Impact of mass media

Name:                       Heeral A.Bhatt

PG Registration        12101011

Roll no.:                      07

Batch year                 2012/14

Semester                    4

Paper no.                   15

Subject                       Mass communication and Media Studies

                         Impact of Mass media

           The media shape our attitudes about everything from soap to politics. It's important for us to be aware of the impact the mass media has on our culture/society. We need to be vigilant and ask ourselves to look for opposing opinions and evaluate the facts for ourselves rather than blindly accepting the media's version of the "truth." Research has revealed that media is responsible for influencing a major part of our daily life. Media contribute to a transformation in the cultural and social values of the masses. “Media can bring about a change in the attitudes and beliefs of the common man. The persuasive nature of the content presented over media influences the thoughts and behavior of the general public. Media has brought about a major transformation in the way the masses think. Media has given them an excellent platform to present themselves before the world and contribute in their own way to the changing world scenario. Media has been responsible for making the world a smaller place to live”.
Definition of Mass Media:
“The term institutionalized forms of public message production and dissemination, operating in a large scale, involving in a considerable division of labor in their production processes and functioning through complex mediations of print, Film, recording tape, and photography”. J Corner and J.Hawthron.

“Mass media may be defined as any form of communication which is meted out to the people at large, through the various forms of communication. What modes of communication are we talking about? Well there can be no static definition for the channels of mass communication as they are increasing all the time. But any form of communication which is seen and understood by a large mass of people can be taken to mean mass communication or mass media channels”.

         Print media has always been a dominant medium throughout the decades in the western civilization. Media workers have to do research for their reports, which include sifting through piles and piles of information to support a thesis and make it more than one thousand words in order to explain an event, a situation, or a person. Journalists have the duty to report unbiased, accurate information as it is gained from reliable sources. It is their obligation to obtain all sides of a story and to give an account on the good and bad results. There must be a balance of moral and immoral deductions in the final product.

        Newspaper is a great gift of advance technology. Newspaper plays an important role in day to day life. Newspaper is carrier of news. Newspaper serves mankind in various manners. Newspapers are printed in many languages. Almost every house is provided with newspaper service. It is of very cheap. The reader of the newspaper can know many important incidents happening through the world sitting in their house. Newspapers promote many interesting fact through the state and country. Newspapers increase the general knowledge of the people. They also increase the communication skill of the reader. Reading newspaper everyday is a good habit. So try to cultivate this habit. Newspaper brings awareness of many anti social elements of the society. Newspapers are manufacture in a large scale. It provides employment to many thousands of people. It becomes of means living to many people. We find children selling newspaper in morning and evening on the roads to fill their stomach every day. Such incidents really touch the heart. Newspapers are printed in all local language and also in English in India. In some school the rule are made in such manner that everyday news must be read by any one of the student in the student.

          In some school The Hindu newspaper are given to students at lesser price. This is called the "NIE" schemes started by Hindu newspapers. They will many useful things available in the newspaper. The seduce game attracts everyone and also it increases the thinking ability of the people. Children enjoy this game, and will many more games. Tips for examination are also provided in newspaper, the tips are designed in such a manner that they decrease the tension in the students. The newspapers are also available in internet; they are available in their respective official sites. This not only benefits people of India but also the world wide people can come to know about what is happening in the interior parts of the country. The sport column attracts all the sport lover and young stars, and the latest updates of various sport are mentioned in this column. The cinema column is attracted by most of the young stars and by all film lovers. Sometimes they are people who only read cinema column and sport column and leave the other part of paper aside. They are many advantage of reading paper. They educate people a lot. Reading paper every day develops a strict discipline in the mankind. It also explains the various problems of this modern world.

           Newspapers play an important role in human life. The newspaper increases general knowledge of the people. They are two types of newspaper in India. Some paper is cover the news from throughout and some other paper are strictly confined with the news with deal with state issue. We can see news in television also but television strains the eye and also results in many health problems. Newspaper brings out information about the various job opportunities. It also provides the rate of commodities and other valuable information. Newspaper brings awareness about right and duties of the citizen and they also help in doing justice to the needy. Newspaper is only media which support the public and in fact they work day and night for the welfare of the people. Newspaper is also very effective media. They is special column that is editor column, that is public can write to editor of the local paper about their problem with in there locality, and the concerned authorities will take measure to solve the problem. Such as if road in Ramnagar is not in good condition, then any person in that locality can write to editor, then the editor publishes it in the newspaper and concerned authorities will take measure to solve the problem. By this way the newspaper become close to the people.

             At that point of time they were no other media expert newspapers. Newspaper played a major role in passing the important information regarding the freedom struggle from different parts of the country. There were many articles written and printed in newspaper inspired the youth, the articles written in newspaper inspired the youth so much that they left their job as well as their education and joined the freedom moments. In this the newspaper contributed a lot to India independence. An also people came to know the news of various importance incidence of freedom moment happening in the different part of the country. Freedom moment was started in the year 1857, at this time the newspaper was only means of communication. Though newspaper was only means of communication, but they were so advancement in technology and also people did not know the important of newspaper at that time. Slowly as the time passed people realized the importance of newspaper and almost the time of First World War the importance of newspaper increased. Newspaper played a predominant role in the freedom movement. The great Gandhi wrote many important articles and inspired the youth. Gandhi ideas of non violence, Satyagraha and other important aspect like quit India movement and many more were printed and published in newspaper. Newspaper played vital role in transformation the information throughout the country. During the quit India in 1942, the newspaper became the essential tool of both sharing ideas as well as to know got of information. Absolutely the newspaper is basic requirement and contributed very effectively in the freedom movement. Newspaper passed lots of information to people of different parts of country.

       Newspaper is great gift to mankind. Newspaper is serving the mankind from the very beginning of 17th century, not only in India but also in various parts of the world. Newspaper has its own mark in publishing informative news to the people. It is the best media and it really works for the welfare of the people and for the improvement of the people. Thereby it works for the people and contribute a lot in the development of the country. The services to mankind cannot be described in words. Newspaper does not contain any in favor of any political parties. It always provides correct information. At times people realize many facts about anti social element like corruption. It also provides element to serval thousand of peoples, and it also gives food to thousands of families. It becomes means of living to serval thousand people. It plays an extravagant role in educating people of rural areas regarding the anti social element like corruption, rational discrimination, dowry and many more. It also plays an informative role at the time of natural calamities and many more, reporters are given a high amount of respect for the hard work they do collecting information and the editors take up a job of editing the information brought by the reporters. It is an ultimate gift of technology and also the best informative media. It provides right news and also provides the important incidents happening through the country or at times through the world. It is very cheap and almost every house in the country is equipped with newspaper as it is very cheap and also very informative to mankind. It gives a rapid change in the communication of the people. Reading newspaper everyday is a very good habit. At least if people spend ten minutes on reading newspaper increases communication skill, general knowledge. Old people spend a lot of time reading newspaper as they have a lot of free time and so they try to spend as much time as possible in reading newspaper. It also educates about the rules and regulation in the best way. It brings a lot of changes in mankind. Newspaper is the king of the informative media. It also bring lot of awareness in the injustice done to the rural people as most of them in rural areas are not educated, so uneducated do not have much awareness of the injustice done to them. So the reporters take up the job of bringing awareness in the people. The newspaper is the most media. On an average the newspaper consists of twenty two pages in it, and each and every page is interesting and knowledge gaining, not only knowledge gaining but also interesting. The sport column attracts most of the teenagers, youth and all the sport lovers. The cinema column is very attracted again by teenagers, youth and all film lovers. They are also some interesting games present in the news paper which increases thinking capacity of the people. The film and sport stars interviews are also published. In editor column people complain on the problems they are suffering within their locality are also published. The cornice authorities are ordered to do the needful at the earlies

