Chetan Bhagat at the news conference in Guwahati on Wednesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Aug. 4: Chetan Bhagat would like to write a book on the Northeast one day — once he has got a hang of the region, of course.

That was the promise from a man who acknowledged before a college audience that his books have received “applauding response” from the readers of the Northeast, particularly Guwahati.

Clad in a pair of blue jeans and a grey T-shirt, the novelist fielded questions at a seminar organised by the Royal Group of Institutions on its Guwahati campus today.

The man who smirked at the canon and cheekily released one of his books at a Mumbai Big Bazaar in May 2008, kept the young audience entertained with his trademark humour and commonsensical gyan.

The IIT-IIM graduate has worn many hats — banker, columnist, script-writer and motivational speaker.

“I have received many mails from my fans based in the Northeast who have expressed that my books are quite well received here,” said the author of best-sellers like Five Point Someone, One Night at the Call Centre, The 3 Mistakes of My Life and 2 States (The story of my marriage).

Students listened in rapt attention as author spoke animatedly, sporting a stubble and rimless spectacles.

Gushed Barsha Nath, a third semester Civil Engineering student at RGI, “I have read all the books written by Bhagat. I find his works very enlightening and easy to relate to.”

On being asked if he had any plans to be a motivational speaker for the government, Bhagat asked: “Does the government needs motivation?” tongue firmly in cheek.

“If I can get a complete sense of the region than maybe one day I will write a book based on it,” the author promised.

Bhagat, who also writes columns for leading English and Hindi newspapers, quit his international investment banking job in 2009 to devote his entire time to writing.

During the course of the seminar, Bhagat revealed that he was on a mission to visit educational institutions in India and this was his second visit to the region — he had visited IIT Guwahati five years back.

Besides Bhagat, the seminar was attended by the chairman of RGI, A.K. Pansari, vice-vhairman of institution, A.K. Modi and director S.P. Singh.

Pansari, in his welcome speech, said the institution was earlier visited by dignitaries like former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and he hoped that Bhagat’s visit would motivate the students further.