DU Adds Chetan Bhagat’s Book In The English Elective Course And People Are Losing It!

Book critics have vigorously debated on whether the works of Stephen King and J R R Tolkien can be construed as ‘literature’. Even though they have created works that have stood the test of decades and the advent of tablet readers, the world of literature is still apprehensive about including King’s and Tolkien’s work as pure literature.

But the committee of courses of the English Department at Delhi University has decided to include Chetan Bhagat’s book ‘Five Point Someone’ as a popular fiction elective.

Chetan Bhagat’s book has brilliant company in J K Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Little Women’ and Agatha Christie’s ‘Murder on the Orient Express’.

We have to keep in mind though that BA(Hons.) English will not be offered to study it. Students from any stream who take English elective will get to study Chetan Bhagat.

 

One fact that is shocking about the whole development – Rabindranath Tagore’s and Amitav Ghosh’s books were removed from the syllabus to accommodate Chetan Bhagat in the syllabus.

This is the major issue many English professors are not happy about at all.

Although Chetan Bhagat’s contribution to making books accessible to lakhs of Indians is commendable, it is kind of shocking that DU would include it in their English elective course. Of course, it’s impressive that Chetan Bhagat did get published (something most English majors fail to do), but teaching it as an English elective is a bit dragged out.

 

Chetan Bhagat saw the online criticism of the DU decision and defended himself in his classic ‘elitist’ counterattack.

Elitistaan theories trying to diss me and literary value of my books have failed miserably with DU adding my books to their course. Sorry.

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) April 23, 2017

To me good literature is writing that actually touches people, whether in the past or now. It isn't something an elitist club decides.

— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) April 23, 2017

To be brutally honest, it is not elitist to expect good quality from a book. As for ‘touching people’, Indian TV’s saas-bahu soaps make a lot of people cry, but that does not constitute as good scriptwriting.

 

And the same point was made by Twitter in their usual acerbic humour.

1. A couple of his books are mindless entertainment.

@chetan_bhagat I don’t know if it’s true but legend has it that every time someone reads Chetan Bhagat’s book, his IQ is lowered by 5 points.

— Joker (@manikgupta1) April 24, 2017

 

2. The decision to junk Tagore and Ghosh did not go down well with people.

Wow. Raise a GenNext on such writers and junk Tagore and Amitav Ghosh ?! Would be funny if it wasn't so tragic ! https://t.co/b4uDKDs8NA

— Minnie Vaid (@MinnieVaid) April 25, 2017

 

3. LOL. No.

Chetan Bhagat books included in DU syllabus, entrance cut off to go drastically down.

— Pranay Sahu (@sahunomics) April 25, 2017

 

4. Appropriate.

When her favorite author is Chetan bhagat.#chetanbhagat pic.twitter.com/WZfQwSGrnZ

— Gulshan Laassi (@gulshanlassi) April 12, 2017

 

5. Good wordplay! Chetan Bhagat will be proud.

https://twitter.com/crackingnoose/status/856603125796413440

 

6. Maybe.

https://twitter.com/Teapotideas/status/856502361094844417

 

7. People were not happy about including Bhagat’s books in ‘literature’.

#ChetanBhagat's book to be part of DU eng. Lit. Syllabus. And I thought english literature was knowledge. Lol DU

— Ravneet Singh (@babaSpeak) April 24, 2017

 

8. True.

Chetan Bhagat sahab got the reward!

Good for Chetan ! But, bad for literature & worse for English;(#ChetanBhagat

— Anjum l Travel Photographer (@Khanaa_badosh) April 24, 2017

 

9. Valid point.

https://twitter.com/lbluerucksack/status/856547378119286784

 

10. Again. Valid point.

@chetan_bhagat It doesn’t raise your level by an inch, rather it diminishes whatever level DU ever had!!!

— praveen bavadekar (@psbavadekar) April 23, 2017

We have to keep in mind that the final decision still has to be taken by the academic and executive council. So it’s still not official yet, even though Chetan Bhagat and the others have become extra-emotional over the whole deal.

There is still hope.

Source – NDTV, Indian Express, The Hindu