            Newspaper is a great example of the advancement in technology. Newspaper provides important news to mankind. It services to mankind cannot be any rate. It provides employment to some thousands of people and encourages them to serve the public. It also brings awareness in the public about the right and duties that should done. Newspaper also educates many people in rural area and also tries to fight for the injustice done to them by the higher authorizes. So reporters become god to the public at times as they serve the poor and fight against the people doing injustice to the poor people. Newspaper is also very cheap but very informative. They really

        Today television channels and newspapers are making rapid income by cashing in on the news in mistaken techniques. In the race to become the most popular and the richest, they have broken the laws that media must follow while trying to build a progressive society. There is no respect for the principles of the people and land that they serve. With their persuasive ways, they try to control people instead of simply advising them as they are supposed to. While the media is sometimes viewed as being overly violent and greedy in their plight for the latest and hottest news, their purpose is essential in a democratic society so that the people can keep track of their administrators. The media has the ability to hold governments responsible, forcing them to explain their actions and decisions, all of which affect the people they represent.

If media did what it was intended for, it will be a great force in building the nation but, at present, media has become a money-making sector. Instead of giving important information and educational programmes, all there is on television, is sensational depictions of new stories; their only goal is to get television rating points. Every issue is publicized for a few days, on most channels around the same time, but when the drama is over, no channel follows up the case to let the public know what is going on. They conceal this by using other heated issues. In a democratic community, people should know all their options but the media, which usually provides this, is corrupt. Television channels and newspapers act as the mouthpieces of several parties and spread the parties’ ideologies instead of delivering accurate news. The public has to judge on their own by looking at different channels or newspapers for the same news, and then form their opinion.

When considering the effects of television on its viewers, we must agree that, generally, it is the choice of each individual what he / she will watch or not, as it is with the consumption of any other media. We cannot blame the television and the contents of its channels for any negative influence on the audience. Also, we must keep in mind that there are individuals within the society, like children, mentally disabled people, which cannot be held responsible for their own actions. Their choices are not always for their own best, and adult supervision is needed in performing some actions, as well as their TV watching.

        These people are not able to completely comprehend what they see on TV, as they cannot completely separate reality from fiction and imagination. Children, especially, being curious by nature, tend to watch various scenes that intrigue them because they do not understand them, like sex and violent scenes. These kinds of television programmes are not educational, and do not consider the children's confusion misinterpretation of the subject, therefore they are not suitable for them.

        Although television might influence the children negatively, I believe that the TV houses are not responsible for this effect. I would appeal to the responsibility of parents, who monitor and restrict their children's viewings, as R. Molony said in his article 'Private viewings'. Too many parents give the children freedom in choice of what they watch, not considering the child's innate curiosity.

        As for the adults, I believe that television cannot be held responsible for any of their malevolent behavior. They, as adults, hold the complete responsibility for their actions, and anything they see on TV is primarily their own choice. No one is forced to watch any programme, and a healthy adult should be able to make a clear distinction between reality and fiction. Also he / she must understand that anything seen on TV is not an objective view, i.e. everything shown on TV has been prepared by someone, chosen by someone and made for a specific audience with a purpose.

      The violence seen on daily shows and movies has become more common, and is seen as normal. Some object, as it might negatively influence the viewers. I see the violence as a natural way of releasing aggression, as our lives, today, have become comfortable, and rarely there is an occasion for an individual to engage in aggressive, exciting, and adrenaline-arousing activities, which would satisfy him on a psychological level. As A. Hemingway states in her article 'Television: a channel for aggression', "violence is the product of energy", and I see that this, mental energy, should be released in some form. Many psychological theories claim that aggression can be released through sports, violence on TV, video games, etc.

        To conclude, I would like to say, from my own experience, that TV like any other popular media, has many of its advantages, and it seems that life would be boring without it. But as the amount available contents on TV increases, one must be careful in choosing the ones valuable and helpful to him / her. On my own skin I have experienced the feeling of addiction to TV, but I would say that now, I try to spend my time engaging in more creative and interacting activities.

    One of the most influential forces of the media in any society is the ability to effect change on both social and governmental levels. The media affects people’s perspective through its diverse assemblage of mediums. People can be either positively or negatively affected by these messages. In today’s world, media has become almost as necessary as food. Media is a mirror of society and plays an outstanding role in strengthening it. The media put the lives of its workers in danger during attacks or natural disasters to keep us up-to-date. It is partially due to the media that awareness of many problems is spreading in the society. The media has become so involved in our lives that to recognise its impact on us, we need to step back and make a conscious effort to think about how it shapes our lives and what those in the media are saying.

       Media is an integral part of our society, but too much intervention in everything is a disturbing matter. Sometimes, just for the sake of a higher income, insignificant news is given so much detail and so much priority, that the real news is hardly noticed. Like science it is a tool, which we have to use by our judgment to provide all round satisfaction and safety. In spite of being cerebrally biased, the significance of media cannot be ignored, especially in this age in which globalization and liberalization have become well known. In this overall orb, known as the Earth, the tasks and duties of the media are increasing day by day and there is still a lot to be done for the betterment of society.

     How does mass media affect a society? In the case of television and radio, early developments in the 1900’s changed the slow pace of the population. Print at that time was the form of communication and very much localized to each city with its own newspapers and writers, therefore, the values and attitudes of the citizens remained very provincial. The onset of television and radio changed it with its wider audience and much faster methods of spreading information and programming.

