Roll no: 5
Paper: The New Literature
Topic: Major theme in One Night@ Call
Center.
Email Id: zarnabhatti10@gmail.com
Submitted by: Smt. S.B.Gardi
Department of English MKBU
Introduction: Chetan Bhagat:
Chetan Bhagat is one of the great Indian writers. Chetan Bhagat
in his books always writes about the young India. In his books he always writes
about the problem in Indian society. Chetan Bhagat also who is a best seller of
his books.
Bhagat
is also columnist for newspaper such as “The Times of India” and “Dainik
Bhaskar”, where he writes about the youth career development and current
affairs. “The New York” times called him as “The biggest selling English
language novelist in India’s history”.
Time
magazine named him amongst the 100 most influential people in the world and
fast company, U. S. A. listed him as one of the world’s 100 most creative
people in business. In the novels he uses very simple language so that reader
can easily understand and prefers to read more.
Bhagat’s
novels have been adapted into Bollywood films like, 2 States, 3 idiots, Kai po
che!, Hello, etc.
His Works:
1. Five point some one
2. The 3 mistakes of my life
3. 2 states
4. One Night @ the Call Center
5. Revolution 2020
6 . What young India Wants
7. Half girlfriend
Introduction:
One Night @ the
Call center
One
Night @ the Call Center is one of the novels written by Chetan Bhagat. The
novel published in 2005. In this novel Bhagat talks about the call center
where there are six character are working, Gurgaon, Haryana in the novel.
The
characters of the novel are: Shyam, Varun, Esha, Priyanka, Radhika and Military
Uncle. They are working in call center which is “Connexion call center”. All
the character faces the problems in their family. One night they get call from
God and God said them to listen your inner voice of your heart. All the
characters inspired by the call of God.
The
story takes a dramatic and decisive turn through a literal Deux ex Machina,
when the character receives a phone call from God.
Major Themes in the novel One Night @ the Call Center:
1. Nationalism:
In
the novel One Night @ the Call Center writer introduces a young India and their
problems like six characters, shyam, Radhika, Esha, Priyanka, Vroom, and
Military uncle of the novel they facing problems because they working in the
call center. Once they get call from God to solve problem and the novel also
about to call to alarm to India to the young people within it.
“Nationalism involves
national identity, by contrast with the related construct of patriotism, which
involves the social conditioning and personal behaviors that support a state’s
decisions and actions”
Having
had to suffer the country being screwed up by politicians for so years, the
potential of the nation and its people is finally being allowed to flourish. In
call center most of the people work in a night shift and get many calls from
the America and solve their problems.
In
the novel characters working in the call center and their bay’s name is
“Western Appliances Strategic Group” or WASG. They deal with the customers of
home appliances such as refrigerator, oven and vacuum cleaners. These strategic
customers call a lot and are too difficult to figure out things. So they thinks
that they dealing with on the lines from America and even bigger up the
management pecking order.
When Vroom talks to God, Vroom says,
“I should not have taken
up a job just for money. Call center pays more, but only because the exchange
rate is in the favor Americans. They toss their loose change at us. It seems
like a lot of rupees but jobs that pay less could be better there could be jobs
that define me, make me learn or help my country”
Vroom’s ideas are very anti American
so he says that,
“Americans suck the
life blood out of our country’s most productive generation”
The
implication is that Indian too must develop a greater sense of itself and
reject the easy path of playing second fiddle to the U. S.
2. Phone call from
God:
The
phone call from God is one of the major theme and the salient feature in the
novel. In the novel writer has presented God as a friendly figure rather than a
boss. God is presented in a modern way and shown as speaking in modern modern
rather than the stereo-typical pure English or Latin that one usually encounter
God saying.
In
the novel each characters suffers from their personal problems and when they
are in difficult situation they get phone call from God. When they all go
outside from call center at the night to go to club. After enjoying they coming
back to the call center at that time their car Quails crashes into a
construction site hanging over a mesh of iron construction roads.
They
are unable to call for as there is no mobile phone network at that place. In
that circumstances shyam’s mobile phone starts up ringing. The phone call is
from God. God talks with everyone and listen their problems and gives them
suggestions and to improve their life.
The
conversation with God motivates the characters to such an extent that they get
ready to face their problems with utmost determination and motivation. The
story takes a dramatic and decisive turn through a deux ex machina when the
characters receive a phone call from God.
“Deux ex machina is a
calque from Greek meaning “God from the machina”
Deux
ex machina is term which has evolved to mean a plot device whereby a seemingly
unsolvable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved by the contrived and
unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability or subject. It
can be intended to move the story forward when the writer has “painted himself
into a corner” and sees no other way out, to surprise the audience.
In
same way Chetan Bhagat has also used deux ex machina in this novel. Where he
finds that the all characters are in trouble situation he uses a call from God
to resolve a plot.
