Chetan Bhagat’s 2 States: A Study of Cultural Contradictions

Abstract

This paper deals with the culture issues in Chetan Bhagat 2 States – the story of my marriage. He is one of the most popular contemporary Indian novelists in Indian English Literature. He has represented young, modern Indian youth and culture. Different characters and incidents portrayed in the novel gives us a vibrant picture about the different culture and tradition prevailing in India. Chetan Bhagat’s novel 2 States focusses on how a particular phenomenon, the notion of love and marriage related to the concept of culture and society with its customs. The novel 2 States deals with the cross-cultural encounters and deals with different experiences.

A simple but realistic novel, brilliantly explores the encounter of 2 States, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. 2 States: The Story of My Marriage is partly an autobiographical novel. The story is about a couple, Krish and Ananya, who hail from two different states of India, Punjab and Tamil Nadu respectively, are deeply in love and want to get married. The novelist while talking about marriage also explores the social issues like dowry in traditional marriages and the shifting paradigms of matrimonial alliances in multicultural and multinational societies. Chetan Bhagat also expresses the cultural diversities.