        Radio developed first in the 1920’s with television coming into more widespread use in the 1940’s and 50’s. Each brought about much change and there have been debates on the programming of both mediums. Marshall McLuhan, an English and Communications professor, in his book about mass media wrote about the consequences of television and other forms of communications. His quote the “Medium is the Message”, explained his thoughts that the content was really meaningless but that the television or radio itself is what was important. That it was the societal changes of the medium itself that was relevant. The use of the technology would alter society’s ideas and values and that the world would become a “global village”.
        And it is true in this respect. Cultural values and lifestyle have changed over time by use of television, radio and internet. What was once closed societies, with its own ways of living and thinking, is now more generic. Lifestyles in one part of the world become similar to those in another part of the world. By being bombarded with images, what was once abnormal, becomes the norm. And it’s not just lifestyles; it is attitudes and morals that change. So in one way, it may change people’s opinions for the better, but in another, it may impact the social system of a whole population.
       Where else can you see this change? In fashion, people use to wear variations of their national dress. More and more, people all over the world use the same exact pieces of clothing. Due to seeing it on television, the dress code is blue jeans, t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Even the brand names are starting to be commonplace. What is popular in one country can be the trend everywhere else. In speech patterns, sounds are starting to be similar. And yes, with English being more and more spoken by the rest of the world, the American slang words as well as the American accents are being adapted. In time references, people work television or radio into their lives by working around their favorite programs. People get up in the morning and flip on the news. People get home from work and flip on music or a sit-com. And in information, what once was specialized knowledge has become normal everyday knowledge. The normal child probably knows more about life in general than did an adult 100 years ago. Information has become readily available to everyone at any time. And that is also part of mass media today, that it is there and you can get it at any time.

                  

      

Comparative study of The swamp dwellers and waiting for Godot

Name                        Heeral A.Bhatt

Roll no.                     07

PG Registration       12101011

Paper no.                 13

Subject                    The African  Literature

Submitted to           S.B.Gardi Department of English

                                 MK Bhavanagar University

Comparative study of The swamp dwellers and waiting for Godot

         When one reads the plays of Samuel Beckett and Wole Soyinka
against the background of the presumptions of myth criticism cited
above, he is compelled to dismiss arguments by critics like
Chinweizu et al that Soyinka is one of those “euromodernists, who
have assiduously aped” the modes of the 20th century European
writers (163); or of Catherine O. Acholonu who states of the
playwright in a more specific manner: “Soyinka's themes are
echoes of those of Samuel Beckett. His characters are gripped by
the same hopelessness in which Beckett's characters find
themselves” (15). The fundamental logic applied by Chinweizu
and Acholonu in assessing the works of Beckett and Soyinka is
based on the premise that Beckett wrote before Soyinka and this
therefore, creates the problem of determining the degree of the
latter's artistic originality.

       If Soyinka truly “aped” Western models, to what extent can one
therefore, establish that he was influenced by any of them in the
delineation of African customs, belief systems and worldviews? To
what extent was he influenced by Western writers to project the
absurdity of the human condition on the African continent? Is the
question about human desolation and the quest for a veritable
spiritual essence exclusively a European experience? It is only in
an attempt to answer these questions that one comes to an
understanding that writers of different continents, epochs and
religions are confronted with similar situations of desolation and
project similar spiritual visions which they demonstrate in
literature. A close reading of Beckett's Waiting for Godot and
Soyinka's The Swamp Dwellers from the perspective of myth
critics like Jung, Frye and Kluckhohn shows a striking similarity in
the playwrights' delineation of the human condition of desolate
reality and the quest for salvation, yet remarkable contrasts in
cultural and spiritual concepts and worldviews. With specific
reference to religious opposition, Godwin Sogolo notes that:
Anthropological speculations on the nature of African
religious beliefs give the impression that religions in
these cultures were of a peculiar sort, that is, that they
were distinct in character from religions elsewhere in
the world (52).
         This is quite evident in the oppositional cultural elements of
which religion is an embodiment in Wole Soyinka's The Swamp
Dwellers and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
The issue that possibly motivates the link of Soyinka with
Beckett is perhaps both playwrights' projection, in their different
settings, of the casual link between human suffering and the
possibilities of divine salvation which in the twentieth century was
an issue of crucial importance. Both playwrights point to the fact
that the excruciating human condition is a universal reality and that
once created by his God no matter what form He takes, man is
rendered desolate, abandoned to the fate of pain, hopelessness and
languor. Commenting, for example, on the historical setting of
Waiting for Godot, Declan Kiberd evokes the excruciating
conditions of humanity represented by the tramps who,
are presented as characters without much history, who
are driven to locate themselves in the world with
reference to geography. But the world in which they
live has no overall structure, it is a dreadful place in
which every moment is like the next…. Lacking an
assured past, the tramps can have no clear sense of their
own future…. They are waiting without hope for a
deliverance from a being in whom they do not really
believe (538-9).

