Some days at a call center

I know that most of you have already read" one night at the call center" and must be expecting something very glamorous and spicy out of this post.If it is so i am sorry about my present state of mind.

The call centers of India are not only about English bred good looking boys and gals but its about the inherent day by day struggle of man to survive and fight for the last left pleasures of the world..Its when you see people coming out with hollow eyes and shaky voice that you realise that its far away from the all made up characters portrayed by movie stars on screen..Well i am suddenly talking about this profession because i had a short stint at one of the well known BPO(that's a better term)of my city..

Well it all started with an interview for me at the firm's office way back when i was still studying and had landed up quite a good job at my college placements(which i am not sure of getting anymore)..Well i always wanted some extra money and inspired by one of my college mates i was lured into it..But the interview didn't turn out to be that pleasant except for some good bird watching sessions in between.I had to fool these people about how i never wanted to be an engineer(which i had only realised after getting my results) and how i was dying to work for the BPO industry .(actually i was dying of boredom while waiting for my joining at Cognizant).

It was not long before i found myself facing a lady in the final round..Now she asked me "how many subjects do u have in the last sem?"

I said"we only had a project and i am almost done with it so i think i can do a ful time job"?Well she told me that she was a WBUT engineer and was especially called on to catch my lies..She told me she doesn't believe that i don't have a job in hand.

I still remember how i confessed my crime of fooling the people in the previous 4 rounds and also that no one of them had the audacity to face me so a sixth person came out and told me that after a discussion they have decided that i don't fit into the role they had for me.

Well three months later i went for the same interview and fooled the same guys in taking me..i think "Honesty is the best policy unless and until You are a great liar"

The training started with the "Voice and accent" training where we were told how to pronounce words incorrectly and to the same degree oF incorrectness as the Americans did.

Well the call centers are the last refuse for all kinds of people who want to term it as doing something challenging because they have either failed at everything else or know nothing but the AGREZI LANGUAGE.We had guys who were just out of school , we had an uncle of 38 ,few engineers,former teachers and many arts graduates.So it was complete fun..

We would call "better" as "bedder" and "down "as "daaaawn"..And i use to love the "badaam milk" they supplied at the pantry for free and kept the maintenance department busy in supplying more and more of it.

The coach was cool and i remember an incident where he was asking us to make the shape of our mouth while saying the letter"W" as if kissing someone.I remember how a guy faltered at it and he said"I really pity your girlfriend"!!Adding to this , some people from the class suggested him to practice at home and that too "on his own"..

It was during these days that i realise that it was high time i get a girl for me as everybody else seemed to be engaged to someone or the other...Our trainer was use to catching people talking over the phone in the washroom(men) breaks..

Above is the pic of our group during a lunch break at the Cafeteria of the company..

So the story is going on fine,i have made some friends and they are sweet ...be prepared for the next part ful of dark characters and emotions....

A day in the house of Democracy..

As you all might be knowing I am into one of the most boring phases of my life since I have become an engineer and am still looking to be employed...Sometimes as if a lightning wakes up a sleeping man, the proceedings at the Lok Sabha on July 22 were noisy enough to stir my mind which was dormant for quite some time. I spent a day observing the progress of a procedure that was to decide the fate of our country for a year or so. There were certain highlights of the day and at each instance my mind was forced to react in a way every citizen of India should have.

1. The day began with the address of Mr L.K.Advani who was vituperative in talking about the policies of government since it came into power. He talked about how the government had filed an affidavit in the supreme court challenging the existence of a fictional character called “Ram “and the bridge built by him between Sri lanka and India.

A Thought in my mind-Why was the authenticity of the most sacrosanct piece of literature (“The Ramayana”) of a religion being attacked just because a goverment wanted to convince everybody about its “secular” policies?

2.After a little while our honorable railway minister Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav rose to entertain the M.P s who seemed too tired of this serious discussion. He used a shair for the left (sitting with BJP, in opposition) towards the end of his speech”Tuumne hum se bewafayi ki,is baat ka humein sila nahin. Par doosron se muhabaat karogi t oh badi muushkil hogi”.

A thought in my mind-Lalu is aped at different laughter shows on the T.V but the original is always better. anyday.(be it a the most important day for India in the last few years)..

