Article by Ashok Mathur

Simply overwhelmed by the big audience that had gathered in Maharana Bhopal Stadium Udaipur on Saturday, 1 October to welcome and listen to their young hero, Chetan Bhagat seemed to elated not only by the beauty of the overflowing lakes but also by the warm hearted youth of the town.

Chetan’s simply worded speech as are all his works touched the core of the young hearts and it seemed would impact them to practice what their icon had advised them.

In a speech spiced with wit, humor, sarcasm and irony, Chetan distilled the essence of his experience based on wisdom for his audience and the outcome was a recipe for success. Success, Chetan feels, is very important in life but not all important.

Chetan gradually began to unravel the ingredients of success. The first point made by him was that Self confidence, the feeling of “I can” is essential. One must learn to preserve. Giving his own example he added that his first book was rejected not only by one, two or three publishers but nine of them and each one took two months to take decision. His determination to struggle for such a long time ultimately gave him the first taste of success.

Not undermining the place of Hindi in any way, Chetan said that according to a survey, person proficient in English earned four times more as compared to those who are not so good at this language. Add to the skill of communication effectively and one becomes a winner in every field.

Backed by his studies of management and his vast and long experience of banking, Chetan strongly feels that it is essential to market one’s strength without tall talk. He is of the opinion that in the modern world, good knowledge of financial matters is also important.

Coming back to success, Chetan told his audience that to taste the fruits of success one should have good health.

Relationships add to happiness. During last moments of life one doesn’t think of wealth but wants his dear ones to be by his side.

Chetan charmed his audience by his down to earth pragmatic advice as also pertinent answers to curious queries from students as well as grown up persons.

Indeed, a memorable and educative evening spent with a fascinating youth icon!

A disturbing thought flashes through mind. Programmes like this are completely ignored by newspapers other than the one which sponsors them. Do the other newspapers have any right to deprive their readers from the benefit of reading about such illuminative and useful content?