        Such a condition as described by Kiberd above expresses
humanity's expedient need for salvation and this certainly is the
dominant concern in Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Endgame and
in Soyinka's Swamp Dwellers and The Road. Soyinka on his part
succeeds through the incorporation of the African idiom, myth and
ritual from which perspective he explores the absurdity of the
human condition against the background of African belief systems,
while Beckett employs the modernist avant-garde theatrical
techniques and Christian concepts to project the absurdity of
human existence. In his most obscure plays Soyinka delineates life
in complex textural frames, with equivalent complicated themes
but in his simple works he is plain and lucid, in the manner of
Beckett in Waiting for Godot which paradoxically have profound
prophetic visions. The substance of The Swamp Dwellers can be
evaluated within these realms. Because the play is almost devoid
of an abstruse texture, un-native to Soyinka's art, its bare surface
realism suggests almost nothing to a connoisseur with a voracious
appetite for surface complexity. Apart from its apparent themes of
the decay of a rural society the play above all reflects man's
ultimate search for a veritable source of salvation for man. Since
human life presents constant problems and contradictions,
symbolised for example, by the setting of The Swamp Dwellers, the
playwright finds the individual and the society in continual need of
salvation for itself. This can be achieved either by mass act or
through the dedication of earthly messiahs like Demoke in A Dance
of the Forests, Eman in The Strong Breed, and Igwezu in The
Swamp Dwellers.
        Although there are perceptible differences in terms of regions,
cultures and techniques between Waiting for Godot and The Swamp
Dwellers, Beckett and Soyinka re-enact the situation of human
predicament with artistic similitude. The similarity in terms of
setting, characterisation, and themes among all others are quite
evident in the two plays. The arid setting of Waiting for Godot
which as Harold Hobson observes in the opening paragraph of his
review “has nothing at all to seduce the senses” because its “drab
bare scene is dominated by a withered a tree” (93). This is evocative
of the rotting swamps and the dry North in The Swamp Dwellers, all
of which are symbolic representations of the inexplicable and
hazardous universe in which man finds himself. Beckett's
indiscernible Godot represents Christian themes as James Acheson
admits in his book, Samuel Beckett's Artistic Theory and Practice,
while Soyinka's unappeasable Serpent is the spiritual essence in the
swamps, an aspect of animism in African traditional religion.
Beckett's desolate tramps Vladimir and Estragon who depend
entirely on the arrival of Godot for salvation without whom they
contemplate suicide echo in Soyinka's disillusioned Igwezu whose
efforts to appease the Serpent to procure a happier life rather
frustrates him. The wealthy Pozzo parallels the capitalist
Awuchike who takes advantage of man's wretchedness to exploit
others. The uncompromising Lucky who is Pozzo's slave and the
despised Beggar from the North are Sisyphean archetypes who
readily submit themselves to their fates and who are determined to
survive against all odds.
       The central issue in both plays is on the question of salvation as
stated above. Soyinka raises the problem as to whether or not the
swamp dwellers should continue to depend on the Serpent for
salvation in spite of the interminable calamities that confront them.
The Swamp Dwellers projects this theme at a more individual level.
It treats the story of a youth whose dependence on supernal
assistance comes to no avail. His naivety, even leads him into
terrible casualties which prompt him to question in the face of
adversity, the authenticity of the god he worships. A closer
appreciation of the play suggests the pertinence of the following
question: Should man continue to grope through an absurd
existence with blind hope for divine salvation or should he seek
other ways of saving himself? This appears to be the playwright's
obsession in the play. The protagonist of the play, Igwezu, an ideal
son of the Swamps who is loyal to tradition, has performed all the
necessary rites required by the deity to ensure a good harvest and a
happy life with his wife. The impotence of this god gradually
creeps into his awareness from several inexplicable mishaps that
confront him, both in the city and the Swamps. In his short stay in
the city to try his hands at making money, his twin brother,
Awuchike, seduces his wife, contrary to the spiritual values of the
Swamp. Much frustrating, he fails in his commercial enterprise.
His misery is recalled later on his return to the Swamps when he
tells the Kadiye: "I'm afraid I have had my turn already. I lost
everything, my savings, even my standing as a man. I went into
debt" (35). Igwezu's tragedy is more severe when he returns to the
Swamps with the hope of recovering from his despair by harvesting
his crops: "I came back with hope, with consolation in my heart. I
came back with the assurance of one who has lived his land and
tilled it faithfully (32). He discovers with utter disappointment and
disbelief that the floods had ruined his farm and "the beans and the
corn had made an everlasting pottage with the mud.” Makuri's
consolatory plea: "It is the will of the god,” is least appealing to a
man against whom fortune has turned her back. His reliance on the
omnipotence of the Serpent begins to abate on being puzzled why
he should be so righteous yet so forsaken. His contempt is explicit
when he requires the Priest of the Serpent - the Kadiye, to give
meaning to what seems "dark and sour.” He achieves this through a
series of clarification questions:
Igwezu: Did I not offer my goats to the Priest? …
And made it clear - that the offering was from
me? That I demanded the protection of the
heavens on me and my house, on my father
and on my mother, on my wife, land and
chattels?
Kadiye: All prayers were repeated.
Igwezu: And ever since I began to till the soil did I not
give his due? Did I not bring the first lentils to
the shrine, and pour the first oil upon the altar?
Kadiye: Regularly.
Igwezu: And when the Kadiye blessed my marriage
and tied the heaven-made knot, did he not
promise long life, did he not promise
happiness?....
Kadiye: [Does not reply this time] (Soyinka 38).
Igwezu's fate is the quintessence of man's misery in a world
which offers no hopes of divine protection or signs of a promised
land. His experience shows that dependence on divine assistance
leads to more terrible adversity in life. On the other hand, Awuchike
is the ungodly rewarded. Although he is physically absent in the
play we gather from other characters that he denounces his parents,
tradition and the Swamps with all its spiritual ramifications,
commits a taboo and immerses himself in the rough city ways in
which he thrives as a wealthy timber merchant. One gets obsessed
at this point, why Igwezu should be forsaken and Awuchike
rewarded.We find this pattern of nihilism or the degenerating spiritual
consciousness in Beckett's Waiting for Godot which as James
Acheson suggests, “raises the question whether the modern man
should or should not believe in divine salvation,” although

      Acheson goes further to conclude that “Godot's non-arrival,
strongly hints that he should not”(5). For Acheson, Waiting for
Godot is an invective against Christian hope since the modern man,
like Didi and Gogo wait endlessly for Godot who does not come.
Although the tramps, Estragon and Vladimir, do not make any such
effort as Igwezu does, they are victims of a scathing existence
which they are unable to understand.
      The characters in both plays, therefore, live a tragic and
meaningless existence in which human experience is futile. In line
with Declan Kiberd, Beryl Fletcher and John Fletcher maintain that
the world of Waiting for Godot is “a world without divinity but a
kind of malignant fate, a world in which man waits, hopes for
something to give meaning to his life” (36). This is true of
Vladimir and Estragon and Lucky and Pozzo, to a commendable
extent. Estragon and Vladimir are trapped in the complications of
life, a situation that is hopelessly unfathomable. They are unable to
understand the raison d'?tre for their existence. Existence seems to
be something imposed on them by some unknown force and there
is absolutely no meaning to it. Their very source of hope Godot is
indefinable and unpredictable imposing on them the grim reality of
desolation, what Estragon describes in the play as “dreadful
privation” (11).
      Lucky's fate is even more pathetic than any other in Waiting for
Godot. The luggage he carries symbolises the burdens of the world
carried by humanity. The rope tied to his neck and which Pozzo
pulls at will is also symbolic of humanity's inability to extricate
itself from the burdens of existence. Seen from Eugene Ngezem's
viewpoint the burdens portray him as a victim of “arbitrary
authority” which Pozzo incarnates (115). Pozzo as well, although
seems comfortable at first, discovers himself blind one day. From
the inevitable adversity that confronts him, he gradually comes to
an understanding of the gruesome realities of existence in his
remarks: “They gave birth astride a grave, the light gleams an
instant, then it's night once more.” (Beckett 89). The “grave” and
“light” symbols represent death and life respectively. But the
briefness in human life expressed in the symbolism reflects utter
futility in human existence. Pozzo himself is symbolic of humanity
that thinks itself free from the hazards of life but who sooner or later
becomes a victim of fatal existence he cannot explain.
The characters in The Swamp Dwellers are confronted with
similar ordeals as those in Waiting for Godot. The prime victim is
Igwezu, an ideal son of the Swamps whose dependence on supernal
assistance for a meaningful existence leads him to frustration. The
impotence of his god gradually creeps into his awareness from
several inexplicable mishaps that confront him both in the city and
in the village of the Swamp. His venture in the city fails while his
brother, Awuchike, who has severed all ties of family, religion and
tradition, seduces his wife. His misery is recalled later on his return
to the Swamps where he hopes to recover from his despair by
harvesting his crops, but discovers with disappointment and
anguish that the floods have ruined his farm. The idea of “loss”
reflects Igwezu's inability to comprehend the complications of his
existence, and therefore, questions and condemns the potency of
the Serpent of the Swamps to whom he has offered enormous
sacrifices:     I know that the floods can come again. That the
Swamps will continue to laugh at our endeavours. I
know that we can feed the Serpent of the Swamps and
kiss the Kadiye's feet but the vapours will still rise and
corrupt the tassels of the corn (Soyinka 39).
Doubts of divine competence to save humanity from the
vagaries of life are revoked in his question:

