Adult Stories

Five Point Someone
What not to do at IIT
Chetan Bhagat is the author of two blockbuster novels – Five Point Someone (2004) and
One Night @ The Call Center (2005) – which continue to top bestseller lists. In March
2008, the New York Times called him the ‘biggest-selling English-language novelist in
India’s history’. Both his books have inspired major Bollywood films.
Seen more as the voice of a generation than just an author, this IIT/IIM-A graduate is making
India read like never before. The 3 Mistakes of My Life is his third novel.
After eleven years in Hong Kong, the author relocated to Mumbai in 2008, where he works
as an investment banker. Apart from books, the author has a keen interest in screenplays and
spirituality. Chetan is married to Anusha, his classmate from IIM-A, and has twin boys –
Ishaan and Shyam.
Five Point Someone
What not to do at IIT
A Novel
by
CHETAN BHAGAT

Contents

• Acknowledgements
  Prologue
  Bare Beginnings
  Terminator
  Barefoot on Metal
  Line Drawing
  Make Notes not War
  Five-point Something
  Alok Speaks
  One Year Later
  The Mice Theory
  Cooperate to Dominate
  The Gift
  Neha Speaks
  One More Year Later
  Vodka
  Operation Pendulum
  The Longest Day of My Life I
  The Longest Day of My Life II
  The Longest Day of My Life III
  The Longest Day of My Life IV
  The Longest Day of My Life V
  The Longest Day of My Life VI
  Ryan Speaks
  Kaju-burfi
  Will we Make It?
  A Day of Letters
  Meeting Daddy
  Five Point Someone

Acknowledgements
Well, to say this is my book would be totally untrue. At best, this was my dream. There are
people in this world, some of them so wonderful, that made this dream become a product
that you are holding in your hand. I would like to thank all of them, and in particular:
Shinie Antony – mentor, guru and friend, who taught me the basics of telling a story and
stayed with me right till the end. If she hadn’t encouraged and harassed me all the way, I
would have given this up a long time ago.
James Turner, Gaurav Malik, Jessica Rosenberg, Ritu Malik, Tracie Ang, Angela Wang
and Rimjhim Chattopadhya – amazing friends who read the manuscript and gave honest
comments. All of them also stayed with me in the process, and handled me and my
sometimes out-of-control emotions so well.
Anusha Bhagat – a wife who was once a classmate, and was the first reader of the draft.
Apart from being shocked by some of the incidents in the book, she kept her calm as she had
to face the tough job of improving the product and not upsetting her husband.
My mom Rekha Bhagat and brother Ketan, two people with an irrational, unbreakable
belief in me that bordered on craziness at times. My relationship with them goes beyond the
common genes we share, and I, like every author, needed their irrational support for me.
My IIT friends Ashish (Golu), Johri, VK, Manu, Shanky, Pappu, Manhar, VP, Rahul,
Mehta, Pago, Assem, Rajeev G., Rahul, Lavmeet,Puneet, Chapar and all others. This is a
work of fiction, but fiction needs real inspiration. I love them all so much that I could
literally write a book on them. Hey wait, have I?
My friends in Hong Kong, my work colleagues, my yoga teachers and others that surround
me, love me and make life fun.
The editor and the entire team at Rupa for being so professional and friendly through the
process.
And lastly, it is only when one writes a book that one realizes the true power of MSWord,
from grammar checks to replace-alls. It is simple – without this software, this book would
not be written. Thank you Mr Bill Gates and Microsoft Corp!