ABOUT THE OUTHOR:

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 biggestselling English Language Novelist in Indias 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 Three Mistakes of My Life is his third novel.

In the pages that follow, we have given the story outline followed by the analysis of its major characters. . . .

STORY OUTLINE:
The book is based on real life events. What follows is a mix of cricket, religion, business, love and friendship.. The Story begins with Bhagat receiving an e-mail from Govind who had taken many sleeping pills. Bhagat was able to trace Govind, who then narrated the entire story. It started with Govind having set up a Cricket Shop along with his friends in the temple compound with Omis familys help. The shop prospers as Ishaan coaches young boys in cricket and Govind teaches maths to some boys and Ishaan sister Vidya. They want to expand business in new mall in city. They select the prime location in mall for their shop and pay the advance.

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Omis Bittoo Mama (maternal uncle), a communal party man bent on converting the young into fighters in the name of Hinduism and wants that these boys should work for their secular party. Ishan then meets Ali, a Muslim child master with reflex condition hit each ball for a six but cant play more than an over due to weakness. They agreed to provide cricket coaching and maths tuitions free of cost to Ali. Ali displays the talent which Ishaan never had and Alis destiny becomes his own. It is the Republic day, earthquake came in Gujarat. Mall in which they had booked shop get fully destroyed. Money invested (`110000) in mall shop turns into first big mistake of Govind They endure great pains to take Ali all the way to Sydney at the suggestion of one of the Australian players. There, Ali is offered a contract on the condition that he have to become an Australian citizen is refused by Ali. Govind falls in love with Vidya . That was his second big mistake. Bittoo Mama sends his son and Omis mother with other Sevak to Ayodhya. On their return journey Muslim mob put on fire the bogie of Sevaks. In that Mama lost his son. Ahmedabad burns in riot fires. Bittoo mama with his party workers kills Alis family. Now mama wants to kill Ali. Omi dies while saving Ali from Mamas attack. Ishaan finds out about Vidya and Govind, a betrayal he does not forgive. Govind while protecting Ali form Mama make his third mistake. Due to a seconds delay a blade of mamas trishul jabbed Alis Wrist.

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After these events Ishaan did not talk with Govind for more than two years. These events led Govind to his death-bed and that is when he writes the email to Chetan. Chetan Bhagat triggers the reconciliation between Ish and Govind, rekindles the love between Govind and Vidya & instills in him the desire to stay alive.

CONCLUSION:
Many times our dreams crash into pieces by unexpected events but with support from people around, we can get back on track, focus and rebuild our dreams. Life will have many setbacks. People close to you will hurt you. But you dont break it off. You dont hurt them more. You try to heal it.

3 MISTAKES:
Mistake 1- Govind had paid an huge advance for opening a store in Navrangpura shopping mall even though his friends tried to stop him from doing so. (also gave too much importance to his shop in the mall, and forgot to care about the lives lost in the earthquake) Mistake 2- He fell in love with Vidhya Mistake 3- He waited a split second and dived too late to save Ali because of his own selfishness. Ali's wrist was hurt.

MAJOR CHARACTERS
GOVIND PATEL ISHAAN OMI BITTU MAMA (MATERNAL UNCLE OF OMI)
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 VIDYA (ISHANS SISTER) ALI

ANALYSIS OF MAJOR CHARACTERS:

Govind: Govind Patel is an ordinary guy with whom anybody can relate. He has very few desires but he is obsessed with the desires he covets. His main ambition is to become a businessman as he thinks that being a Gujarati, business is in his blood. His best friends are Omi and Ish (Ishaan). Govind is an agnostic. His father has abandoned him and his mother runs a small business. He makes extra income by giving mathematics tuitions. He continues these tuitions even after starting the cricket shop business. He is the narrator of this story and the one who makes the titular "Three Mistakes". During the course of the story he falls in love with Vidya, Ishan's younger sister for whom he is a private tutor. Govind is the one who looks after the financial part of the business as he has good business sense and mathematical skills. In the context of OB: He was one with a very positive attitude. He had a very high degree of Job Involvement and was commited to his tasks. As regards to his personality, Govind was an assertive person as he was the conceiver of the different ideas that they took (extraversion aspect). He was a cooperative and good natured guy (agreeableness aspect). He was dependable and persistent with his thoughts (conscientiousness aspect). However, he was a relatively un-emotional kind of a guy which was evident in his third mistake. But, he was always one who was ready to be creative with his thoughts and ideas (openness to experience).

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With regards to perception, he could be well perceived as a man who was clear in his objectives, and as one, who was obsessed to achieve the same.