"If I slew the fatted calf, Kadiye, do you think the
land may breathe again? If I slew all the cattle in
the land and sacrificed every measure of
goodness, would it make any difference to our
lives, Kadiye? Would it make any difference to
our fates?" (39).
The Kadiye, thus trapped and humiliated, leaves the scene
threatening blood. But Igwezu's mind is now open. He has
emancipated himself from the manacles of deceit, realising in a
consolatory stand. "I know that we can appease the Serpent of the
Swamps and kiss the Kadiye's feet, but the vapours will still rise
and corrupt the tassels of the corn" (39). Igwezu's return to the city
is manifest of the decision he has taken. The city symbolizes a place
where a man who is aware that he is his own saviour struggles and
succeeds as Awuchike does. Igwezu rejects the Swamps and all its
spiritual values with the contention that, only the children and the
old stay back in the village, in other words, only those who are
ignorant or have not yet experienced the paradox of existence do
not venture into the unknown.
       His departure from the Swamps reflects that of his bondsman,
the blind beggar who faces similar gruesome adversities: "I
headed away from my home and set my face towards the river." The
dry North from where he comes has undergone lengthy periods of
draught, and later, a devastation of a crop-flourish by locusts,
seems to show Soyinka's characteristic manner of presenting the
poignant edges of life on which man is staked.
The plight of the blind Beggar from the North is even more
severe than that of Igwezu, even though the latter is the protagonist
of the play. Like Lucky, the blind Beggar undergoes all sorts of
excruciating humiliation from people who show no sympathy for
the afflicted, from natural hazards in the desert North including the
“fly sickness” which eventually renders him blind, the severe
droughts and the destruction of a rare flourishing of crops by
locusts. As the Beggar narrates his ordeal to Makuri and his wife,
Alu, at the initial stage of his blindness he believes that he can be
rescued by his faith in Muhammad: “My faith promises paradise in
the company of Muhammad and all the Prophets…. and then
slowly the truth came to me, and I knew that I was living but blind”
(15). The reality then is of the harrowing existence. Existence
seems then to be imposed on the Beggar by a mysterious force
which the Beggar identifies as Mohammad. The Beggar suffers for
it because the paradise which Mohammad is supposed to procure
for all believers is not attainable. The Beggar's southward journey
is therefore, a rejection of his faith and a determination to till the
soil wherever he finds fertile grounds. Makuri and Alu, in whose
hut the action of The Swamp takes place, are also victims of
circumstances beyond their control. They understand that the
destruction of the crops by floods and the disappearance of their
sons, Igwezu and Awuchike, are the will of the Serpent who must
not be questioned.
         The understanding that things happen in both plays by chance
and not by divine will as many other characters observe, is another
source of grief for the characters. The issue of arbitrariness is
explicit in The Swamp where Igwezu and the Beggar, although
righteous in conduct, are forsaken while Awuchike, Igwezu's twin
brother who is full of impious actions, is rewarded. The situation
of the two brothers Igwezu and Awuchike, as stated above is
reminiscent of the fate of the thieves in the Bible whom Vladimir
alludes to. Just as Igwezu questions the criterion for which divine
competence punishes the righteous, and rewards the impious ones
like Awuchike, the tramps impugn the basis for one of the thieves
being saved and the other condemned:

Vladimir: Ah yes, the two thieves. Do you remember
the story?
Estragon: No.
Vladimir: Shall I tell you?
Estragon: No.
Vladimir: It'll pass time. (Pause.) Two thieves,
crucified at the same time as our Saviour. One
Estragon: Our what?
Vladimir: Our Saviour. Two thieves. One is supposed
to have been saved and the other… (he
searches for the contrary of saved)
…damned. (12).

The inability to understand divine manifestation is the main
source of despair in Beckett's Godot. Commenting on Waiting for
Godot Eugene Webb states that,
The fate of the thieves, one of whom was saved and the
other damned according to one of the four accounts that
everybody believes, becomes as the play progresses a
symbol of a condition of man in an unpredictable and
arbitrary universe” (32).
          The situation of arbitrariness or chance presupposes the silence
or the absence of God, which provides more grounds for human
misery. The characters in both plays find themselves in the face of
misery, an uncompromising situation without any defined pattern,
highlighting chaos as the dominating force in the world with no
question to be asked and no where to go.
          From an understanding of the gruesome realities of human
existence, Samuel Beckett and Wole Soyinka see humanity in
continual need for salvation. There are therefore, suggestions in
Beckett's Waiting for Godot and Soyinka's The Swamp Dwellers
that while in existence which origin is obscure, essence can be
determined by individual choice and freewill, hence individual
salvation. Salvation can also be attained through the benevolence
of other persons; that is interpersonal or collective salvation.
Furthermore, both playwrights do not completely ignore the
presence of some spiritual essence in determining the fate of
humanity. The fact that human action, thought and vision in both
plays are directed towards some ultimate reality is indicative of the
possibility that divine salvation has a place in their being. Even if
God's existence is doubtful as existentialists like Nietzsche and
Jean-Paul Sartre show, man has indubitably created Him to give
meaning to his own existence. This is reflected in man's eternal
quest for some supernal being whom he thinks must be responsible
for the existence of the marvels of the universe. Consequently,
Beckett's Godot must be such a God created by Vladimir and
Estragon, while the Serpent of the Swamps and Mohammad of the
Muslim North must be patterns of beliefs created by people. The
three religions may differ in concept and stature but they represent
universal concerns and the verdict that all beliefs in the world
culminate in a single search for the unknown. Through that quest,
human life is patterned in more meaningful panoply of realities.
At the level of individual salvation, some of the characters in the
plays come to an understanding of their fates and in spite of the
humiliation, to which they are subjected, make commendable
efforts to survive in the face of adversity. Lucky in Godot and the
blind Beggar in Swamp Dwellers stand out distinctly as
representations of individual salvation. Lucky, Pozzo's slave,
unconditionally submits himself to the burdens of existence. He is
certain however, that the residuals from his master's healthy
existence are his. Pozzo tells Estragon who, like his friend
Vladimir, is unable to do anything to save himself and who shows
uncontrollable greed for the chicken bones thrown on the ground
by Pozzo that, “in theory the bones go to the carrier” and the carrier
of course is Lucky (Beckett 27). When asked why Lucky does not
put down his luggage, Pozzo replies that “he wants to impress me
so that I can keep him” (31). Similarly, Igwezu's bondsman, the
Beggar from the dry North whose plight is even more severe
because of his blindness is more conscious of the need to save
himself rather than rely on external forces for salvation. His
journey from the dry North to the swampy south is in search of a
means of surviving. As a guest in Makuri's hut he indicates, against
all entreaties by his host to beg like the others, his intention to till
the soil where the earth is moist: “I wish to work on the soil. I wish
to knead it between my fingers” (13). This therefore, means that in
the absence of a divine force that should take care of a desperate
humanity, life is in the individual's own hands and he or she is
responsible for it by the pattern of choices he or she makes. He is
thrown to the dictates of chance but he must first show proof that he
is directly responsible for his own life in an existence whose origin
can hardly be satisfactorily explained. This is reflected in the
Beggar's determination to till the soil though blind. All he needs is
a patch of fertile ground by which means he can save himself. A
noticeable link between the downtrodden Lucky and the Beggar is
the element of revolt that does not necessarily tie them to their
bondage, the kind of stubbornness which G.W.F. Hegel suggests “is
that freedom which makes itself secure in a solid singleness, and
keeps within the sphere of bondage” ( 244). Lucky does not
execute every command given by his master, Pozzo and even
Pozzo understands that Lucky has his own temperaments which
must not be undermined. In the same light, the Beggar, in spite of
the hospitality accorded him by Makuri and Alu, does not totally
subject himself to their whims and caprices. He has his convictions
and must pursue them to the end without giving the impression that
he is completely helpless and cannot express his feelings freely.
This way the two characters assert their freedom to act as a means
of saving their own lives not necessarily as acts of subjugation to
bondage.
        Soyinka's philosophy toes the line of Beckett's. The main
difference, putting aside other factors, is in the psychological
presentation of characters. Soyinka's hero makes considerable
personal efforts to survive and all he seeks is the protection of the
heavens over his achievements. On the contrary, Becketts's tramps
are unable to do anything for themselves but wait for an illusory
Godot to deliver salvation to them. In the end Godot does not come
and tramps remain where they started, contemplating suicide as an
alternative solution to their misery:

