Character of Three Mistakes of Mu Life
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 (Ishan). Govind is an agnostic. His father has abandoned him and his mother, who runs a business of selling home-made food items. To support her financially, he takes 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 “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. Ishaan: He is a big cricket freak and also a patriot at heart. Ishan 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 family which makes life situation by keeping quiet. He has a younger sister, Vidya, about whom he is quite protective. When he discovers that a boy called Ali is a very talented batsman, he decides to go any length to give Ali proper training. Ishan usually looks after day-to-day shop activities as he has genuine interest in any cricket-related thing. 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 kind of 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 actively takes part in his maternal uncle’s (Bittoo Mama) religious politics. He is however confused about his religious views which are mainly influenced by Bittoo Mama. 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 toMumbai, do a course in PR and become independent. She however despises maths which is required for her medical entrance exams. Hence, Ish asks Govind to take her mathematics tuition. However, in between their tuition they fall in love, have intimate sexual relations, which is unaccepted by anyone. Only Omi figures out the relationship Govind and Vidya share and also reminds Govind about the consequences of Ish getting to know about it.
Ali: One of the students in Ish’s coaching classes and a great batsman because of a rare nature’s gift. However, he doesn’t play too much cricket as he gets tired really fast and enjoys playing marbles. He is a Muslim boy and respects Ish like a Guru. He too, like Ish is patriotic at heart. He denies the offer of Australian scholarship and wants to play in the Indian side. 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 a Hindu 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 mainantagonist of the story. 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. 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’s 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 India-AustraliaOne 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
