Q.
Discuss the plot of the novel ‘Five Point Someone’.
Introduction:
The bestselling novel, ‘Five Point Someone’ is written by Chetan Bhagat.
Chetan Bhagat has completed his graduation from IIT, Delhi and MBA from IIM,
Ahmedabad. ‘Five Point Someone’ is Chetan Bhagat’s first novel. ‘One Night @ the Call Centre’, ‘2 Sates’,
‘Half Girl Friend’ are some other popular novels written by Chetan
Bhagat. The novel ‘Five Point Someone’ deals with the friendship of
three intimate college students. As the major events in the novel takes
place in one college, the novel is described as “a campus novel”.
Main
Characters: The names of the three friends are Hari
Kumar, Alok Gupta and Ryan Oberoi. They are taking their education at IIT,
Delhi. They live on the second floor in the Kumaon hostel (कुमाउं हॉस्टेल). Hari Kumar is a
narrator of the novel. He is in love with Neha, the daughter of Prof. Cherian.
Ryan Oberoi is from a rich family. He is full of creative ideas. His father is colonel (कर्नल) in
army. Alok Gupta belongs to a poor family. His sister is unmarried because the
family doesn’t have money to give dowry (हुंडा).
Beginning
of friendship and criticism of education system:
The novel begins with the ragging of Hari, Alok and Ryan by the seniors. Ryan challenges
the seniors and ragging comes to an end. This incidence (घटना) brings the three friends closer. Ryan becomes their
leader. They watch movies, go to gym, they have fun. They want to enjoy the
hostel and college life. They do not find any interesting in the education
pattern of IIT. Ryan is a severe critic (कठोर टीकाकार)
of
the IIT’s education system. He considers the hostel life as the prisoner’s
life (कैद्याचे जीवन). Looking
at the attitude of these three friends, Prof. Cherian becomes hostile (शत्रुत्वाची भावना) with them.
Stealing (चोरणे)
of question papers: The three friends neglect (दुर्लक्ष करणे) their studies. In every semester they
get the average grades (five points). In
the last year, they realise that they should get good grades, otherwise they
will not get good jobs. But getting good grades is very difficult for them. So
Ryan plans to steal the question papers from the office of Prof. Cherian. They
take the help of Neha, the daughter of Prof. Cherian in stealing the question
papers. But while stealing the papers, Alok foolishly makes a call from office
to his mother. The security man suspects the movements of the three friends and
they are caught red handed (रंगे हात सापडणे).
As
a punishment, they face DisCo. The committee suspends all of the three for one
semester. The career of the three
friends is almost (जवळपास) over (संपणे).
Change
in Prof. Cherian: Prof. Cherian is very much upset by the
sad and untimely (अकाली) death
of his son, Samir. One day, Prof. Cherian gets a letter which Neha has given to
Hari to keep it safe. It is actually a suicide (आत्महत्या) note
written by Samir. After reading the suicide note, Prof. Cherian realises that
he is responsible for the death of his son. It brings change in the attitude of
Prof. Cherian. He decides to help the three friends.
Friends
realise their mistake: Meanwhile the three friends too,
realise their mistake. They become serious about their life and career. They
work very hard. Prof. Cherian agrees to consider their seventh semester as a
research semester. This will help them to improve their grades.
All
is well that ends well: Towards the end of the academic
year, Prof. Cherian asks the friends to prepare for the job interviews.
Finally, Hari gets a job in Bombay and Alok gets a job in Delhi. Afterwards,
Alok goes to the USA. Ryan starts working as a Research Assistant with Prof.
Veera. He gets stipend (स्टायपेंड/ विद्यावेतन; शिष्यवृत्ती) of Rs. 2000/- per
month. Ryan’s father promises to invest amount in his project. Prof. Cherian is
ready for the marriage of Hari and Neha. Neha completes her fashion designing
course and starts to search a job in Bombay. On this happy note, the novel
ends.
*****
DisCo (डिस्को): Disciplinary
Committee- IIT मध्ये गैरवर्तन करणाऱ्या विद्यार्थ्यांसाठी ही कमिटी स्थापन केली जाते. या
कमिटीने शिक्षा सुनावल्यानंतर एखाद्याचे IIT मधील करिअर सपू शकते. Disco Dance and DisCo दोन वेगवेगळ्या गोष्टी आहेत.
GPA: IIT मध्ये इंजिनिअरिंगचा
चार वर्षाचा कोर्स असतो. कोर्स पूर्ण झाल्यानंतर B.Tech. ही डिग्री प्राप्त होते.
प्रत्येक वर्षाला दोन अशी एकूण आठ सेमिस्टर असतात. सेमिस्टरचा निकाल हा मिळालेल्या
गुणांचे १० पॉइंटमध्ये रुपांतर करून दिला जातो. याला GPA पद्धत म्हणतात. १० GPA हा
निकाल सर्वोत्तम मानला जातो, तर ०५ GPA (Five Point) हा सर्वसाधारण निकाल मानला
जातो.
(econtent written by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)
