the novel i wrote- infiNITe conundrums

as a tribute to nit surat and my love of writing i wrote a novel; synopsis of the same is here-
VITAL STATS OF THE NOVEL
Title: ‘infiNITe conundrums’ (fiction)
words:99,000(appx)
lines:7500(appx)
pages(in MS word):160(font size 11)

Synopsis
The background-The novel is set in the environment of a NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (NIT) in Surat. There are 20 NITs in India with one in each state. They are under the special act of parliament (the NIT act) and are the most sought after among the bright engineering aspirants after the IITs. Each and every NIT has a very special environment of regionalism, frustration and happiness. It provides a platform to interact and blend with people from all around the country and abroad as there are state specific seats in each institute. Students apart from engineering learn the art of living, the problems in various cultures and sections of the country and surviving in the worst intra college political and social environments. The novel also highlights some political and social oppression in India context. The youth of the country are becoming more and more selfish and are giving themselves in the hands of MNCs and all the money government spends in educating the students in the centre sponsored universities goes down the drain if the educated lot does not contribute in the socio-economic and research fields in the country.
The story-
The story is based on six main characters, all of them from different states with different cultural, ideological, economical and linguistic backgrounds who become the best friends for life after sharing four years of life in hostel in NIT Surat. They are namely- Ritu Goswami(Uttar Pradesh), James Joseph (Port Blair,Andaman), Bikas Mahanta (Orissa),Bronto Chang (Mizoram), Mohit Patekar (Maharashtra) and the protagonist Omi Patel (Gujarat). Their life full of fun and frolic in the walls of NIT and is described in a very descriptive manner. The complicated but innocent love chemistry of Omi and Ritu gives an insight into the psychological, emotional and family aspects involved between two well cultured, middle class and ‘first love’ kind of people in love. It gives the reader a distinct pleasure in going through what a collegian goes through(especially in an NITs) when he’s in love, when he has problems, when he has made the wrong decision in choosing engineering as his field, when regional politics in the college force him to take the wrong path and suffer the consequences and the like.
The life of the six people is full of happiness, fun and frolic until one day they discuss about their past life. Everyone thought that all their friends were happy until two of them reveal the problems they have faced in their childhood due to insurgencies namely the Naxal movement and Mizo National Front(MNF). They realise that there’s more to do in life than to take up the boring job of programming in IT companies. James gets AIDS due to his association with brothels (common mistake collegians make). At the end of their course in final semester, something terribly goes wrong with Mohit. His family is slaughtered in Naxal attack near Chandrapur. All the friends are frustrated with the government practises and terrorist group who ruin the life of people. Bikas is a very sensitive and mature character. He inspires all the friends to pursue a career that can satisfy their soul. He proposed a totally new ideology of ‘social entrepreneurship’ in which they could earn apart from helping the people overcome poverty, unemployment and saving them from getting into the grip of terror. Initially it didn’t get much approval from other friends but later due to conditions they underwent they started with ‘chabiomoj’- the name they gave with their initials to the company they planned to start. The childish and fun making nature of the friends still remain intact throughout their joint business of handloom handicraft and products generated in the rural places. Their smartness, education, managing abilities, unity, goals, association with NGOs, will to change the system and ideology gives them success until the naxalites in Andhra Pradesh come to know their real goals and the momentum achieved by their ideology. They launch a fierce attack on their way to one of the villages. Just two of them survive. After coming alive from the valley of death Omi lost his self confidence and the constant images of the violence he faced broke him down. But the movement of ‘economic freedom’ they launched in the rural areas of Eastern Maharashtra, Southern Chattisgarh, parts of Orissa and Western Andhra Pradesh continued gaining momentum under different names paving a new career to the unemployed graduates of the region and he achieved his goals he set though not 100% but to some extent. He married Ritu and the government finally gave them(Omi and Mohit) a job in NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) where they continue their legal fight against the Salwa Judum(government’s cruel way of crushing the naxal movement) and government policies resulting in the naxal uprisal. He was safe in Delhi compared to the naxal affected territories where he worked with his friends. The frequent flashbacks of his friends, college and their ‘chabiomoj’ experience brought satisfaction to his soul.
The title ‘infiNITe conundrums’ reflects the infinite problems of corruption, red tapism, terrorism, insurgencies, child labour, unemployment, human trafficking, peasant and tribal rights violation, social stigmas, poverty, communalism, regionalism, frustration, government malpractices, dirty politics and the uncountable miseries of the modern world which has reduced the gross product of happiness from the human life. If you think deeply, there are just two reasons for all such problems is money and power. If the youth of the country comes forward to bring a change and fight out the two reasons aforesaid, the day is not far when we achieve total peace and happiness. ‘sociopreneurship’ is a new branch of entrepreneurship which I think can bring about a considerable change in the way poor people live, apart from getting challenging career and money. It is like ‘profit for all’ business. The novel inspires the youth to take up such task.