We already know Chetan Bhagat, the best-selling author of books like Five Point Someone, 2 States, Half Girlfriend and The 3 Mistakes of My Life, a screenwriter, a columnist, a television personality and a motivational speaker. And perhaps you even know quite a bit about his love life because of his bestselling book and its adaptation on the silver screen, Arjun Kapoor-Alia Bhatt starrer, 2 States. But as Chetan rightly said, the book was a work of fiction where you get just a tiny glimpse of his love story.
Chetan Bhagat is married to his wife, Anusha Bhagat, who is a successful woman in her life. Chetan's wife, Anusha Bhagat, has been a pillar of strength for him through thick and thin. Apart from her glorious career, she is also praised for being a hands-on mommy and a loving wife. Anusha prefers to stay firmly away from the limelight. So, here we have brought you the beautiful love story of the couple that touched our hearts through Chetan's writings.
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Chetan Bhagat and Anusha bumped into each other on the campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Chetan was awarded the best outgoing student at the foremost management institute. The two spent some quality time between 1995 to 1997 and grew a fondness for each other. Soon, Chetan and Anusha cemented their relationship. However, Chetan just wanted to try his luck with her by impressing her, but destiny had different plans. In Chetan’s words:
“My wife Anusha was so cute that many guys in campus wanted to try their luck with her. But then, some guys do work their charm better.”
When Chetan Bhagat and Anusha Suryanarayanan joined Ahmedabad’s Indian Institute of Management in the year 1995, they did not know it was the beginning of something special. Anusha found Chetan to be funny and slowly fell in love with his humour and positive attitude; while for Chetan it was her cuteness, simplicity and intelligence that attracted him first. In Anusha’s own words:
“He was a clown in campus, and I’d crack up at his jokes while the other guys were too busy studying or trying to impress me.”
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In an interview with The Times Of India, Chetan Bhagat talked about what attracted him to his wife, Anusha Bhagat, and gave a very intelligent and convincing reply. Emphasising the fact that an intelligent partner can really help, the doting hubby revealed that Anusha is a very simple person with a pure heart. In his words:
“She genuinely is very simple and yet intelligent person with a pure heart. I anyway get turned on by articulate, intelligent women. A partner who is intelligent can really help. Being a Punjabi, where would I get a girl from IIM-A? And I like the whole poise that Tamilians have.”
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Chetan Bhagat was born into a Punjabi family. While his father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Army, his mother was employed with the agriculture department. On the other hand, Anusha Suryanarayanan was born into a Brahmin family from Thanjavur, Chennai. As Anusha and Chetan were from different backgrounds, the news of their engagement did not sit well with either set of parents. According to Chetan Bhagat, Anusha being a South Indian was his parent’s biggest concern, and Anusha's family too had a similar concern that Chetan was not a Tamilian. In Chetan’s words:
“For my parents, the number one sticking point was that she is South Indian. From her side also, the biggest reservation was that I was not a Brahmin and I was not a Tamilian. We could have married against families’ wishes…But we didn’t want to shove the decision down their throats. It’s easy to fight but very hard to convince.”
However, despite all the differences and issues, their families gave in, and they got married in the year 1999. Though the couple had a stressful period in their lives, eventually things worked out when they tied the knot according to their wishes. After getting married, Chetan and Anusha moved to Hong Kong and spent 11 years there, and he worked at the Deutsche Bank. However, when his desire to pursue writing elevated, the couple decided to return to India. Being a doting wife, Anusha was very supportive of the decision and allowed Chetan to quit his full-time job and concentrate on writing.
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It has been almost twenty-three years since they got married, and yet they look very much in love even today. Anusha has always been a supportive wife to Chetan without which he could not have possibly achieved what he has today. She is his biggest critic and even understood his decision to quit the lucrative job he held and take up the unpredictable career of being a writer. The best thing about their marriage is that Anusha is the steady breadwinner of the family and Chetan is happy to call himself a house husband taking up the stereotypical role of a housewife when he is at home.
Both Chetan Bhagat and Anusha Bhagat believe in making time and putting in their best effort to make their marriage work. Once Chetan had spilled the beans on making his relationship successful and mentioned the importance of clear communication. In Chetan’s words:
“One should always have a strong friendship and clear communication. People who are going to be together long-term should also take responsibility for their own happiness. Also, one should realize and prioritize the importance of family.”
