Flat-Track Bullies - Balaji Venkataramanan


I have had a pretty bad experience with my last Indian author (Chetan Bhagat), but nonetheless, I decided to try this book.


It’s an OK book, but I don’t know why it is called ‘Flat-Track Bullies’ when there isn’t a single mention of bullies, except for at the very end where he says, “It’s a world of flat-track bullies.” 


The story is about a boy-Ravi Venkatesan who is the goody-two shoes kind of guy in front of his parents, but not really in favour of what they tell him to do.

School was almost ending and the summer vacations were about to start. Ravi says, “Vacation or no vacation I do two types of things. One: Things that make me happy. Two: Things that make mom happy. Sample this:

1. Playing with friends, video games, chatting with girls, dreaming, sleeping…

2. Attending school, special classes and competitions…

I guess I don’t need to explain which of the above lists is mine.”


The point is: During the vacations, Ravi starts bunking his special classes and plays with the type of friends his mom absolutely loathes and disapproves of (which is why she makes a different set of geeky friends for him). He starts spending more and more time with them and gets into a huge, shameful mess. Should he fight, or flee?


To find out, read the book. I figured out two things at the end of the book:

1. IIT coaching is dead boring (not surprising) and, 
2. Sometimes, being friends with the people you mom selects can be good (really surprising)