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- Time to hang up, Mr Bhagat?
This story is from December 11, 2005
Time to hang up, Mr Bhagat?
The setting of the novel is fresh and Bhagat's deprecating sense of humour flashes through, but that's not enough to save the reader from contrived twists and turns and the suffocating moralising.
One Night@The Call Center
Chetan Bhagat
Rupa & Co
The knives have long been out for the masters of capital imperialism. Chetan Bhagat, ex-IIT-IIM, twists it in further with unconcealed rancour and utter lack of finesse. What the dumb Americans can do, we can do better, goes the dial tone in One Night@The Call Center.
One Night revolves around the happenings at a Gurgaon call centre. A group of six executives ��� Military Uncle, Radhika, Esha, Priyanka, Vroom, and the narrator, Shyam ��� are so wrapped up in their individual ordinary lives that they need divine intervention, literally a call from God, to help put their problems on hold.
Corny, eh? Bhagat uses dialogue and drama that suggest a Hindi tearjerker, eventually degenerating into classic Bollywood farce.
The book begins with a long prologue in which the author recounts his tryst with a pretty young woman in a lonely train compartment (and you thought it happened only in films) and how she told him her story in return for his promise to make it his second book.
Shyam is the born loser, at home, at work, in love and ambition. Priyanka, his recently estranged girlfriend, is to be engaged to an NRI geek. Esha is the office doll with model aspirations who regrets her having slept on the casting couch.
Radhika is the typical Indian bahu who wants to keep both husband and saas happy, but accidentally learns that hubby dear is having a passionate affair in another city. Military Uncle is the retired army guy who pines to be with his son's family in the US, who don't want him in their lives.
Vroom, the guy who drives the story, is a bundle of contradictions. He hates his job but likes the money he gets; he sermonises against the Yankees in between every other call, but is crazy about pizza, and anything that moves on wheels, and heels. And oh yes, you have the office boss, the jerk that everyone loves to hate.
To give Bhagat his due, the setting of the novel is fresh and his deprecating sense of humour flashes through at times. But that's not enough to save the reader from contrived, almost implausible twists and turns, the self-conscious, pretentious attempt to get under the skin of a call center exec, and the suffocating moralising.
Bhagat's first book, Five Point Someone, What Not To Do At IIT!, generated considerable excitement on and off the bestseller list for its candour, easy wit and tight stucture ��� even getting a high word of praise from Amitav Ghose.
Bhagat had assiduously mined his IITian years ��� the despair of bad grades, parental pressure, first loves, and late-night hostel bonding. This time, he has delivered a dud. Time to hang up, Mr Bhagat?
Chetan Bhagat
Rupa & Co
The knives have long been out for the masters of capital imperialism. Chetan Bhagat, ex-IIT-IIM, twists it in further with unconcealed rancour and utter lack of finesse. What the dumb Americans can do, we can do better, goes the dial tone in One Night@The Call Center.
Bhagat's tirade against the West would have been tolerable, even acceptable, if it had not been built on the assumption that Indians, for all their warts, are mentally and morally superior to their white-skinned counterparts across the globe.
One Night revolves around the happenings at a Gurgaon call centre. A group of six executives ��� Military Uncle, Radhika, Esha, Priyanka, Vroom, and the narrator, Shyam ��� are so wrapped up in their individual ordinary lives that they need divine intervention, literally a call from God, to help put their problems on hold.
Corny, eh? Bhagat uses dialogue and drama that suggest a Hindi tearjerker, eventually degenerating into classic Bollywood farce.
The book begins with a long prologue in which the author recounts his tryst with a pretty young woman in a lonely train compartment (and you thought it happened only in films) and how she told him her story in return for his promise to make it his second book.
Shyam is the born loser, at home, at work, in love and ambition. Priyanka, his recently estranged girlfriend, is to be engaged to an NRI geek. Esha is the office doll with model aspirations who regrets her having slept on the casting couch.
Radhika is the typical Indian bahu who wants to keep both husband and saas happy, but accidentally learns that hubby dear is having a passionate affair in another city. Military Uncle is the retired army guy who pines to be with his son's family in the US, who don't want him in their lives.
Vroom, the guy who drives the story, is a bundle of contradictions. He hates his job but likes the money he gets; he sermonises against the Yankees in between every other call, but is crazy about pizza, and anything that moves on wheels, and heels. And oh yes, you have the office boss, the jerk that everyone loves to hate.
To give Bhagat his due, the setting of the novel is fresh and his deprecating sense of humour flashes through at times. But that's not enough to save the reader from contrived, almost implausible twists and turns, the self-conscious, pretentious attempt to get under the skin of a call center exec, and the suffocating moralising.
Bhagat's first book, Five Point Someone, What Not To Do At IIT!, generated considerable excitement on and off the bestseller list for its candour, easy wit and tight stucture ��� even getting a high word of praise from Amitav Ghose.
Bhagat had assiduously mined his IITian years ��� the despair of bad grades, parental pressure, first loves, and late-night hostel bonding. This time, he has delivered a dud. Time to hang up, Mr Bhagat?
End of Article
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