Ink and Insights – Medhansh Saha

The book 2 States is very obsessed with negotiation. Not the love between two people. Not marriage. Negotiation.

The story of Krish and Ananya is often talked about as a fight between North India and South India. That sounds too simple. The real problem is smaller and more uncomfortable. Every big scene in the book is like a meeting that did not go well. A dinner turns into an argument. A family visit becomes a time to judge each other’s culture. Even love comes with a lot of paperwork.

Chetan Bhagat writes in a way. He does not try to use language. His sentences are like the crowded trains in Mumbai. They get the job done. They are not always nice to look at. Some people criticise him for using English, but that is the point. The book is meant to be simple.

Krish is a guy, but he is funny because he is tired. He is sarcastic because he is stuck between being responsible and not knowing how to deal with his emotions. The best moments in the book are not about romance. About his relationship with his parents. In fact, the problems with his parents are sometimes more important than the love story. By the end of the book, you start to think that it is not really about people from states getting married but about how unhappy families can be.

Ananya is shown as an independent woman, but the book does not give her as much depth as it gives Krish. She is often used to make a point rather than being a real person. Sometimes she feels like an idea, rather than a character.

What is really interesting is how the book looks at culture. Bhagat does not believe that love can fix everything. In 2 States, love does not fix much. Every time the characters win it is for a little while. Every compromise leads to problems. The characters do not change society; they just ask for permission.

There is a scene where the families meet. It feels like two old enemies meeting for the first time. Food becomes a way to show what you believe in. Language becomes a way to claim territory. Silence becomes a way to hurt people. Bhagat understands that prejudice is not always obvious. It can look like a preference.

The book sometimes uses stereotypes that are not realistic. Some emotional moments feel too easy. The ending ties up loose ends that real life would not. You can almost see the plot working behind the scenes.

Even with all its flaws, what stays with you after reading the book is not the love story. It is the feelings. The awkward moments on the train. The hard conversations with family. The humiliation of watching grown-ups act like children because their kids fell in love.

2 States is not a work of literature. It is something to define. It is a book about society that looks like a comedy. A family drama that looks like a love story. A book that is not always elegant but is honest. A novel that understands families because it has spent too much time with them.

Reading it feels like going to a wedding where half the guests are upset nobody agrees, and somehow the ceremony still happens.

The amazing thing is not that Krish and Ananya fall in love. The amazing thing is that they survive their families.