Vladimir: We'll hang ourselves tomorrow (pause).
Unless Godot comes.
Estragon: And if he comes?
Vladimir: We'll be saved. (Beckett 94)

Both works further demonstrate the fact that in addition to
attempts by the individual to save himself, people can rely on the
resources of each other for a more meaningful existence. The
problem of Estragon's hunger is temporarily solved when Vladimir
offers him a carrot. At the instant, Estragon realises that their
salvation does not necessarily depend on Godot:
Estragon: (his mouth full, vacuously) We're not
tied!....

Vladimir: How do you mean tied?
Estragon: Down.
Vladimir: But to whom, by whom?
Estragon: To your man.
Vladimir: To Godot? Tied to Godot? What idea!
No question of it. (Pause) For the moment
(Beckett 20-21).

     Estragon's and Vladimir's worldview here illustrates that God
represented by Godot in this sense is important only when
humanity is in trouble. Estragon realises at this point the
importance of another fellow human in solving problems. Godot
instantly becomes insignificant to Estragon when his mouth is full
with carrots, when he is sure of his survival even if it were
temporarily so. Estragon in particular is an archetype of the
hypocritical Christian who looks for God only to solve his
immediate personal problems and once that problem is solved the
notion of God is obliterated. He represents the Western man who
Nietzsche lambastes in the parable of the mad man who declared
the death of God. Nietzsche's startling statement that God was dead
meant that humankind no longer believed in God. Humankind had
destroyed his faith in God, in other words, they killed God
(Nietzsche 95-96). In the same way, Estragon's faith in Godot
abates as soon as he achieves his basic needs. Vladimir however
realises that their extrication from Godot is just a temporary matter.
In the same way, Lucky essentially depends on Pozzo for survival.
Put in another way, there exists a mutual dependence between
Pozzo and Lucky that is advantageous to the developing
consciousness of Lucky. The antithetical natures of Pozzo and
Lucky manifestly become a synthesis of master and slave. He
carries his burden uncomplaining in order to benefit from the
chicken bones thrown on the ground by Pozzo. Lucky is aware of

        Pozzo's dependency on a slave and this illustrates why he does not
execute all instructions. His salvation is dependent on Pozzo but
also on his self-consciousness and although Pozzo subjects him to
the most excruciating humiliation, Lucky's helplessness is not as
manifest as that of the idle Vladimir and Estragon. Alexandre
Kojeve puts us in the existential mind of Lucky to demonstrate that
the contradictions within him are phenomenal, for as he writes, “in
this world everything is slavery, and the master is as much a slave
here as he is” (55).
        In The Swamp Dwellers, the Beggar's Christlike presence
stands as symbol of expiation and enlightenment. His brilliant
suggestions about land reclamation are intended to guide the
indigenes on how to solve the problem of flood without relying on
external forces. As Igwezu's mentor, he prompts him to discover
the venality of the Kadiye and also his own naivety. The Beggar's
ideas in the play represent Soyinka's ideals of individual lone-actof-
courage in the effort of saving humanity whenever such an
individual possesses the will and the resources. Eldred Jones
writes that:this act of salvation is not a mass act; it comes about
through the vision and the dedication of individuals
who doggedly pursue their vision in spite of the
opposition of the very society they seek to save (12).
This is the essential role of the Beggar in the play. Although
Makuri considers his insistent propositions of land reclamation as
“profanities,” the Beggar goes on to enforce the idea and as
Igwezu's mentor prompts him to denounce the spirituality of the
Swamps and come to self-awareness of survival by individual
effort. The Beggar's intervention rescues Igwezu and the rest of the
dwellers from hopeless dependence on the Serpent, although not
without meeting with resistance from Igwezu's parents, Makuri
and his wife Alu, who have committed themselves to an
unflinching reverence of the Serpent.
       The hospitality shown towards the Beggar by Makuri and his
wife, when he arrives in their hut in the Swamps reflects another
dimension of interpersonal salvation which is often rooted in what
is commonly referred to as “African hospitality,” whereby the
sorrows and joys of an individual are shared by other members of
the community. Makuri's sympathy towards the stranger is quite
explicit. He calls him the “afflicted of the gods” and his wife
washes the mud on the Beggar's feet, dries them then rubs with
ointment, an action borrowed from the anointing of the feet of Jesus
by the Magdalene.
       The examples above, of interpersonal salvation illustrate the
existentialist idea that man is the future of man in the sense that
man's problems in an ailing universe can partly be solved through
the initiative and the benevolence of his fellow man. But once
humanity is conscious of its commitment to individual,
interpersonal or collective efforts to make existence tolerable, there
is also a need to impose a spiritual pattern on its existence, whether
it is traditional African, Christian or Islamic. To a critic like John
Leeland Kundert-Gibbs, “hope or expectation springs from a sense
of lack, emptiness or insecurity” (58). He consequently identifies
Godot with the void at the centre of being in his Zen Buddhism and
Chaos theory. Following his theory therefore, it is neither the Zen
Buddhism, nor Godot, nor the Serpent of the Swamps, nor
Muhammad that imposes its essence on humanity but humanity's
yearning to fill a void by imposing a spiritual pattern on itself. By
imposing a divine pattern on themselves, Vladimir and Estragon
achieve some degree of meaning, what Eugene Webb describes as
“an illusory, but desperately defended pattern” (26). In The Swamp
Dwellers, Makuri and Alu also impose a spiritual prototype on
themselves. They are die-hard worshippers of the Serpent and the
Beggar's brilliant idea on land reclamation would hardly shaken
their faith in the Serpent because their dependence on the Serpent,
even with the accompanying casualties, is what still gives meaning
to their lives. They confirm John Mbiti's claim that
in their traditional life African peoples are deeply
religious. It is religion, more than anything else, which
colours their understanding of the universe and their
empirical participation in that universe, making life a
profoundly religious phenomenon (262).
        If Beckett disavows God in conformity with the philosophical
theorising of Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre and even James
Acheson, there is evidence that there is a possibility of the
existence of divine essence whose nature is unpredictable and
whose ways are inexplicit. This God either exists and does not care
or is the invention of man to give pattern and meaning to his life.
Beckett and Soyinka therefore, share in thinking with Martin
Heiddeger, Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre that without depending
on external sources man's life should be determined by the pattern
of choices he makes; with Husserl and Søren Kierkegaard that man
cannot completely dismiss the possibility of supernal assistance in
the determination of human fate. Religion, in all regions and in all
epochs, tends to have an organic life of its own which recognises
the existence of divine activity and man's response to it no matter
what form it takes (Idowu 203). However, such existence placed
entirely on divine benevolence renders it more excruciating, like in
the case of Vladimir and Estragon because Godot does not come in
the end and they are unable to do anything to help themselves.

