25 best quotes by Chetan Bhagat on career, education, love and success

New Delhi: Chetan Bhagat is one of the most popular authors in the fiction category in recent times in India. Known as a novelist, columnist, script writer, motivational speaker, and a youth icon, Bhagat has penned down novels that have tasted tremendous popularity and success among Indian audiences.Born in Delhi in a middle class Punjabi family, Bhagat did most of his education in the national capital. After studying at the Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, he opted to do mechanical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After pursuing engineering he studied management at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad. His abilities got recognized at IIM-Ahmedabad when he was awarded the "Best Outgoing Student" of his batch. He later got married to Anusha Suryanarayanan in 1998; she was his fellow student at IIM-A.After working for eleven years in Hong Kong as an investment banker, he retuned to Mumbai and began writing. When others were doing excursions, Bhagat labored in his private time on a racy and comedic little novel about life on the campus of an IIT. In the early morning before going to the office he worked very hard on draft after draft of the book, trying to get it right. He did 15 drafts in all. He almost gave up when publishers kept turning him down.Chetan Bhagat published his first novel 'Five Point Someone' in 2004 and this very first venture led to immense rise in his fame. It was a story about three mechanical engineering friends who fail to cope with the grading system of IITs. The novel explained how things can get messy if you don't think straight. The book won the Society Young Achiever's Award and Publisher's Recognition Award.His second novel was ''one night @the call centre' which got published in 2005. The story was about six employees working in a call center in Gurgaon and explored the problems and issues faced by call center's employees and points to their lifestyle. The story takes interesting twist when they received a phone call from GOD.His other prominent books include: 3 Mistakes Of My Life, 2 States: The Story of My Marriage, Revolution 2020: Love, Corruption, Ambition, and What Young India Wants.What is clearly evident from Bhagat's first two books - life at a highly competitive Indian Institute of Technology and at a call center – that Bhagat constructs his narratives around the lives of urbanized youngsters: the pressures to get into a top school, earn high grades, get a good job and find the right partner. In other words, much of his popularity can be attributed to his being able to have created a rapport with Indian youth.Through his narratives, Bhagat has struck a chord with young population of India as he talks about issues that they think are pertinent to their lives. Another reason that can explain his huge fan-following has pretty much to do with his personality. Unlike other writers, Bhagat appears more approachable in the sense that he interacts with people more often and easily. He has managed to present himself as the voice of youngsters.And despite facing flak for defiling the sacred vocation called literature, for lowering the standards of literary writings, Chetan says he enjoys a loving relationship with his readers. He also adds that tagging him as Rakhi Sawant of Indian literature is just lazy criticism.Let us take a look at top 25 quotes by him, on education, career and love:1.Stupid people go to college but "smart people own them"....2.Life is not all about merry making and working just for the sake of earning money. One has to follow his dreams3.Just getting better from current levels feels good4.No one is ever going to pay me for my looks5.Don't just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life6.If you study hard, you can improve your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you will do better in interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better7.After books, I set the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers. I am called extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to a release8.Merit and hard work is not always linked to achievement in the short term, but the long term correlation is high, and ultimately things do work out9.Don't be serious, be sincere10.The pretty girl is always right11.Corporate types love to pretend their life is exciting. The whispers, fist-pumping and animated hand gestures are all designed to lift our job description from what it really is - that of an overpaid clerk12.When you fly high, People will throw stones at you. Don't Look down. Just fly higher so the Stones won't reach you.13.“The world's most sensible person and the biggest idiot both stay within us. The worst part is, you can't even tell who is who.”14.“Life is not to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up? It's ok, bunk a few classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed devices.”15.Sometimes life is not about what you want to do but what you ought to do16.In our education system, we are taught to munch figures and remember them for lifetime. But does it help? We are not taught how to make decisions.17.Panic does not help, even if you are unable to answer. Try to ask questions to the interviewers as well and it should be impressive enough.18.The real middle class India that has always been looking for a voice that is its very own. I write about it because I belong to it.19.I think original voices get noticed. But most importantly, I think you should have a story to tell.20.I come from the land of a billion sparks21.Friends, food and travel can help you overcome it22.I'd rather fly and crash, than just snuggle and sleep23.As I said sir, no one is perfect. Apart from Google of course24.Figuring out women is harder than topping a ManPro Quiz25.If challenges could always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge