Dec 20, 2005 04:14 PM
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(Updated Jan 24, 2006 02:10 PM)
There are some books, which you can’t read it more than once.
There are some books, which you can’t even complete it.
And there are some books which you can read it again and again and again!
One Night @ the Call Center is one such book!
In winter 2004, a writer met a young girl on a night train journey. To pass the time, she offered to tell a story. However, she had a condition: that he make into his second book. He hesitated, but asked what the story was about
The girl said that the story was about six people working in a call center, set in one night.
She said it was the night they got a call
That phone call was from God.
Welcome to One Night @ the Call Center, another witty, dark novel from the award winning author of the national bestseller Five Point Someone
Are you ready to take the Call?
This extract attracted me to this book and I started reading some chapters of it in Crossword Corner. I liked it very much and bought it! Its really worth reading!
The key characters of this book:
Shyam Mehra or Sam Mercy: He is the narrator of this story. He is 26 and thinks that he is good-for-nothing-guy. Before taking up the call center job, he used to work in a website department of an ad agency. But he didn’t like the job and so he resigned. Everyone in his family is a doctor and engineer and he is the only one working in a call center. And that’s why he is called the black sheep of his family.
Varun Malhotra or Victor Mell: Everyone mostly calls him Vroom as he is a lover of anything on wheels. He gets all his information from net and he is very much addicted to it. He likes to eat pizzas and soft drinks. Before he used to work in the newspaper. He had a lot of information on political and social issues. According to him, Indian should progress as fast as possible and was willing to work for it. According to me, if he is made the Prime Minister of India, India will become as rich and progressive as USA!. He is a nice, helpful and enjoyable guy. Whenever he got angry, he would break whatever would come into his hands. He is my favourite character of the book. He is 85% like me. I am also addicted to net and would like to do something for India, but I don’t get so angry like Vroom!
Priyanka: She is a nice, lovable girl. She constantly fights with her mother, then cries with her! She was once the girlfriend of Shyam.
Radhika Jha or Regina Jones: She is married to a man called Anuj. She has to do all her household chores and then comes to the call center. She doesn’t like her mother-in-law and takes anti-migraine pills.
Esha Singh or Eliza Singer: The most humorous character of this book. She came to Delhi against her parents’ wishes to become a model. She lives alone in Delhi and also works in a call center. She is very stylish girl. She has a navel ring, applies a lot of make-up and lipstick too.
Military Uncle: The oldest person in the call center. He is not a call agent and sits on the solitary online chat and email station. He speaks very seldomly.
Subash Bakshi: He is the manager of the call center. He is thirty, looks like forty and speaks like fifty! He loves to surf on adult sites and uses some meaningless phrases, which no one understands. A stupid person and doesn’t deserve to be a manager
The story: One Night @ the Call Center is a story about six people (Shyam, Vroom, Priyanka, Radhika, Esha, Military Uncle) working in a call center called ‘Connexions’, set in one night. For those who don’t know, call center is a customer care department of a USA based company. Connexions used to take calls of Western Appliances customers of USA. Their bay was called Western Appliances Strategic Group or WASG. They used to enjoy a lot of privacy here. Shyam was the team leader. Now all the six people and desires. Shyam wanted back Priyanka, Vroom wanted India to progress and didn’t wanted the call center to close down, Priyanka wdidnt wanted to marry very quickly, Radhika wanted to get divorce from Anuj as fast as possible, Esha wanted to become a famous model and Military Uncle wanted to go back to his son and daughter-in-law in USA. In between we get a glimpse of the dates of Shyam and Priyanka.
As the story progresses, the entertainment, humour and excitement increases. Although some words like fk and ahole are used, it is not at all vulgar or cheap. The last 15 chapters are outstanding and paisa-vasool!
What I liked about this story is the characterization of the characters. It is characterized very properly. The story is also very nice. The chapters where god calls is very nice. Some other chapters are also nice.
After reading the book, I got a strong desire of making a film on this book. If I ever got a chance to make this film, I would take the following stars
Shyam Mehra as Vivek Oberoi
Priyanka Chopra as Priyanka
Nigaar Z Khan as Radhika
Esha Deol as Esha
John Abraham as Vroom(He suits the character perfectly, right?!)
Boman Irani as Subash Bakshi
Lillete Dubey as Priyanka’s mother
Ashutoush Gowarikar as Ganesh
On the whole, One Night @ the Call Center is an excellent book, with ups and downs but provides 100% entertainment, humour and satisfaction!
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