The Three Mistakes of My Life (Summary) :

It is the story of three close friends Govind, Ish and

Omi. Govind Loves business, Ish loves cricket and Omi
is taken by religion. Govind wishes to start a business
with Ish and Omi as partners. Together they establish a
cricket store on land that belongs to Omis family who
own a temple in the vicinity. The shop rakes in good
profits thanks to Ishs cricketing wisdom and Govinds
business acumen. Govind decides to make his next big
move by establishing a posh cricket store in an
upcoming mall in the next city. Meanwhile Ish spots a
Muslim boy named Ali who has exceptional talent as a
batsman and wants to train him to be the next best
thing that ever happened to Indian cricket. What
follows forms the crux of the story. Ishs sister Vidhya
provides another twist to Govinds turbulent life.
However it is the portrayal of Omis religion fanatic
uncle that steals the show.
What impressed me most was the way Chetan Bhagat
combined fact and fiction. Govinds dreams of
establishing a posh cricket store in.
an upcoming mall in the next city are crushed by the
earthquake in Gujarat on the 26th of January, 2001. The
setting of the Sabarmati Express on fire by miscreants
is also used by Chetan Bhagat and sadly the incident
consumes Omis cousin. And of course Chetan gives an
interesting take on the memorable Kolkata test at Eden

Gardens when Gangulys men grasped victory from the

jaws of defeat against Steve Waughs world beating
squad. Communal riots from a very important part of
the story and ultimately lead to a gruesome climax. The
conversation exchanges between Ishs sister Vidhya and
Govind that lead to their falling in love with each other
are very fresh and captivating until the point when the
author takes things a bit too far in the name of
romance
Major
characters
Govind : Govind Patel is an ordinary guy with whom
anybody can relate. He has very few desires but he is
obsessed with the desires he covets. His main ambition is to
become a businessman as he thinks that being a Gujarati,
business is in his blood. His best friends are Omi and Ish
(Ishaan). Govind is an agnostic. His father has abandoned
him and his mother runs a small business. He makes extra
income by giving mathematics tuitions. He continues
these tuitions even after starting the cricket shop business.
He is the narrator of this story and the one who makes the
titular "Three Mistakes". During the course of the story he
falls in love with Vidya, Ishan's younger sister for whom
he is a private tutor. Govind is the one who looks after the
financial part of the business as he has good business sense
and mathematical skills.

Ishaan (Ish) : He is a big cricket freak and also a patriot at

heart. Ishaan has been the best cricketer in his locality and
school. He suggests the name of their business as "Team
India Cricket Shop". He helps Govind's business by
organising daily cricket coaching camps. He has a
younger sister, Vidya, about whom he is quite protective.
When he discovers that a boy named Ali is a very talented
batsman, he decides to go any length to give Ali proper
training.
Ishaan usually looks after day-to-day shop activities as he has
genuine interest in anything cricket-related.

Omi : He is the son of the Hindu priest of the local temple. His
family enjoys great respect among the people. Through Omi's
parents and maternal uncle (who own few shops as a part of
the temple trust property), they readily get a place to start their
business. He is a rather dumb boy and has not many dreams,
but likes to concentrate on having a healthy body. However, he
resents growing up and being a saint like his father. He is a
religious person and eventually takes active part in his
maternal uncle's religious politics. He is however confused
about his religious views which are mainly influenced by
Bittoo Mama.

Vidya : She is Ishan's younger sister. She is a rebel at heart

and dreams to break free from the constraints of a typical
middle-class family and society, to go to Mumbai, do a course
in PR and become independent. She however despises maths
which is required for her medical entrance exams. Hence, Ish
asks Govind to take her mathematics tuition. However, in
between their tuition they fall in love, have sexual relations,
which is kept a secret from everyone.
Only Omi figures out the relationship Govind and Vidya share and
also reminds Govind about the consequences of Ish finding out about
the love birds.

Ali : One of the students in Ish's coaching classes and a

great batsman because of a rare gift of nature. However, he
doesn't play too much cricket as he gets tired really fast and
enjoys playing marbles. He is a Muslim boy and respects Ish
like a Guru. He too, like Ish is patriotic at heart. He denies the
offer of Australian scholarship and wants to play in the
Indian side.

Bittoo Mama : He is the maternal uncle of Omi. Mama runs

the trust of the temple and agrees to rent the place to the three
friends for the Cricket Shop business. He is an active member
of a Hindu political Party. He follows the preachings of
Parekh-ji, a political-cum-spiritual leader and has complete
faith in him. He has locked his horns with Ali's father who
belongs to the Secular Party. He has a son Dhiraj. Mama is
not fond of Govind as he is an agnostic. He is the
main antagonist of the story.

Govind's mom : Gujarati woman. She wants her son to

pursue a degree in Engineering. She runs a home-made food
business. She cares about Govind a lot and supports him well
through his hardships and struggles.
Ali's Father : He is a devout Muslim and works for
a secular party. He is a very kind-hearted person who wants
Ali to take his education seriously despite his mediocre
financial condition. He treats the three friends very well when
they go to visit Ali in his house. Overall he is a good person.

Fred Li : He is an Australian Cricket Team member and

a fast bowler. He invites the three friends and Ali
to Sydney when they travel to Goa to see India-Australia One
Day International and meet him in the stands. He spots talent
in Ali and wants to help him getting a chance to be trained in
his academy in Australia. Loosely based on Brett Lee.
About the Author
Bhagat was born in New Delhi to a middle-class family.
His father was officer in the army (Lt Col) and his
mother was a government employee in the agricultural
department. Bhagat's education was mostly in Delhi. He
attended the Birla Vidhya Niketan, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi
(19781991). He studied Mechanical Engineering at
the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D)(19911995).
He graduated from the Indian Institute of Management
Ahmedabad (19951997). After graduation he worked as an
investment banker in Hong Kong. He had been working in
Hong Kong for 11 years before shifting to Mumbai to pursue
his passion for writing. He has written six books, all of which
are bestsellers. His two novels were written during his tenure
as an investment banker.

Translation
This English National Bestseller has been published in Gujarati
language by a leading Gujarati book publisher, M.B.D. based
in Ahmedabad & Mumbai. This book has been also translated
into Tamil and is published by Diamond Pocket Books. The
French translation was released by Cherche Midi publisher in
March 2010 under "Les 3 erreurs de ma vie" title.
Film adaptations
Main article : Kai Po Che!

The movie version of the novel is Kai Po Che! Directed

by Abhishek Kapoor starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Raj Kumar
Yadav, Amit Sadh was released in February 2013. The film and
the book are set in Gujarat, hence the title Kai Po Che!.

My Opinion:
I love Chetan Bhagat's ability to connect with his reader, his
simple language flow just grips you... yeah, there sure are
some limitations, but highly ignorable. I found his choice of
women to be of just one type... the "sweet, simple and pretty,
salwar kameez clad" kinds.. Neha of Five Point someone and
Vidya of this book are exactly similar. The hero is always in a
group of 3 friends... the thinking pattern somehow remains
the same.

One more point I would like to add. The mistakes the narrator
talks about are not really such big ones. Anyone would act
the same way he did in his situation. I could sympathize with
the character fully
Teachers Remark :