Dark side of Indian call centre success
June 14, 2007
By Andy Mukherjee
Shyam Mehra (26) is a self-professed loser in New Delhi. When he dons a phone headset each night, though, he becomes a polite troubleshooter for Americans angered by home appliances.
So goes One Night @ the Call Center, a novel by Chetan Bhagat.
More than 400 000 people work in Indian call centres. A customer service job is an easy route to $300 (R2 200) a month and a three-pizzas-a-week lifestyle.
But many young agents loathe the surveillance, which would put a high-security prison to shame. Some can't get used to abusive customers; others fail to adjust to working at night.'
Bhagat says exposing the "dark undertones" of call centres wasn't his focus, describing the book as "pure entertainment". Yet a sombre message emanates from characters such as Shyam's co-worker Vroom: the government of India is awful because it can't - or won't - create better jobs.
And the culture of consumption is making young, overqualified Indians accept meaningless jobs just so they can go to discotheques and sip Long Island Tea.
It's this part of the book that doesn't work. Bhagat can't make us feel much sympathy for these youngsters, who come across as spoiled brats. - Bloomberg
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