3. Then there was a scene u all must have witnessed being aired across all channels as bundles of notes allegedly being used to bribe MPs were put on exhibition in the house. I think it was more shameful for the nation than any of M.F Hussain’s painting that the BJP allege of dishonoring our goddesses…

A Thought in my mind-DEMOCRACY HAS BECOME TOO CHEAP THESE DAYS….

4. After all the hue and cry following this incident and numerous rounds of allegation and counter allegation for self defense the house joined again for voting.

This was the best part of the proceedings according to me
“I am a Muslim and I am an Indian,” Mr Omar Abdullah began. “And I see no distinction between the two. I don’t know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future,” said Abdullah. “The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor — poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice.”

This was a pointed reference to the Opposition benches who tried to drown UPA speakers with the chorus of protests .
“I am not a member of the UPA and don’t aspire to be one. I made a mistake to be with the NDA, especially after Gujarat riots happened. My conscience had asked me to quit NDA but I didn’t. My conscience has still not forgiven me,” he said.

Never in my life I have been so affected by the truth of the matter and trueness of motive on hearing any of the present politicians of our country. Especially the words” absence of voice” and ” My conscience has still not forgiven me” will be etched in my memory for long. Its very true that whenever a representative of the people stands to speak about the problems of the his people (which rarely happens)his voice gets lost in the so called bigger issues of national concern.Its was completely unbelievable to hear a poltician talking about his conscience and admitting publicly of betraying it.It was no surprise that his speech was later voted as the best of the day in an online voting conducted by a news channel..
TO see the entire video jsut click on to...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4pE7G6Kdg...Believe me its worth a watch..
A Thought in my mind -May be we still have some hope left for a better future. May be the world’s largest democracy still has some true and educated leaders to produce .May be there is still some democracy left in this country..
I HOPE I HAVE BEEN EQUALLY GENEROUS TO OFFER MY CRITICISM TO ALL Parties AND POLITICIANS IN GENERAL..
But I feel sorry for Mr Somnath chatterjee who got a suspension from his party as the reward for his unbiased monitoring of the house and after serving his party for 40 years

What's missing ????

"Change is the only thing that remains unchanged ". This is a sentence i had been saying and using again and again throughout the fours years of my engineering as I use to see everything around me transient..But still today there is a change i don't want to accept though i know i have to. The change is of being an engineering student to being nobody today till I join my job as stereotype I.T professional. Its the hard reality today that no matter how much i love my college and its students, i have spent my four years at this place and i have to leave and make way for the next batch. These fours years of my life have been the most eventful and may be somewhere down the line its the spontaneity and activity that I miss.
In life we get attached to certain things or people in a way which makes us think as they will always be ours as if they were a part of the self...Though we know that these things have to leave us one day in the ever changing course of life ,we fear even thinking of this happening(our mind thinks and imagines what we want it to) ...I have to live with this emptiness inside until it is filled with hollowness that the Indian IT sector has to offer. May be I am missing the classroom .the canteen, the tea shop, the common room, the Phoenix room ..But most of all missing the smiles of my juniors, hug from my batch mates and rare words of praise from my the profs and seniors.. The college is not about the brick ,the rooms ,the doors and the windows that represent the structure .I know I will be a part of a much grand and decorated office of a IT company but probably will always crave for the love and warmth that I got at this place …Any institution/organization is made up of its people and after you have left it the human part that u miss….
I miss sleeping late at nights(around 2-3 am) discussing various issues ,watching movies or dancing to various tunes (in case of a party) and very rarely mugging up in the panic stricken hours (during the exams).I remember making people wait as I was always late when I reached the college and I telling them on phone that I was on the gate while brushing my teeth…I remember giving gyan to juniors( mostly composed of mantras I never followed) and watching my ideas being rejected by my seniors because of them being too dreamy… I miss the music flowing in air during our late night parties and how each beat of every Pink Floyd song was distinct and clear…I miss how our thoughts became synchronized after a peg or two and how we use to keep hovering around the same topics like love, friendship ,sadness and life in general….Sometimes when I look back I think I have too much to miss and may be I am a very rich man today when it comes to memoirs…
Well I am waiting to be a part of an industry which is supposed to be very dynamic and growing …I am waiting to be confined in the cubical which is being made for me…I am waiting to earn money and then having no time to spend it… I am waiting to get used to not hearing those beats of music as distinct and clear ..I am waiting to see people around me being replaced every now and then ..I am waiting to get used to not seeing people once the closest to me for months or lifetime…I am waiting to get inhumanly used to change…