“The Girl in Room 105” is one of the best-selling books by popular Indian author Chetan Bhagat. It was first published in 2018. The story is about a love story between a Muslim girl from Kashmir and a Rajasthani boy from Delhi. The book is written in a detective-style, which makes it more interesting.
The main characters in this novel are Keshav, Saurabh, Zara Lone, Raghu, and a few others. At the beginning of the story, Keshav and his best friend Saurabh are drinking alcohol. Keshav keeps calling his ex-girlfriend, Zara Lone, who now has a new boyfriend named Raghu. She ignores his calls. It’s been five years since their breakup, but Keshav still loves her.
Keshav kept calling her again and again. Finally, she picked up the phone but scolded him badly. His friend Saurabh told him to forget about her, but Keshav couldn’t let her go even though he was trying.
It was Zara’s birthday. Even after their breakup, Keshav used to wish her every year on her birthday. This time too, he wanted to wish her, but he was trying to control himself. He was busy drinking with his friend. Around 1:45 a.m., Zara herself messaged him, reminding him to wish her. She even asked him to come to her hostel room, Room 105, just like she used to in the past. Even though boys were not allowed inside the hostel, they went there and entered Zara’s room by climbing a mango tree.
Unfortunately, they find her dead. They get scared and call her parents, her boyfriend Raghu, the police, and even the watchman. After everyone arrives, Keshav explains everything that happened. However, the police suspect them as the murderers and order them to go with the police. After some investigation, they discover that there was a misunderstanding between the watchman and Zara. Then they arrest the watchman and let Saurabh and Keshav go home.
Unfortunately, they find her dead. They get scared and call her parents, her boyfriend Raghu, the police, and even the watchman. After everyone arrives, Keshav explains everything that happened. However, the police suspect them of being the murderers and take them in for questioning. After some investigation, they find out there was a misunderstanding between the watchman and Zara. In the end, the police arrest the watchman and allow Saurabh and Keshav to go home.
Keshav was Zara’s first love. They were planning to get married, but Zara was Muslim and Keshav was Rajasthani. Because of this, they couldn’t get married, and they had to break up.
Jara’s murder case was closed, and the watchman was declared the murderer in all the media. However, Keshav was not satisfied with this decision. So, he started investigating the watchman but soon found out that he was innocent. After that, they began searching for the real killer of Jara.
Raghu sent an email to Keshav that was from Jara to him. The email was about their professor Saxena. According to the email, Professor Saxena used to behave inappropriately with Jara. After reading the message, they went to Professor Saxena’s office, but he ignored them because he was a respected professor at the IIT college. So, they went to his home and showed the email to his wife. She agreed with them, but they found out that he was not the real killer.
Then they thought it might be an honor killing. So, they went to Jara’s home and asked many questions, but it wasn’t an honor killing either. While searching Jara’s room, they found some important things — an expensive earring, a photo of Jara with Sikandar, some pregnancy files, and more. They took photos of everything to keep as evidence.
Jara’s father gave them Sikandar’s phone number. They called Sikandar and arranged a meeting. When they met, Sikandar threatened them with a gun and left without saying much. So, they went to Kashmir to talk to him again. This time, they met and talked about Jara, but Sikandar suddenly felt dizzy. They planned to meet another day. However, when they came back, they found Sikandar dead. They knew Sikandar was not the killer either.
There were many obstacles during the investigation, but they didn’t give up. They kept working on Jara’s case. They asked about Jara’s earring in many shops in Kashmir and found out it was bought by an Army officer named Faiz. The earring cost 380,000 rupees. When they met Faiz and asked about Jara, he said he was a family relative of hers. They grew suspicious because he had given her such an expensive gift. After their meeting, they planned to visit Faiz’s home. His family lived in the army quarters in Delhi, but he said they were in Dubai at the time. Using many tricks and ideas, they returned from Kashmir and went to his home. There, they found pregnancy files matching Jara’s and photos of Jara with Faiz. They showed all the evidence to Jara’s father.
Following Keshav’s plan, Jara’s father organized a meeting with all the well-wishers and friends of Jara. Faiz, Raghu, relatives, and friends came. After sharing sympathy, they started talking about Jara’s case, but Raghu immediately tried to leave. They became suspicious and stopped him, asking him to tell the truth. Finally, Raghu was forced to explain everything about his relationship with Jara. He also admitted he knew about Jara’s affair with Faiz.
At last, they found Jara’s real murderer. Keshav had already called the police, and Raghu was arrested.
They were very happy with their successful investigation. Then, they quit their jobs — jobs they didn’t like — because one of the detective centers in Delhi offered them work as detectives. Keshav went to Jara’s graveyard with her favorite white flowers and prayed for her soul.
Finally, Keshav and Saurabh started preparing for dates with other girls.
This novel teaches us to never give up, and reminds us that crime can never stay hidden for long. ☺
