Talking about his personal experience, Chetan Bhagat said he had seen several tough times in his life so far but this was the toughest.

Bestseller author and columnist Chetan Bhagat said this today during the session '3 Mistakes of My Life' on the last day of the three-day Sahitya Aaj Tak at New Delhi.

Chetan Bhagat, whose talked about his latest book 'The Girl in Room No. 105' at the event, said he had attended a public programme for the first time after he came under fire of the #MeToo movement.

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Talking about his personal experience, Chetan Bhagat said he had seen several tough times in his life so far but this was the toughest.

He said two women had made allegations pertaining to #MeToo against him. He said a girl had chatted with him and then he too chatted several years ago. "I said sorry the moment she pointed it put to me. Had she told me earlier, I would have said sorry then only."

However, he said, the allegations levelled by the second woman was false.

He said he was in possession of the mails and he also had the proofs to prove himself innocent. He said he had shown them to his lawyers and they have asked him not to speak about them to anyone.

Chetan Bhagat said he will not approach courts against the second allegation. "I won't go to court. I don't think litigation is the solution to every matter."

He said he and his family had gone through a tough time.

"I come from a humble family. I did not want to lead a life of a celebrity. Therefore, I mingled with everyone. I got into trouble because of this attitude."

Talking about the trying times he and his family went through, he said it taught him a few lessons. He learnt that his wife was very strong and, in fact, stronger than him.

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He said his mother, who was present in Sahitya Aa j Tak programme, was also a major support for him.

"I told my wife Anusha to leave me. Life would be easier for her, I told her."

However, the reply of Chetan Bhagat's wife was a pleasant surprise and a lesson for him. His wife said, "Are you mad? You and I are like Lord Shiv and Goddess Parvati (Shakti). We are 'Ardhanaareeshwar' [a composite androgynous form of Shiv and Shakti]; we are one."

Chetan Bhagat said after his wife's reply, he felt like an idiot ("gadha tha main"). "There I was doing chatting (with another woman). My view about my wife changed that day."

He said his family was on test. "I saw a new aspect of my wife. She is stronger than me... Just imagine how I can face my mother-in-law, who is a South Indian and me a Punjabi."

Chetan Bhagat said trouble times prove to be a filtering process in a person's life. "When you are on your peak, people get attracted towards you. But the true ones stick to you when you are in trouble."

Having said that Chetan Bhagat reiterated that the allegations of harassment by the second woman was false.

"I can't force myself on any woman. I am not like that. I am a human being. I can make mistakes. But I know the law... I am re-evaluating my life after this episode."

About the lesson he learnt, Chetan Bhagat said, "Make mistakes, say sorry to yourself and to others. But learn a lesson and not make bigger mistakes."

Talking about the #MeToo movement per se, he said its intention was good. "But a decision taken in haste is not good."

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Chetan Bhagat said women are indeed harassed. However, he added that there should be a balance in everything.

Earlier he spoke about his forthcoming book 'The Girl in Room No. 105' and said it was a murder mystery. It is his first attempt at writing murder mystery. So far, he only wrote about love.

"This novel is about unlove at a time when it s an un-generation. People unfollow , unfriend..."

It is a story about a Kashmiri Muslim girl and a Hindu boy, he said.

He said during one of the interviews for Indian Institute of Management (IIM) he had gone, he came across a candidate who was a Kashmiri Muslim.

He said he was a Muslim but not a terrorist. His nickname in college was 'terrorist' and his friend's was 'AK 47'.

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