Thinking Activity: One Night at the Call Centre

This blogspot primarily focuses on 'One Night at the Call Center' novel by Chetan Bhagat. And also try to cover certain aspects like Globalization, Problems of youth represented in one night at the Call center and also ON@TCC as Popular literature.

Globalization and ON@TCC

Impact of Westernization in Indian Youth in Chetan Bhagat’s One Night @ the Call Center aims at exploring the ramifications of westernization in the lives of Indian people, especially Indian youth. It also presents the advantages and disadvantages of westernization and the many-sided problems faced by the Indian youth, when they internalize western concepts.

(A.R. Jemi)

The 21st century is developed on the LPG model where we see the rise of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. And as we know that literature is a product of thoughts, Ideas and experiences prevailed in society. So, It is obvious that the impact of Globalization is also visible in Literary Text.

One Night @ the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat rightly captures the impact of globalization and westernization in Indian Societies. Call centers are becoming a hallmark example of globalization in India. The western culture and Indian Culture are assimilating with one another and along with that changing mortalities creates a kind of conflict between Society and individuals. There are positive as well Negative impacts of Globalization can be captured in this One Night @ call center text.

THe Novel One Night @ Call Center set upon a village named Gurgaon, Haryana portrayed as a fast growing city where Infrastructural development is at peaks. Along with that establishment of call centers, commercial malls, construction of big apartments indicate the globalization  process is underway. One positive side of Globalization can be measured is that Globalization creates massive job opportunities for the youth as well it also turns a world towards Infrastructure development.

Negative impact of Globalisation can be seen in the rise of Nationalism or Consumerism. The novel also captures the impact on Consumerism in society where people pursue things without their actual need. Exhausted vroom sit in middle of the road and observe big hoardings of Advertisement and says to Shyam...

".... showing all kinds of people: a couple all smiles because they had just bought a toothbrush; a group of friends giggling over their mobile phones; a family happily feeding their kid junk food; a young graduate jumping with joy, clutching a credit card; a girl holding seven shopping bags and beaming. All the ads had one thing in common. Everyone looked incredibly happy" Upon it Vroom says, "What the hell are they so happy about? .... Look at that toothbrush couple. My mom and dad, they are never that happy." (Bhagat 211)

This shows the rise of Consumerism, which is an effect of Globalisation because Global world creates a global market. All six characters are also affected by Globalization because they are working in call centers. And in order to work there they have to change their identity including adapting American name plus American accent of speaking.

The Hire and Fire policy of the globalised world is also interwoven together where all six characters have a threat to loss of their jobs. The conflict between Yes Man and No man along with so-called bossism is  also represented here.

So, The novel represents the impacts of Globalisation in Indian Society. The novel also covers the advantages as well disadvantages of Westernization, and many sided moral problems which grow in Indian Youth when they opted for different cultures.

Problems of Youth in One Night at the Call Centre

Chetan Bhagat has created such realistic characters that everyone can accept them. All characters are suffering from some problems regarding their career, family, relationship or either lack of confidence. Readers can easily connect with almost every character and with their problems also.

The shallowness of relationships is the first problem in the modern world where people meet within no time and fall apart for some shallow reason. If we see the relationship between Shyam and Priyanka they are in love with each other but still something is missing which leads Priyanka to say for her marriage with a well settled NRI boy from the US. Another relationship is of Radhika and Anuj both are married couples living distantly. Radhika is betrayed by Anuj, who is having an affair outside marriage.

Esha's fascination towards modelling led her to lose her virginity without any modelling career. She is in constant internal conflict and hates herself for this mistake. Now she is a girl with lower confidence who questions her own existence and identity on the basis of Other people's views. She once said to Shyam that…

“I hate myself Shyam. I just hate myself. I hate my face and the stupid 

mirror that shows me this face. I hate myself for believing people who told me I could be a model”

Through the character of Vroom Chetan Bhagat brings the mindset of young youth of contemporary India. His aspiration to do something good for society always inspired him to do something useful for Society. But his law financial status always came between and because of that he is working in Call Centre.Chetan Bhagat has  beautifully portrayed the fighting spirit in the minds of the contemporary youth through the character Vroom.

Chetan Bhagat also brings forth the problem of old age through the character of Military Uncle who is ill-treated by his son and daughter in law. But later on he also came to know his mistake that young youth didn't like parents interference in their work or relationship. So, to sum up we can conclude by what Kshirsagar, Bonde and Shinde says in one their article named  “Globalization and the Changing Urban Realities in India in Chetan Bhagat's One Night@ The Call Center and 2 States” that...

The fictional works of Bhagat . . . reflects the changing urban realities in globalizing India. Through these works Bhagat subtly portrays the fast growing cities and urban zones along with all the global factors, affecting the life, experience, dreams, and attitudes of today's youth. Bhagat very comfortably 

depicts women empowerment as one of the positive effects of globalization, at the same time, consumerism, eroding values, and rising fears and anxieties of urban Indians as some of the negative offshoots of it cannot escape his piercing observations

So, The novel One Night at the Call center revolves around the problems of youth in India. Issues of Job and Career, Marriage and Family, Fear of loss and low self confidence plus self esteem, Exploitation of in job by consumerist society and rise of bossism.

Popular Literature and ON@TCC

There is a big difference between what we termed as Popular literature vand What we categorised under High brow literature or classical literature. So, Here are some of the characteristics which make Literature popular..

• Popular Literature does not deal with abstract questions.
• It only raises questions which are easily answerable.
• It devoid use of explicitly ideational elements. Intellectual formation of narrative is lacking in popular Literature.
• Popular Literature Symbols are easy to identify and do not demand high intellectual thinking.
• Popular Literature also lacks high seriousness and sincerity.

So, One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat comes under the genre of popular Literature which does not demand high thinking and interpretation. Very less use of Symbols and easily identifiable Symbols make this text more easy. The text deals with certain questions related to youth but these questions are somewhat lacking it's universal application. Text can be completed within a few te without long deep thinking. And fast reading of text can be compared with fast food which have no nutritious value as such. The plot is not driven by cause and effect cycle. Use of interference of God (Deus Ex Machina) loosen the plot structure of the novel. So, One Night call center can be categorised under popular Literature at least for now because it attracts young audiences and deals with some young life problems. But will this text able to pass the test of time, will this text able survive a longer period of time, will help to decide it's universalism in the field of literature.