3. Human relations,
Love, sex and Marriage:
Chetan
Bhagat in his novel trying to say about the young India. In the novel One Night
@ the Call center Bhagat talks about the love story of Shyam and Priyanka and
shyam’s dates with Priyanka. They both are not just friends but they have
physical relationship with each other.
In
the novel the characters of Esha who wants to become a model and for that she
sleep with designer after that she cheated by him and said that she has not
enough height for the ramp model. Here Bhagat present the dark side of the
India.
4. Cognizance:
In
this novel the theme of cognizance play very important role in every
characters. Chetan Bhagat’s intention was to convey the self defeating nature
of blaming complaining and not taking responsibility. All the characters that
always feel problems by showing the character’s hypocrisy that how they
suffered from an inferiority complex and psychologically projected their self
loathing into America.
After
a get call from God, they improve their selves and listen their inner voice
that’s what it says to do where Radhika decides to divorce her cheating husband
and leave from her mother in laws critical clutches. Shyam rather to criticize
himself, he implementing his ideas into practice and started new web design
company with Vroom. Military uncle realized his mistake and wants to go America
to live with his son and grandson. Esha quit her modeling aspirations and
continued to work at the call center and also work with NGO. Priyanka also work
in call center but after that she will go to college for an accelerated one
year B. Ed.
After
receiving a call from God the characters use their newfound self confidence and
perspective on life. All the characters get awareness after solved problems by
God.
The
book also point out at valuable life lessons that take responsibility for your
own lives, stop blaming others, stop making excuses and be your own. It also
shown that as a citizen of India, instead of blaming others we need to do
introspection that makes the better society to live in.
5: Modernization:
One
Night @ the Call Center deals with issues of young people, including questions
about career, inadequacy, marriage, family conflicts in a changing India, and
the relationship of the young Indian middle class to both executive and
ordinary clients whom they serve in the United States.
In
this novel Bhagat’s aim is to convey a message to the people of India from the
situation of the characters like the harshness of the situation of women in
India. Esha who wants to become a model for that she forced to slept with 40
years old designer and it represents the dark side of the India.
Throughout the novel Bhagat presents
modernity like smoking is the contemporary metaphore of melancholic state of
being depression, stress, feel bad. Bhagat also talks about the Indian family
like the situation of Radhika in her in law’s house. Like on day she do house
hold works and in night she works in call center.
6. Globalization:
“Globalization is a process of interaction and integration
among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process
driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology”
"Globalization is
no longer a theoretical concept; it is a glaring reality, impinging upon almost
every aspect of human existence”
The
title of the novel itself tells about the effect of globalization in call
center. In this novel writer wants to give message to the
Indians that who working in call center they just get good salary
but it not give it a opportunity to do something else or for their skills and
creativity Americanized form of English in the Call Centers.
In
this novel we Workers forced to change their names to Western one e.g. like,
Shyam Mehra – Sam Mercy
Varun
Malhotra - Victor
Radhika
Jha – Regima Jones
Esha
singh – Elina
Chetan
Bhagat thinks that “On a different level, I began to think about the number
individuals who sacrifice their creativity and skills and join call center
merely because of the fact pay packet on offer.”
Vroom cannot stand two things: the
Racists and the Americans. Vroom thinks Americans get to act superior to us
“not because they are better people. But because their country is rich and ours
is poor. That is the only damn reason. Because the losers who have run our
country for the last fifty year couldn’t do better than make India one of the
poorest countries on the earth”
In
this novel we find rising anxieties, fear and stress in these six characters in
call center are constantly under pressure. They themselves are to be blamed for
it but one can not deny that globalization is also responsible for it. Due to
slack in software industry the call center wanted to cut down the number of
employees in its main bay and that brings all the people under pressure.
Actually this book talks about the anxieties, fears, and stress of call center
employees.
Eroding
values means compromising attitude .in the novel charcter of Esha
who getting modelling assignments, gets ready to sleep with an
influential person in the concerned field. When even after this compromise she
doesn't get a way-in, she realises the horrible mistake she made. This example
of hers reveals a disgusting reality in the world of modelling and fashion. At
the same time it shows us a limitlessly compromising attitude that has come
over today's youth
Thomas friedman gives definition
about Globalization
“Globalization is
the integration of capital,
technology and
information across national borders, in a way that is creating a
single global
market, and to some degree, a global market”
In this book he gives three eras of
Globalization
1. Globalization 1.0
2. Globalization 2.0
3. Globalization 3.0
The
novel One Night @ the Call Center we can connect with the Friedman’s idea
of flatteners. One Night @ the Call Center connect with
3rd flattener “Workflow
software” where he talks about the technology and tells that world is become
flat. In this book he talks about a new era of 21st century,
world become very small.
In
one Night @ the Call Center we see some positive and negative effect of the
Globalization. So here we can see the novel deals with the theme of
globalization with the example of “The World is flat” by Thomas Friedman and
connect the novel with his idea.