Belonging to two very opposite sides of the country, there is a huge difference in their culture. Even though the festivities celebrated all over the country by Hindus are quite similar, there is a difference in the way it is celebrated in the north and south. But, instead of fussing over this trivial matter, they chose to take the best of both cultures and give a solid foundation to their marriage and children. For instance, during the festival of Diwali, they take the most important aspects of the festival and combine them to create a fun-filled moment that they both can enjoy.
Though Anusha and Chetan had different cultural backgrounds, they perfectly managed to lead a happy married life. Once Anusha had opened up about how she handles the two different cultures together and said that she only focuses on the positive side to make her relationship work. In her words:
“Yes we do have clashes at times due to different values and upbringing. What is considered respectful or disrespectful when dealing with each other’s parents, agreeing on teaching children one/ both parents’ mother tongue to name a few. The key to a happy and content life is to take the positives from each others' culture, and like everyone else, work on investing in the relationship.”
Chetan Bhagat is always on a work spree as he has a lot on his plate. However, he never lets his relationship get impacted due to his travel commitments and movie promotions. He very well understands that his wife too has a busy work schedule as a COO of a multinational bank, and the relationship can be impacted due to a lack of time management. Moreover, the couple is blessed with twins, Ishaan Bhagat and Shyam Bhagat. Being a traditional person, Chetan had once mentioned that he would like his children to grow up with Indian values imbibed in them. In his words:
“Work pre-occupies me even when I am on a break and I have to make a special effort to disconnect. I guess it means I love my work but it should not be at the cost of family neglect. I have turned down several films for instance in the last year as it would have been too taxing on my time.”
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Chetan Bhagat was once accused of sexual harassment. It so happened that popular model, Urfi Javed had shared a few screenshots of her WhatsApp conversation with Mr Bhagat on Twitter and claimed that he knew her only in a professional capacity. One look at the screenshots and one can see how Chetan tried to woo her:
After the screenshots surfaced online, they spread like wildfire and how. Sometime later, Chetan Bhagat released a statement on his Facebook handle and revealed that the screenshots were real. He also apologised to his wife, Anusha Bhagat and the concerned person, Urfi Javed. An excerpt from his note could be read as:
"As I also say in the screenshots, I realized I was married, and this was not about looking for any action. I just had not felt that kind of connection in a while. However, it was stupid of me, to feel that way and to even share that with her. I just told Anusha about it as well and apologized to her for doing the same. I should have had better judgement, but I guess I erred a bit there. Maybe I misread the friendliness. Also, I am not completely sure because it was long ago, but the ‘wooing’ bit may have come from a conversation we had about how nobody woos anyone anymore and how sometimes one misses being wooed."
Earlier, Ira Trivedi had accused Chetan Bhagat of sexually assaulting her and filed a legal notice against him. She had alleged that the Half Girlfriend author conducted himself in the most inappropriate manner as he tried to kiss her forcefully without consent in 2010. However, Chetan had termed the claims as defamatory, which had left Trivedi shocked. Moreover, Chetan Bhagat tried to defend himself and shared a screenshot of a 'self-explanatory' mail that he received from Ira Trivedi in 2013. It could be read as:
"So who wanted to kiss whom. @iratrivedi's self-explanatory email from 2013 to me, especially last line, easily shows her claims from 2010 are false, and she knows this too. This mental harassment of me and my family has to stop. Please don't harm a movement with #fakecharges #harassed."
Speaking at a literary event organised by Aaj Tak in 2018, Chetan Bhagat recalled that the accusations made his life difficult and called that phase the toughest time of his life. He revealed that he asked his wife, Anusha Bhagat to leave him, but she didn't pay heed to the fake reports and stood by him. Sharing that his wife said that they were like Lord Shiva and Parvati, the author had said:
"It was very tough for my family. I am used to the trolls on the Internet. My wife is more of a private person, and I felt that she was breaking down."
There is something extraordinary about Chetan and Anusha Bhagat’s love story, otherwise, 2 States (both the movie and the book) would not have tugged at every lover’s heart. We love the simplicity with which Anusha carries herself in her public appearances and the bond that they share despite the differences. We wish them all the luck in their life and hope to read many more inspiring romances from Chetan Bhagat.
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