1. The 3
mistakes of
my life
By :-
Chetan

2. of
Chetan
Bhagat
•Chetan Bhagat is one of the most popular novelists in India.
•Chetan Bhagat was born on 22nd April 1974 in New Delhi,
India. After finishing school at The Army Public School in
New Delhi, he joined IIT Delhi.
•He completed a post graduation course from IIM
Ahmedabad.
•He worked as an investment banker and lived in Hong Kong
for eleven years before moving to Mumbai. He is married to
Anusha,an ex-classmate from IIMA. The couple have twins
Ishaan and Shyam.

3. His achievements…
• He is the author of four blockbuster novels, Five
point someone(2004), One night @ the call center(2005),
The 3 mistakes of my life(2008) and 2 states(2009).
Since their release, all his books were bestsellers and
have inspired major bollywood films.
• The New York Times called Chetan “The biggest
selling English language novelist in Indian history”.
• He also writes columns for leading English and Hindi
newspapers, focusing on youth and national
development based issues.

4. Characters of the story
•Govind-He is the narrator of the story and the one who
makes “the 3 mistakes..”.He is an ordinary guy and is
ambitious to become a businessman. Ishaan and Omi are
his best friends and business partners too. He is an
agnostic. His father has abandoned him and his mother
runs a business of selling homemade food items. To
support her financially, he takes maths tuitions and
continue it even after starting the cricket shop business.
He has good business sense and mathematical skills.

5. Conti………
•Ishaan: He is a big cricket freak and also a patriot at
heart. He has been the best cricketer in his locality and
school. He suggests the name of their business as "Team
India Cricket Shop". He helps Govind's business by
organizing daily cricket coaching camps. He has a family
which makes life worse for him as he is a military school
dropout. His father constantly nags him and his mother
worsens the situation by keeping quiet. He has a younger
sister, Vidya about whom he is quite protective. When he
discovers that a boy called Ali is a very talented batsman, he
decides to go any length to give Ali proper training. He has
genuine interest in any cricket-related things.

6. Conti……..
•Omi: He is the son of a Hindu priest of the local temple.
He does not want to be a priest and likes to be always with
his friends. His family has great respect among the people.
Through Omi's parents and maternal uncle (who own few
shops as a part of the temple trust property), they(Govind,
Ish & Omi) readily get a place to start their business. He
is a rather dumb kind of boy and has not many dreams, but
is conscious to have a healthy body. He is religious and
actively takes part in his maternal uncle's (Bittoo Mama)
religious politics.

7. Conti…….
Vidya: She is Ish’s younger sister. She is a rebel at
heart and dreams to break free from the constraints of
a typical middle-class family and society. She wants to go
to Mumbai, do a course in PR and become independent.
She however despises maths which is required for her
medical entrance exams. Hence, Ish asks Govind to take
her mathematics tuition. However, in between their
tuition they fall in love with each other.
Ali: He is a boy with hyper reflex condition that makes
him to hit each ball for a six. However, he can't play too
much cricket as he gets tired fast, but enjoys playing
marbles. He is a Muslim boy and respects Ish like a Guru.
He too, like Ish is patriotic at heart. He denies the
offer of Australian scholarship and wants to play in the
Indian team.

8. Conti…….
Bittoo Mama: He is the maternal uncle of Omi. Mama runs
the trust of the temple and agrees to rent the place to
the three friends for the Cricket Shop business. He is an
active member of a Hindu political Party. He follows the
preaching of Parekh-ji, a political-cum-spiritual leader and
has complete faith in him. He has locked his horns with
Ali's father who belongs to the Secular Party. He has a
son Dhiraj,who later on dies in Godhra sabotage.
Govind's mother: She is a middle-aged Gujarati woman.
She wants her son to pursue a degree in Engineering. She
runs a home-made food business. She cares about Govind a
lot and supports him well through his hardships and
struggles.

9. Conti…..
Ali's Father: He is a devout Muslim and works for a
secular party. He is a very kind-hearted person who wants
Ali to take his education seriously despite his mediocre
financial condition. He treats the three friends very well
when they go to visit Ali in his house.
Fred Li: He's an Australian Cricket Team member and a
fast bowler. He invites the three friends and Ali to
Sydney when they travel to Goa to see India-Australia
One Day International and meet him in the stands. He
spots the talent in Ali and wants to help him getting a
chance to be trained in his academy in Australia.

10. Synopsis
•The story begins with the author receiving a suicide mail from
a boy named Govind from Ahmedabad. The horrified author
frantically contacts his ex-teacher, explains him the matter
and asks for his help to save the boy. After a few hours the
boy is found in a hospital being treated for consuming sleeping
pills. He decides to meet him to know the reason for taking
this drastic step. He leaves for Gujarat .The boy initially
refuses to say anything but after a while speaks out.
•The story is based on the three mistakes that Govind made in
his life. What follows is a mix of cricket, religion, business,
love, friendship,riots,earthquake and politics.
•Govind sets up a sports shop along with his friends in the
temple compound with Omi’s family’s help.

11. Conti….
•He aspires big, manages to grow his business and goes
through its ups and downs. Gujarat earthquake ruining his over
1 lakh investment for a shop in a newly built mall is termed
“mistake number 1.”
•The shop prospers as Ishaan coaches young boys in cricket
and Govind teaches maths including to Ishaan’s sister Vidya
who also captures his heart and both falls in love.
•Getting caught by Ish, resulting in collapse of their
friendship and Govind branded as a traitor. Govind violating an
unwritten protocol & falling in love with his best friend’s sister
is termed “mistake number 2.”
•Ish spots Ali and struggles to make this gifted boy a
superstar, buy coaching him, taking him to Australia to trained
by Fred li and protecting him from bitoo mama and his
supporters during communal riots.

12. Conti…
•Situations come to a head and Ahmedabad burns in riot fires.
Omi dies saving Ali. A split second delay by Govind in making a
specific move which could have saved Ali from a hit is termed
“mistake number 3.”
•These events lead Govind to his death-bed.
• It ends in the usual happy note – Ish forgiving Govind and the
successful operation of Ali’s wrist.

13. Review
It is an interesting book about
3 of India's passions -
Cricket, Religion and Business,
personified by the 3 friends-
Ishaan, Omi and Govind and3
mistakes done by one of the
friend Govind.

14. Thank You