Bokaro must be special for best-seller novelist Chetan Bhagat, for he came with his mother Rekha on Sunday night for a heartfelt chat with students sweating it out for entrance exams.
Bhagat, an IIT and IIM alumnus, former investment banker and author of Five Point Someone, One Night @ The Call Center, The Three Mistakes Of My Life, 2 States and Half Girlfriend, many of which became blockbuster films, was invited by a reputable coaching institute to Bokaro Club to motivate youngsters.
Besides hundreds of students, parents and teachers as well as Bokaro deputy commissioner Uma Shankar Singh were present at the event.
What the youth icon said struck a chord with the 1,000-plus crowd hanging on to his every word.
A big fan of EQ or emotional quotient, Bhagat said: "Sweat plus motivation plus emotions brings success."
"Cultivate self-confidence, which comes after self-evaluation followed by self-realisation," said the author who knows India's pulse like no one else, and whose last novel, Half Girlfriend, is about a small-town guy's journey.
Bhagat asked youngsters aspiring to crack engineering or medical entrances to keep it simple.
"To prepare emotionally, one must be motivated from the core of his or her heart. Have strong willpower to succeed, keeping in mind what are your strengths and weaknesses and how to overcome the weaknesses," Bhagat said, referring to his own success in cracking IIT-JEE.
At every step, Bhagat gave practical examples, proof that he had been there, done that.
"Don't run away from failures but face them. If a student does not understand a maths problem, he should go to his teacher or guide to know why he is confused. If he tries to escape this, problems will keep multiplying," the celebrity author said.
"Stop being disheartened by failures. Motivation is the key to success. Every individual faces failures. Name any successful personality in the world, past or present, and failures have followed him or her just like shadows. But, those who got disheartened, failed for good. Those who overcame failures by taking them as a challenge, finally succeeded."
Bhagat also called distractions "normal" among teens. "Learn from mistakes," he told them. "Never cultivate the feeling of a guilty conscience, cultivate self-confidence instead and no power on earth can take away success from you," he added.
"Teenagers can be naughty but that shouldn't be a hurdle in the life of any individual," Bhagat, a father of two boys, reassured parents and teachers.
His doting mother, the elegant yet simple Rekha Bhagat, said: "Chetan was like any regular teen. But once he became determined to succeed, success touched his feet."
What have you learnt from a Chetan Bhagat book? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
