My night @ the call center.

No I have not gone and spent a night at one of the many call centers that now litter the Indian countryside.
Last night I couldn't sleep so I picked up this book by Chetan Bhagat titled 'One night @ the call center'.
I managed to run through the book in one night. Sorry to diverge slightly at this point but one needs to appreciate the improvement in the quality (content as well as presentation) of books published in India. Thankfully the publisher kept the font size big throughout the book thus my tired eyes could continue reading for 4-5 hours continuously.

I put down this book with mixed emotions struggling for supremacy within me. The thing which I found odd about this book was its ending. I don't mean the last scene in the train. But the last scene at the signal. It sounded like something seen in a Hollywood rom-com (that's romantic comedy). The final ending, though, is a classical 180 degree twist ending and one can't complain about it.

The book itself is gripping and fast. More than that if you have the right mix of voyeurism and curiosity in you, the book will keep you entertained with a whole lot of predictable twists and turns through the story. Such things (don't want to spoil the twists) must surely happen to real people since we hear about them everyday through friends, family and the media.

Out of the six main characters (3 males, 3 females) I am sure everyone (especially those living in Delhi) will be able to pick a favourite one, the one who they feel closest to. Maybe because we have seen someone going through similar problems, someone we care(d) about? Or maybe we ourselves went through the same set of problems.

Initially I had some problems digesting the 'call from god' bit. But then again as the author suggests its better to take a risk and crash rather than sit in your comfort zone and just exist.
I compliment the author on taking this risk.

Finally the author raises a valid point about who is really holding the leash when it comes to Call Centers and BPOs. It is a messy and debatable topic but one thing is clear. Call centers are the modern digital sweat shops where you don't 'sweat' since it is centrally air-conditioned. You pay the price of a good nights rest and a meaningless existence leading only to a sum of money at the end of the month.

But maybe this view is not correct. Maybe people want the cocoon of a sum of money at the end of the month and see call center jobs as proper careers? Will need to talk to someone about this.

:)

UPDATE:
Have spoken to a friend of mine who works at a call center.
According to her around 20% of her co-workers think of a call center job as a long term career.
At the same time another friend of mine who has worked for a call center said working there made you feel as if "you were a dog tied to a post with a headset instead of a leash".