        Although Gunter Andres argues that the waiting in the case of
Vladimir and Estragon, is just an incessant attempt to make time
pass which is so characteristic, and which reflects the specific
misery and absurdity of their life” the fact that Beckett pits them
against Lucky who finds meaning in his life by subjecting himself
to Pozzo is self explicit (147-148).
      Critics like Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier who see African
theatre only in terms of texture and its peculiarity to the African
continent miss the point. The straightforward nature of The Swamp
Dwellers is more complex than one would expect. The play is more
substantial in terms of the overall philosophical vision than some of
the abstruse volumes which have conferred upon its author all his
excellence. Attempts should be made to link patterns and
situations with universal human experience as this study of Beckett
and Soyinka demonstrates. As Simon Gikandi argues, African
writers do not have social functions or responsibilities which are
different from their counterparts elsewhere in the world. Gerald
Moore's assessment of The Swamp Dwellers as “least substantial”
(16) is, therefore, inadequate. David Cook's opinion is that the
ideas in the play are “dramatically projected with great simplicity
but with great force” (118). Joel Adedeji states that “Soyinka uses
the theatre to make statements of human needs and values” such as
The Swamp Dwellers illustrates (127). These needs and values are
not limited to the Nigerian or African experience but to the
universal human experience. Soyinka achieves this in some of his
very revealing plays like The Road, Madmen and Specialists, and
The Swamp Dwellers which, in the opinion of. Acholonu, “often
call to mind the language, style and themes of the plays of Albert
Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and above all those of Samuel Beckett”
(14).
        It is however evident from this analysis that while Beckett in his
own region and era saw the human condition from a purely Western
perspective and belief pattern, Soyinka projects same from an
African domain. Both playwrights converge at a point where, as
Clyde Kluckhohn thinks, the “same general order” is reached.

Globalization in the novel One night @ Call center

Name                        Heeral A.Bhatt

Roll no.                     07

PG Registration       12101011

Paper no.                 13

Subject                    The New Literature

Unit                          1 (One night @ Call center

Topic                       Globalization and One Night @ Call center

Submitted to           S.B.Gardi Department of English

                                 MK Bhavanagar University

   Globalization in the novel One night @ Call center

                    The novel one night @ call center novel published in 2005 and the novel deals with various themes and interpretations such as family conflicts like joint family and nuclear family, middle class problems, marriage conflicts in India and also there is one interpretation that one night @ call centre can be interpret as theme of Globalization.

              

               In the twenty first century, one cannot think of any branch of knowledge without making a reference to Globalization, which has influenced language, literature, social sciences, service sectors and whatnot. Literature is a product of the thoughts and interactions of different social, political, economic and religious institutions. As the society changes, literature also changes in the way of expressing its themes, techniques, and the modes of awareness. Today, not only literature in English, but also Indian English literature is influenced by the global changes. Indian English literature in a way is a global product, if we consider it in terms of its use of English as a medium of expression. Chetan Bhagat is such a budding novelist who considers it his responsibility to appeal the young generation in India by writing a novel based on the call center, which is a gift of globalization. Although call center is considered as a boon for India which is facing the problem of unemployment, Chetan Bhagat through this novel is trying to give a message that the Indians, instead of relying on the western countries, should explore own creativities and potentialities. The present paper highlights the influence of call center, which is a child of globalization, on the personal, social, moral, intellectual and cultural relations of the call center employees.

              Chetan Bhagat is educated at IIT Delhi and IIM Ahemadabad. Presently he is working as an investment banker in Hong Kong. He has authored two novels- Five Points Some One (2004) for which he achieved Society Young Achiever‟s award in 2004 and One Night @ the Call Lapis

Center (2005). He is one of the best story tellers of the new generation. G.Swaminathan in his review of this novel comments:

 “if you want to really have a peep into the new generation, their jobs, life, attitude, values and their dreams please do not miss One Night @ the Call Center.”

The present novel explores the predicament of the call center employees. Chetan Bhagat was inspired to write a novel about the call centers by his cousins and sisters-in-law working at call centers, making him wonder how they begin their day when the whole world goes to sleep. The novel begins with a prologue, where the author is traveling in a train from Kanpur to Delhi. In the empty first class compartment, a lady tells him this story with one condition that he must promise to write a book on it. Chetan agrees to this and the lady begins the story.

             The narrative is about six persons: Shyam, Vroom, Esha, Priyanka and the Military uncle who work in a call center called „Connexion Call Center‟ in Gurgaon. The name of their bay is Western Appliances Strategic Group. They deal with customers of home appliances such as refrigerators, ovens and vacuum cleaners and are skilled in dealing with troublesome and painful customers. This call center is about to right-size its staff as it has been in a loss. The only client remaining is Western Appliances Corp. Their shift is from 10.30 p.m. to 6.30 a.m. It is a major shift as most of the calls occur in this time. Since the news of right-sizing hits the ears of the employees, it makes them panic about their job. However, the boss, Bakshi is a selfish and self-centered person who is interested only in his welfare. Infact, he sends the web-site project designed by Vroom and Shyam under his name to get credit to go to Boston.

            The novel is narrated through the protagonist Shyam, a call center agent who is a loser. He has potential in him but due to his shyness remains far from success. He hates his job, his highly incapable manager who thinks he is a total loser because of the constant de-motivating from his seniors. The only reason that he is sticking to this job is that it pays good money and working in some other profession will require several times the hard work as he is currently doing. He hates his boss and doing all donkey work, getting no credit for it. When priyanka, his ex-girlfriend gets a proposal from a Microsoft guy earning thousand U.S. dollars a year, Shyam becomes upset. It goes very difficult for him to forget her. His feelings for her are “like vestigial organs. They serve no purpose or value. But they give you a pain in the appendix.”possessiveness towards Priyanka leads him towards frustration. About Priyanka‟s decision to marry a rich person, he thinks “Girls are strategic. They‟ll talk about love and romance and all that crap – but when it comes to doing the deal, they will choose the fattest chicken”(72). His jealousy leads him to tap the phone of Priyanka to listen the conversation between her and her fiancée.

