one night @ the call center

After a second reading of Chetan Bhagat’s second book, one night @ the call center, presenting a few thoughts:

Like this is a brilliant follow-up to the madness of the IITs, through his first book, five point someone. One night…is a trip into the minds of the working youth of this country… men and women dealing, or at least trying to deal with, their own problems, in their own ways…

Like the character of Priyanka is an extremely interesting one. Priyanka’s life is directed by her mom, who has a problem with nearly everything she does. She’s got the good ole knife stuck in Priyanka’s back (a la Vernon God Little), which she twists every time she needs to…and makes her daughter squirm in her seat.

Like the narrator, Shyam, is an equally intricate fabrication…depressed, low on self-confidence, a perpetual feeling of being a loser, he is just perfect material for a narrator…credit also goes to the author at this stage, for not overdoing this character, a simple mistake to commit. A man who shies away from the truth, who happily lets people trample all over him, while blaming it on Fate, Destiny, and all those wonderful abstract creations of man, which let weak-minded noodles like Shyam exist.

Like, the character of the Military Uncle, (a bloke who fights with his son and daughter-in-law, over outdated issues like women working, and wearing showy clothing, etc. and gets thrown out of their home, and kept away from his grandson) is a lesson to all such similar people…the world around you keeps changing, my older friends, whether it be dressing sense, food habits, perception of the older generation, and so on…and you got one choice: whether to shape up, or ship out. But never make the mistake of trying to force someone to do something they don’t want to do, coz it will never work out…

Yours truly