Sep 15, 2010 10:33 PM
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Having read the other three books written by Chetan Bhagat, I immediately grabbed the book 'One Night at the Call Centre' from my brother, which I was yet to read. Not that I have become a fan of the author but what I have admired about his writing is the simplicity that he uses to narrate the tale. His books besides being about the Indian characters have language that is simple to understand, which might be the reason for his popularity.
I have found 'Five Point Someone' and 'The 3 Mistakes of my Life' to be readable stuff where as his other book '2 States' was just an ordinary book with some funny, bone tickling stuff with no meat in the story.
Surprisingly his book 'One Night at the Call Centre' is the author's weakest work till date. The book seems to be a fantasy by Chetan Bhagat because it's neither reality nor can be a piece of fiction. No harm in writing fantasies subject to they justify the write up and successfully connects all the links together to form a chain.
The book starts with Chetan Bhagat himself meeting a girl in the train & get the story only one condition that he will publish a book on it, to which he finally agrees after showing some reluctance in the beginning.
This time the writer has chosen a call centre as the premise to narrate his story, which is about the 6 employees who work together in the same call centre, coincidentally in the same shift. A perfect topic for the new generation.
Call Centres have created employment for many unemployed youth who wants to see the larger picture of the world, where they happen to talk to people calling from various parts of the world. According to the cover of the book, one fine night they get a call from GOD. Very interesting inclusion or should I say twist given to the backdrop of the story by the writer, because this forms the crux of the story.
I started this book with great interest as I too wanted to know what would God say? I never once thought about the fate of the film HELLO based on this book met at the box office, to whom neither God nor the viewers bothered to say Hello.
Let’s meet the main characters of the book:
Shyam, a man who has lost confidence in himself.
Priyanka, ex-lover of Shyam, but calls herself his friend as they departed on happy note. Now gettng married to an NRI settled in USA.
Varun, known as Vroom as he is obbsessed with speed.
Esha, ex-lover of Varun. Wants to become a model.
Radhika, a married woman with an unfaithful husband & a grumbling mother-in-law.
Military uncle, who speaks less but has his own reasons.
The story is narated by Shyam & in the first few pages all the six characters are nicely introduced , which made me eager to know what would happen in one night. But as the story progressed further it created an atmosphere that was boring enough to put you to sleep but the only hope to hear from the God keeps the reader’s hopes alive & when God finally calls & speaks, the reader is confused. Moreover the time when He calls will take the readers to the era when we believe that miracles used to happen. And it only happens in India that too in fantasies.
This call changed the lives of the characters. Hereafter the story follows the predictable, beaten to death path, which everyone would guess right. If they have followed what the teachers taught in school and college, they wouldn’t have to wait for the God’s call to learn the basics of life. After all Guru is next to God.
Chetan Bhagat’s idea of roamance is weird hence his characters were not well connected romantically and struggled to keep their flame alive, while they appear confused about their final decision about their partners. Youth who are victims of infatuation will connect well with this book.
The book also shows Americans in a bad taste. I wish they are as stupid as they are shown in the book. But is it really that? Is that the reason why the business of call centres has grown so fast? Well, these are some unanswered questions.
Even though the book has Chetan’s trademark simplicity but it fails to convey something that can be treasured. I am not very satisfied with the book and would not recommend it, though it has already been successful best seller.
