Updated on May 24th, 2026
The storyline of ‘Revolution 2020’, a recent novel by Chetan Bhagat, revolves around a love triangle. Gopal, the narrator of the story, Raghav and Aarti are friends from their school time. All three are moving together but still carrying different ambitions and dreams. Since their school days, they have been best friends, but “Love, Corruption, and Ambition” combine to create differences between them.
There are twists in the tale as Gopal and Raghav both loved the same girl. Gopal comes from a middle-class family. He is the son of a retired teacher who sees ‘richness’ as his aim, whereas Raghav, who comes from a well-to-do family, sees ‘revolution’ as his dream. Both parents want them to become engineers, but they are moving to fulfil their own dreams. Aarti, the bureaucrat’s daughter, wants to be an air hostess, but Varanasi, the city in north India where they all live, is too small for such ambition. She is beautiful and has all the qualities in her personality to be ‘a dream lady’ in anyone’s dreams. She always seems confused about whom to accept as a partner or a friend.
The entrance exam for engineering makes the initial twist in the story. Gopal and Raghav prepared for exams. Raghav cleared it with his first attempt, whereas Gopal failed. His father sent him for Kota classes, even taking loans, but luck did not favour him. During his one-year stay away from his hometown, Aarti and Raghav fell in love. He feels like nowhere, no admission in engineering, lost his love and ultimately his father.
The first half of the story is ‘no story’ as in the Indian context; everybody already knows what the author is telling. Lacs of students appear for entrance exams like JEE or AIEEE, and a few achieve their targets. Teaching classes are part of a big industry, selling dreams and making money. These coaching classes are mushrooming everywhere, in both big and small cities.
In the second phase, the story shifts to a point where all three childhood friends move further in their lives. Gopal got the opportunity, and with the help of a corrupt system, he became the director of the engineering college. Raghav earned an engineering degree, but his dream is in journalism, so he prefers to be a journalist. He thinks, somewhere in his mind, that he will unearth scams and corruption in society to start a revolution. Aarti is struggling to be an air hostess. Revolution 2020 shows a few glimpses of a corrupt system in the education sector. Mushrooming of private colleges by corporate houses, politicians, and non-professional rich people. After failing to get admission to an engineering college, Gopal, with the help of a corrupt MLA, starts his own engineering college. Throughout the story, the author describes corruption in our education system.
The whole story is loaded with scandals: sex, corruption, and a love triangle make it a tale. Both friends are in love with the same girl. It adds rivalries between them. A famous quote from the novel that describes many things is, “Life is a bitch when the only woman you can think of belongs to someone else”.
Most of the story took place in Varanasi, except for some parts in Kota. No doubt the storyline is straightforward and depicts known facts of Indian society, but the book is still worth reading. Chetan Bhagat is a wonderful storyteller. The language has a good flow and is easy to read. The author has been very successful in using current social/political situations in the novel to shape the story’s overall progression.
The novel’s ending is completely unpredictable and leaves the reader in shock for a few moments. You may disagree with such an ending, as I do, because it is vague and overdramatic, perhaps inspired by Bollywood dramas. It certainly has many weak points, but Revolution 2020 is a ‘must-read ‘.
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