popular Literature

Undoubtedly, Revolution Twenty20 belongs to the genre of 'Genre Fiction.'. It is part of popular literature. It represents popular contemporary culture of India.