Chetan Bhagat's viral 'regressive baniya family' theory behind Siya-Ketan case

The cliffhanger Pune murder case, involving the gruesome murder of businessman Ketan Agarwal allegedly by his 20-year-old fiancee Siya Goyal and her boyfriend Chetan Chaudhary, has whipped up a massive media frenzy. The question on everyone's mind is if Siya didn't want to marry Ketan, she could have called off the wedding. However, according to author Chetan Bhagat, the case is more complex. In a compelling interview with India Today, Bhagat has argued that the bigger issue is about regressive business families and compliant children.

According to Bhagat, "shame" lies at the heart of the tragedy. He pointed to the police's claim that Chetan told the investigators that Siya didn't want to elope as it would have tarnished her family's reputation. Bhagat said it exposes the way these business families raise their children and how they remain deeply conservative when it comes to their marriage and autonomy.

"The easiest thing for Siya actually was to go to family court with her boyfriend, get married, take a certificate, and send it to the parents. End of story," Bhagat said. "But she didn't do that. She told the police that she didn't cancel the wedding because it would have brought shame to the family," he further said.

"And that is something that is there in business families... they tend to be highly regressive," Bhagat said.

CHETAN BHAGAT ON THE BUSINESS FAMILY TRAP

The best-selling author and political commentator recently found himself in the midst of a heated social media debate after his article - 'Why Siya couldn't say no to marriage' - was perceived by certain sections as Bhagat's attempt to portray the accused as a victim.

Bhagat, however, underlined that his article was not intended as a defence of any individual, and the accused should be punished if found guilty.

The key factor, Bhagat argued, was the extent to which parents in these business families influence the personal decisions of their adult children.

He underscored that this was common in many small and medium business families, particularly those with annual turnovers from around Rs 10 crore to Rs 50 crore. "These business families, which I call the SMEs, tend to be highly regressive," Bhagat said.

He argued that these businesses are generally involved in making steel pipes and ball bearings, and not some cutting-edge technology. "It just stabilises at a level.. what we call a Lala company," Bhagat said.

So, what is their flex in life? According to Bhagat, the ultimate flex is doing lavish and extravagant weddings. "Because they are rich. They want to feel rich. The ultimate flex is doing lavish weddings," he said.

According to Bhagat, the children of such businessmen fall into the trap. He underlined that many are raised without enough independence to make difficult life decisions.

"The only thing they can do is step into daddy's business. They don't have a LinkedIn profile. They don't have a good college education. They can't apply for jobs. So they are completely dependent on daddy to fund their life," Bhagat said.

"So when someone funds you, when you depend on someone, they will control you. And that is the dynamic that happens. It's regressive," he argued.

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