Hello Friends,
This blog is my response to the task assigned to us by our Prof. Dr. Dilip Sir in the thinking activity of the novel Revolution 2020 which is a part of popular culture. So, read, understand and enjoy. Happy Learning!
Click here to view Prof. Dr. DilipSir's blog
1. If you have to write a fan-fiction, how would you move ahead with the ending of this novel or what sort of change you would bring at the end of the novel?
A-1 According to me the ending of the novel would be something different than it already is. I would like a Happy Love Marriage of Gopal and Aarti. And Aarti would bring Gopal on the right path through her love. And Raghav will love another girl and will happily marry her. So, in the end, there will be a true revolution in the life of all the characters. Aarti comes back to her true love that is Gopal even after a long relationship with Raghav. Gopal coming back on the path of honesty leaving all the corrupt ways and means although it may take 5 more years. But Aarti will support Gopal to come back on the right track. And on the other hand, Raghav will bring a revolution in society by disclosing the corrupt officers and their corrupt means. So, I would like to give a Happy Ending to the novel.
2. If you were to adapt this novel for the screen, what sort of changes you would make in the story and characters to make it better than a novel?
A-2 I would like to bring a gigantic twist to the life of all three characters Gopal, Aarti, and Raghav. First Gopal will love Aarti and Aarti will also love Gopal and this will continue for ten years. Then as Gopal leaves for studies Aarti will fall in love with Raghav. Now Aarti and Raghav will love each other but there won't be happy in the life of Aarti as she will always miss Gopal in some corner of her heart and obviously Raghav can never take his place. But Aarti will never tell her deeper pain to Raghav but always tried to remain happy with Raghav. In fact, she will always try to keep Raghav happy and loved. So, Raghav never came to know of her past love. Raghav always remained in an illusion that Aarti loves him very much. Later on, Aarti went for further studies in America and Raghav was left all alone. So, Raghav did arrange marriage in absence of Aarti as per the advice of his parents and continued with his publishing house and later Gopal also supported Raghav in doing so after he returned after completing his studies. Gopal loved another girl when he went to study outside and when he returned he was already married. And on the other hand, Aarti got settled in America forever and got married there to an American guy. So, all initial love stories got broken and came out with some new pairs. All got married to somebody else.
Isn't it interesting? Will it be possible for any of the characters to forget their former lover? Will they happily live with their new chosen partners? The answer could be that first they meet were just friends and not their true love but later on to whom they got married was their true love. They all remained more happy, satisfied with their later partners. They realized the difference between true love and friendships. The impact of love proved to be much deeper than normal friendship.
3. 'For a feminist reader, Aarti is a sheer disappointing character.' Do you agree with this statement? If yes, what sort of characteristics you would like to see in Aarti. If you disagree with this statement, why? What is it in Aarti that you are satisfied with this character?
A-3 For this it would be good to refer to the Bechdel Test
The Bechdel test is a measure of the representation of women in fiction. The test is used as an indicator for the active presence of women in the entire field of fiction and to call attention to gender inequality in fiction.
The 3 rules of the Bechdel test
1. That at least two women are featured
2. That these two women talk to each other
3. That they discuss something other than a man.
Yes, Aarti is a sheer disappointing character as portrayed by Chetan Bhagat in his novel Revolution 2020. There can be many reasons but let's be more liberal and judge according to the rules of the Bechdel test as shown above.
In this novel, only one woman character is given and that is Aarti. The second thing is that she is the only woman so the question of their talking doesn't arise. The third thing is that the question of their discussion doesn't arise at all.
Other observations are that Aarti herself is not stable. First, she loves Gopal and when Gopal leaves for study then she goes for Raghav and when again Gopal comes back and is rich then again she leaves Raghav and goes for Gopal. As if she is playing some game with her own life. Then when she sees a prostitute with Gopal her heartbreaks. Now here very naturally any girl would react the same. But it would be good that a girl should not believe all that she sees and she loves someone then to trust that person fully. It's not so easy and maybe impossible or to say very difficult. But here one of two things can happen, either you will get a person for life or a lesson for life. Girls should use their brains and not to judge things emotionally. To apply logic and reason, to discuss rather than break up the relationship.
4. 'For a true revolutionist, the novel is terribly disappointing.' Do you agree? If yes, What sort of changes would you make in character or situation to make it a perfect revolutionary novel? If you disagree, what is in the novel that you are satisfied with?
A-4 Yes, the novel is terribly disappointing. Here Raghav wants to bring revolution in society by eradicating corrupt and evil things, motives, and actions. But the sad thing is that he is alone in this struggle and nobody is in his favor. Actually, the truth and good should win.
"Satyamev Jayate"
But here we can see Raghav to be very much helpless. Now he is afraid to write against the corrupt people. The changes that I would like to make would be like when Raghav is first time harassed by corrupt politicians and thugs then some people at least five other powerful people should come and support him, stand with him and help him to establish his firm much stronger and even more powerful than ever before so that next time nobody even dares to look at his publishing house. When a person, here Raghav is supported by many other more powerful people than the hero, the protagonist wins in the end and leads a successful life.
Good should win over evil. A lifesaver is more powerful than a life destroyer. So, here Raghav is saving common people from the corrupt motives of politicians. So, he should lead a far better life than Gopal. In fact, a more powerful group should be formed of masses that are in Raghav's favor and they should fight against corruption. But maybe the author is more practical, he has seen the world more closely and knows the realities of life that it's not so easy to end the corruption and so he has tried to show the real picture of society. Maybe the writer wants to show us the real picture of society. Maybe the writer wants to make us aware of the happenings in the world. It's not so easy to bring the desired changes in the world but it takes many years of struggle by many people. It's an ongoing struggle that will continue for many years and hope someday it will end with fruitful results and that people will live with justice and equal rights.
Thank you.