half-girlfriend-chetan-bhagat

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First published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2014 7/16,Ansari Road, Daryaganj New Delhi 110002 Sales centres: Allahabad Bengaluru Chennai Hyderabad Jaipur Kathmandu Kolkata Mumbai Copyright © Chetan Bhagat 2014 Lyrics on page 223 have been taken from the song Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith (Sony Music); on page 224 from the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri (Atlantic Records); and on pages 253-254 from the song You’re Beautiful by James Blunt (Atlantic Records). While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and obtain permission, this has not been possible in all cases; any omissions brought to our attention will be remedied in future editions. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-81-291-3572-8 Fifth impression 2014
Page 2 and 3: Praise for the author Many writers
Page 6 and 7: 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 The moral right of th
Page 8 and 9: Acknowledgements and some thoughts
Page 10 and 11: Prologue 'They are your journals, y
Page 12 and 13: someone who runs a school in the ba
Page 14 and 15: working lift had just gone down. I
Page 16 and 17: ACT I Delhi
Page 18 and 19: ‘Can you read the sign in English
Page 20 and 21: summer’s day. I loved Piyush Yada
Page 22 and 23: Gupta. ‘Compared to the rest of I
Page 24 and 25: 2 If she weren’t tall I wouldn’
Page 26 and 27: Destiny, however, had other plans.
Page 28 and 29: catch what I had said later? Did it
Page 30 and 31: I wanted to continue talking to her
Page 32 and 33: 3 'Hey,’ she said. Her perky voic
Page 34 and 35: ‘You made friends here?’ she sa
Page 36 and 37: ‘What do your parents do?’ I sa
Page 38 and 39: inside me, ‘Did I, a commoner, ju
Page 40 and 41: 4 Three months later 'Did you just
Page 42 and 43: ‘What?’ she said, surprised.
Page 44 and 45: ‘You seem upset. Did something ha
Page 46 and 47: 5 Alter our movie date, we started
Page 48 and 49: I placed the sweater over my head.
Page 50 and 51: her. She spoke from behind me. 'Oka
Page 52 and 53: want a scene like last time. I let
Page 54 and 55:
‘Yeah, why? There are going to be
Page 56 and 57:
7 'A girl in the hostel?’ Ashu sl
Page 58 and 59:
‘You know who her father is?’ S
Page 60 and 61:
8 I took two buses to get to Aurang
Page 62 and 63:
lipstick on, making her lips appear
Page 64 and 65:
‘Dad, Mom and some of their frien
Page 66 and 67:
A waiter arrived with a tray of dri
Page 68 and 69:
‘You’ve known Riya a long time?
Page 70 and 71:
‘What’s with Mr London? What wa
Page 72 and 73:
9 'Even I have no fucking idea what
Page 74 and 75:
parents wanted to do it.’ ‘Riya
Page 76 and 77:
Riya didn’t come to college the n
Page 78 and 79:
10 I knocked on the door of Riya’
Page 80 and 81:
‘Nothing more? What is more?’
Page 82 and 83:
called me home. Or how she sits in
Page 84 and 85:
‘It’s a room in my father’s h
Page 86 and 87:
hand down her back and moved her cl
Page 88 and 89:
even that sounds way better than ho
Page 90 and 91:
you think of me in your mind.’
Page 92 and 93:
the room’s wall back and forth un
Page 94 and 95:
emanates from nature. It is stuff t
Page 96 and 97:
‘Yeah. The driver will be there,
Page 98 and 99:
Did she miss nothing about me or wh
Page 100 and 101:
‘What?’ I turned to Riya. ‘I
Page 102 and 103:
her own joke. I wished someone had
Page 104 and 105:
She reached into the car and handed
Page 106 and 107:
like it was in Bihar. However, I go
Page 108 and 109:
time in a year, I felt respect for
Page 110 and 111:
life. She had also seen her wedding
Page 112 and 113:
15 Dumraon, District Buxar, Bihar I
Page 114 and 115:
go but, thank God, mothers don't br
Page 116 and 117:
16 'How much longer, Pandit ji?’
Page 118 and 119:
uler today,’ she said. It is no f
Page 120 and 121:
I looked outside the staffroom. Kid
Page 122 and 123:
17 Six months later 'You promised,
Page 124 and 125:
complaints or demands. Pankaj, the
Page 126 and 127:
‘You want a personal donation fro
Page 128 and 129:
irritated. ‘So I didn’t mention
Page 130 and 131:
wondered if they had basketball cou
Page 132 and 133:
‘Hmm... Mr Ojha.You were saying?'
Page 134 and 135:
mother said. ‘For just one functi
Page 136 and 137:
I kept quiet. ‘See.’ He opened
Page 138 and 139:
golden hair and white skin. ‘No.