Ishaan (Ish): He is a big cricket freak and also a patriot at heart. Ishaan 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 organising daily cricket coaching camps. He has a younger sister, Vidya, about whom he is quite protective. When he discovers that a boy named Ali is a very talented batsman, he decides to go any length to give Ali proper training. Ishaan usually looks after day-to-day shop activities as he has genuine interest in anything cricket-related. In the context of OB: He was one with an aggressive attitude to achieve what he wanted to achieve. He was deeply involved in his cricket coaching academy which clearly implied his high degree of job involvement in his coaching skills. He was an extrovert because he was gregarious, assertive and sociable. He had a low degree of agreeableness. But he was a highly conscientious person as he was responsible, organized and persistent with his goals regarding Ali. He was an emotional man and did not believe in caste system. He was a self confident and positive person. He was creative in his ideas and was one who had a very broad imagination with his objectives regarding Ali. With regards to perception, he can be easily said to be secular guy but usually perceived in a wrong way because of his aggressive attitude. In managerial activity he was a decision maker. He took decisions on the name and place of the shop. He was a good motivator, motivates Ali and his family for his bright future.

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Omi: He is the son of the Hindu priest of the local temple. His family enjoys 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 readily get a place to start their business. He is a rather dumb boy and has not many dreams, but likes to concentrate on having a healthy body. However, he resents growing up and being a saint like his father. He is a religious person and eventually takes active part in his maternal uncle's religious politics. He is however confused about his religious views which are mainly influenced by Bittoo Mama. In the context of OB: An impulsive person who always believed in friendship, family, relationships and who always dedicated his life to his friends. His unconditional perseverance resulted in the shop and academy for all of them. He convinced his mama that everything they were doing was in favour of them, and it would help them set their lives on track. Omi was very dedicated in whatever he did, being helping his friends in every situation or being his owed life to his mama which he tried to pay back by becoming a shadow of his mama. He was an emotional person, emotional to an extent that his mamas demise made him so blind that he shot his own brother like friend. Omi being emotional and sentimental was so affected by the fact that he killed ishaan, that the guilt remained in his life forever.

Vidya: She is Ishan'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, 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
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Govind to take her mathematics tuition. However, in between their tuition they fall in love which is kept a secret from everyone. Only Omi figures out the relationship Govind and Vidya share and also reminds Govind about the consequences of Ish finding out about the love birds. In the context of OB: Vidya was a teen age girl and easy to flow with emotions , was very strong with her dicisions as she knew her relationship with gopi was morally not correct and will casuse problem in future but still was determined to be with gopi,she was a worrysome and an impatient type of a person due to this only she later landed her self in problem and ishaan got to knw about her relationship with gopi. Somewhere we can also say that her perception towards life was very casual as a teen age girl at that point of time she did some things which showed her immaturity and careless attitude towards life.

Ali: One of the students in Ish's coaching classes and a great batsman because of a rare gift of nature. However, he doesn't play too much cricket as he gets tired After 3 or 4 Balls and enjoys playing marbles. He is a Muslim boy and respects Ish like a Guru. He too, like Ishaan is patriotic at heart. He denies the offer of Australian scholarship and wants to play in the Indian side. In the context of OB: An enthusiastic, talented, raw child who possessed some extraordinary skills in cricket. His dedication towards cricket intially was temporary and he got distracted a lot of times. But finally his deep involvement towards the job at hand gave him the blue jersey which 80% of the Indian males crave for. His confidence of hitting 6 sixes out of Ishaans over made him a spotlight child in Ishaans mind. His talent of hitting every delivery towards leg side was moulded to an extent also to the off side which ensured his place in the
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prestigious Indian cricket team. He was one on whom the team depended upon as he took up his responsibility with dedication and persevearance. Ali was a Muslim patriot and a clear headed person who was matured enough to refuse an offer to be a part of the Australian team. As such he can be well perceived as one who had his priorities right and also as one who had clear objectives regarding his future and how to get there. Alis this dedication, confidence, and perseverance ultimately made him a star for the Indian cricket team 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 aHindu political Party. He follows the preachings 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. Mama is not fond of Govind as he is an agnostic. He is the main antagonist of the story. In the context of OB: mama was one of the most influential person in the story, he was aggresive had a strong political influence and was a hard core hindu he had a great ability to influence and brainwash peoples mind which can be seen when he was able to inlfuence omi and made him do what he wanted him to do, to an extend that omi shot his brother like friend under the influence of mama,mama had a very strong personality and his perception was very rigid and norrow when it came to religion.

OTHER CHARACTERS:
Govind's mom: 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.
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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. Overall he is a good person. Fred Li: He is 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 IndiaAustralia One Day International and meet him in the stands. He spots talent in Ali and wants to help him getting a chance to be trained in his academy in Australia. Loosely based on Brett Lee.

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