          Next character, Vroom (Varun) a flamboyant person is an ex-journalist-trainee and would love journalism but is here to make money. He is not interested in a call center job. He loves pizzas, drinking, riding bikes and thinking over social and global issues. Varun is called Vroom because of his love for anything on wheel. He is frustrated and stressed because his parents live separately. Because of this tension he cannot sleep at all. All day he lies in bed feeling sick.

     Priyanka is an ex-girlfriend of Shyam. She has broken up with Shyam after a long love affair. Fed up of her over possessive mother, she is confused between her likes of her and her troublesome mother. She wants to become a school principal and is saving money for her B.Ed. She is about to get married to an NRI who works in Microsoft whom she has never met. Priyanka‟s mother is over possessive. She wants her daughter to be married off to a wealthy guy. She becomes happy with a proposal from Ganesh‟s family: “I am so happy today. Look how God set such a perfect match right to our door. And I used to worry about you so much” (135). Ganesh wants to get married within one month but Priyanka is not mentally prepared for it. Like a typical Indian mother she says,

"Oh you don‟t have to worry about that. I am there to organize everything. You wait and see, I will work day and night to make it a grand event” 

        She feels when families have fixed the match, bride and groom are happy, there should not be a delay. She considers Shyam as “useless call center chap”(138). She never liked Shyam as he is not settled. She wishes priyanka marry someone she chooses for her. Her mother married her dad who was just a government employee only because he seemed like a decent human being. But her sister waited to marry better qualified boys and they are richer today.

            Esha, a modern fashionable girl aspires to be a top model. Her lipstick was a thick cocoa “as if she had just kissed a bowl of chocolate sauce.” As she has moved from Chandigarh to Delhi against her parent‟s wish, lives alone from them. After working at night in the call center she approaches agencies and tries to get modeling assignments. However, nothing big has come her way so far. She sleeps with a forty-year-old designer to get a modeling contract. She had to sleep with him once to get a break in a major fashion show. However, later he tells her agent that she was too short to be a ramp model, as if he didn‟t know that when he slept with her. She feels an awful guilt and hates herself for believing people who told her that she could be a model. She doesn‟t get her break and regrets this decision all her life.

            Radhika cares a lot for her husband Anuj and her demanding mother-in-law. She has to work all the night after doing household chores. She is much worried with right-sizing as she needs the job to run her family. Radhika has married Anuj after a “Whirlwind courtship”  in college. She is her daddy‟s only daughter but after marriage she has to adjust with Anuj‟s ultra traditional family. Instead of love, Anuj sends her SMS like: “Show elders respect. Act like a daughter-in-law should. Good night”. While talking with Esha she tells that “ being a daughter-in-law is harder than being a model”.

           Vroom gives an idea of playing radio jockey to make Radhika happy. He calls Anuj and pretends that he was calling from a radio show. Then he tells him that he has won a prize, a large bouquet of roses and a box of Swiss chocolate that he can send to anyone he loves anywhere in India, with a romantic message. Anuj‟s unexpected response is "Yes sure. I‟d like to send it to my girlfriend Payal”. Radhika comes to know that her husband has cheated her,she takes anti-depressant tablets. She cannot survive without it.

          Military Uncle is a retired Army person, an old generation man who lives alone and is neglected by his son and daughter-in-law who are in U.S.. He has a lot of love for his grand son. He is very particular about the time and discipline. He works to supplement the meager pension. When military uncle sends messages to his grandson, he gets an email from his son, “Dad… you have cluttered my life enough, now what came over me that I allowed communicating between you and my son. I don‟t want your shadow on him. Please stay away and do not send him any more emails. For literally or otherwise, we don‟t want your attachments” .

         While all the six persons are on a short journey, the Qualis staggers down and into the site of a high- rise construction project. Their cell phones did not work. They visualize their death. They had to stay balanced until someone spots them in the morning. Shyam‟s cell phone rings without network. It is a phone from God. The God tells that although they receive hundreds of calls everyday, the inner call is important which they cannot hear:

“The little voice inside that wants to talk to you. But you can only hear it when you are at peace and then too it is hard to hear it” (227). 

      The God makes a deal with them. He would save their lives on the condition that they reveal their inner voie to him. Varun confesses that he wants a life with meaning. He needs to quit this call center: “Sorry, but calling is not my calling” (229).

             Priyanka wants to make her mother happy. Military uncle wants to be with his son and grandson. He realizes he was wrong in judging them by his outdated values. Radhika wants to be “myself again, just like I was before marriage, when I was with my parents” (230). She wants to divorce Anuj. Esha wants to give up modeling. She wants her parents to love her again. Shyam wants to set up a small web design company in collaboration with Vroom. He wants to be “worthy of someone like Priyanka one day” (231). God‟s call makes them realize that they will be happy only if they do what they love doing the most, irrespective of how much money they earn by doing so. Ultimately they must listen to their hearts and forget about what other people tell them to do. They must respond their “inner calling” to lead a happy and fruitful life.

       Thus, Chetan Bhagat by presenting a novel on call center, raises questions about the pros and cons of this industry and those who are related to it. The novel shows that as a result of privatization policy, a very few industries give a job security. This leads to the exploitation of the employees. The call centers have to adjust their time with the time of the country with which they come in contact. In India, normally call center employees have to work throughout the night to deal with the western customers. As a result, they cannot get a proper sleep even in the day, which affects their health badly. One of the bright sides of globalization is that Indian youth are getting good job opportunities in western countries. It is a thing of pride that the companies like Microsoft cannot think about their business without taking into consideration the Indian software engineers. Today women are not restricted to the four walls but they have emancipated to show their potentiality. They have various avenues open for their career. Love, however, in global era.has changed its dimensions. It has become more practical and material possession has taken the place of true love. Priyanka loves shyam but cannot marry him as he is not well-settled. Radhika‟s husband shows a false love to her only because of her handsome salary, however, he develops extramarital affair with another girl. The novel also focuses on how the young people while running after their career, are forgetting their duty towards parents. Through the example of military uncle, Chetan Bhagat touches the clash between the old and modern with the changing atmosphere.

         Thus one night @ the call center deals with the problems, fears, insecurities faced by the call center employees. Cheten Bhagat realizes that call centers are not all fun and joy as it is believed popularly:

 “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.”

     These jobs waste the full potentiality of bright, young people, who take them up out of financial compulsion. The book is a message to young people not to give up their dreams for a few thousand rupees. However it does not mean that Chetan is against the call centers. He realizes that these call centers are heaven for under-performers or for those who need money for their education.

Chetan Bhagat feels that, we Indian should not consider ourselves inferior to Americans. We need to believe in ourselves instead of looking up to U.S. Vroom cannot stand two things: the Racists and the Americans. He 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”

                  We as Indians, have a lot of potential. Our youth population is enormous and is growing at a fast rate. Every year more people are educated and more Indians have the opportunity to compete globally. This locked up potential can be given free expression only if the youth have someone to act as their role-model; a person who can organize and guide the masses towards a common goal; some one who can inspire and motivate them for their success.