Page 140 and 141:
What's a small grant?’ ‘Twenty
Page 142 and 143:
kinds of children, I continued, '..
Page 144 and 145:
21 'Six thousand for three months.
Page 146 and 147:
Industrial Revolution had taken pla
Page 148 and 149:
‘Give it a few weeks. We can deci
Page 150 and 151:
He shook his head and took out the
Page 152 and 153:
‘Can I help you, sir?’ a young
Page 154 and 155:
‘I am a Bihari. This is Patna. My
Page 156 and 157:
She became quiet. 'You want anythin
Page 158 and 159:
‘I’d rather not talk about it.
Page 160 and 161:
24 'Oh, I love this place,’ she s
Page 162 and 163:
Foundation people would arrive in s
Page 164 and 165:
25 'Here’s the plan,’ she said.
Page 166 and 167:
‘Hindi is incredible. We speak it
Page 168 and 169:
lived in London and met many Americ
Page 170 and 171:
26 'I am officially, completely, ex
Page 172 and 173:
‘Want to? This evening?’ ‘Wor
Page 174 and 175:
so openly about his past stunned me
Page 176 and 177:
‘Relax, I do this in Patna, too,
Page 178 and 179:
‘Marwari. I’m Riya Somani.’
Page 180 and 181:
I explained how watching speeches o
Page 182 and 183:
her hand was wrong, she only mentio
Page 184 and 185:
‘How does that work?’ ‘I don
Page 186 and 187:
'You don't have fever,' I said, 'I'
Page 188 and 189:
‘It’s fine,’ my mother said.
Page 190 and 191:
Riya tweaked Shabnam's nose. ‘So
Page 192 and 193:
30 'Louder, Madhav. You’re speaki
Page 194 and 195:
We went to her kitchen. She cooked
Page 196 and 197:
arms around them with no other idea
Page 198 and 199:
31 At 10.15 on Tuesday morning, my
Page 200 and 201:
ight to left. The crowd had stopped
Page 202 and 203:
teachers won’t come to a school w
Page 204 and 205:
32 'May I have the mic?’ Phil sai
Page 206 and 207:
‘It’s okay. Now are we sharing
Page 208 and 209:
33 Our VIP guests had come to the h
Page 210 and 211:
Bye, Madhav. Take care. Riya My eye
Page 212 and 213:
‘She said she didn’t care. She
Page 214 and 215:
34 Chetan Bhagat’s room, Chanakya
Page 216 and 217:
His face fell. I could see he found
Page 218 and 219:
Yeah, this journal does allow me to
Page 220 and 221:
Every night there is someone to mee
Page 222 and 223:
11 lanuary 2008 Wear only Indian cl
Page 224 and 225:
17 February 2009 Sometimes you need
Page 226 and 227:
another boy’s mother. I don’t w
Page 228 and 229:
‘At least you found out,’ I sai
Page 230 and 231:
He nodded. ‘I can’t quit, sir.
Page 232 and 233:
manager’s office. Ojha loved to d
Page 234 and 235:
‘That would be wonderful. Little
Page 236 and 237:
ACT III New York
Page 238 and 239:
Initially, I only saw row houses an
Page 240 and 241:
I thought about Shailesh’s statem
Page 242 and 243:
hear live music at a bar is if you
Page 244 and 245:
looking for Riya Somani?’ He star
Page 246 and 247:
Avenue, a mere five-minute walk awa
Page 248 and 249:
a love song: 'I have loved you for
Page 250 and 251:
to my internship. He also told me t
Page 252 and 253:
‘Well, it's a girl, Indian-origin
Page 254 and 255:
have two months left.’ ‘I’ll
Page 256 and 257:
‘You play your cards right and sh
Page 258 and 259:
‘I have to visit five bars,’ I
Page 260 and 261:
Shailesh gave me a sarcastic smile.
Page 262 and 263:
‘Is it a bar?’ ‘No, a farmer
Page 264 and 265:
of the most expensive stadiums in t
Page 266 and 267:
asking basic details about my visit
Page 268 and 269:
I spoke to many of those present, b
Page 270 and 271:
‘You’re not drinking?’ he sai
Page 272 and 273:
44 I stepped out of the apartment b
Page 274 and 275:
minus six degrees temperature,my se
Page 276 and 277:
45 I plonked my elbows on the usher
Page 278 and 279:
‘You're beautiful, it’s true.'
Page 280 and 281:
46 'Upper West, 70th and 6th,’ sh
Page 282 and 283:
Epilogue Three and a half years lat
Page 284 and 285:
Shyam took a shot. His little hands
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