Before I begin my letter to Mr. Bhagat I have a few clarifications to make.
Why am I writing this post:
Some great man said "You either tag or get tagged". In order to avoid being tagged as a person "Clarified by Chetan Bhagat" I chose to be one who "Clarified Bhagat".
Who am I to clarify him:
I would never write any letter open or close to Mr. Bhagat but his rant with all kinds of letters has become a little unbearable. But the man himself has shown a way that open letters are the in-thing. Being one among the pseudo "Young-India" he represents I chose his weapon.
What is my intention in writing the post:
Firstly I don't intend to slander the person in focus.
Secondly I don't know what is right or wrong; I just have a few questions.
Here it goes.
Dear Mr. Chetan Bhagat,
You have been writing letters and letters and more letters to all kinds of people. Great going! I understand you are a "writer", TOI pays you for it and you get quite a good media mileage out of it. It seems like a good deal.
However you might want to consider some of the following facts:
What you are:
You are a management graduate from one of the top business schools of India: As famously used by you, you are a product of India's top technical education school and management school. This is something no one can take away from you.
You are a banker: You have had some experience in banking sector, you can surely call yourself that.
You are a writer: Some people might disagree, however you have few books published on your name which qualifies you to tag yourself as a writer.
You are a marketer: Might not be by qualification but one can safely assume this status basis the media flash you attract.
What you are not:
You are not a representative of Young India: Neither by age nor by stature can you call yourself a representative of young India. By all kinds of definitions 40 yrs is considered to be middle age. You might say you are young at heart or young compared to the 80 yr old people but any one can say anything.
You are not a representative of Common man: Some how in all your columns you seem to proclaim to represent the common man of India. By no standard are you "common". You belong to the top 1% of Indians, you earn in millions, live in comfort, are famous but by no means are you a "common man"
You are not representative for the women: Neither by gender nor by understanding can you claim you understand women ( as you do in your open letter). Just to clarify, the soaps on television might not represent reality.
You are not a leader: Yes your books are best sellers, yes you are rich but no you can't call yourself a leader. By democratic definition, a leader should be elected or by other definitions leader should have been in serving a cause (or a movement) or by most crass definition a leader should move a mass of people. Sorry to say, none of which is true in your case. You give talks at a price of 200000 per talk. You might want to re-consider the self proclaimed leadership status.
You are not a historian, economist or sociologist: You might want to reconsider commenting on issues you have no expertise in.
You are not a representative of minority: Minority is defined as "a term differentiated and defined by social majority, that is, those who hold majority positions of social power in the society". By all means you fall in the powerful and not the powerless. So you might not represent minority religions or minority classes or minority castes.
What you might consider:
This section is the free advise simply based on your principle I have a voice I will blabber.
Management principles might not work outside corporations: I understand management principles sound very evolved but might not work in the society.
Build your credibility as a writer, become a media's favorite, become famous then become a politician, seems to be the strategy but unfortunately it might not work. If you intend to be a politician, you have both the means and the opportunity to be so. This thing about being a writer inspiring the generation sounds too fairy tale-ish. If you want to be a politician and a good one go to the know the world better, do not live out of your imagination.
If that is the ultimate goal then I would say you need to "wake up!"
While you decide I would request you to reconsider writing letters, you don't even post them so it doesn't even help the postal department.