Desicritics Author: Neelakantan

A Tale of Two Countries

Neelakantan — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:36:51 EST

Two countries. Separated by about 24 hours at their (official) birth, both countries have taken a different path.

Over more than 60 years of independence, both countries have advanced, in slightly different directions though. Today, both the countries use the abundant manpower available with them. They have set up industries from scratch with barely any foreign assistance. Today they are renowned across the globe for their industries. Global interns are keen to work in these enterprises and it is a talent magnet from around the world. The training centres are huge and require considerable investment. Selection procedures are tough and require a decent level of motivation. Both countries have access to the latest communication systems including Blackberries which they use for effective project management. Some projects bomb, but they take in their stride. Clients and vendors are global, as has to be the case whenever the projects of large of such nature. Billing can be upfront or milestone based and can be paid in almost any currency. Many of these companies have operations in other parts of the world - both acquired and organically grown - which allow for a certain degree of operational independence from the headquarters (and plausible deniability if required). A company needs to have, preferably, multiple training centres, offices and enough back up and risk planning capability. It is also important that they are located in catchment areas for the labour. And recruitment centers for have to staffed with local experience. Campus recruitment is ideal though laterals are hired too...The industries that these countries offer expertise in, is considerably mature today...

But in those common paths, there is a distinct difference. Like the by now cliched story of Bollywood movies with twins separated at birth the story of these two countries is remarkably different.

Today, one country is the epicentre of global terrorism outsourcing and another one is the epicentre of global technology outsourcing. Just as every single terror attack big or small finds a linkage in Pakistan, almost every single IT product big or small has some Indian connection.

Without the terror and the technology part, you will actually not see any difference - both of these countries used globalization for entirely different aims. Which goes on to show, each of these countries could have swapped paths or could have used it in a synergistic manner.

A Bangalore Breakfast

Neelakantan — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 11:56:35 EDT

"Idli Vada, Khara bhat, Chow chow bhath, Dose, Rava Dose" he rattled off at the speed and noise of a bull being chased from the inner confines of a China shop. But that is music to the ears of a breakfast connoisseur in Bangalore. What better thing than a holiday to write about it?

For those of you who know (or dont know) Bangalore, breakfast is the second best thing that this city can offer. Many of the people who live here never have breakfast - the lovely weather - the best thing about this city - prevents them from waking up at that time. But presuming that they overcome the challenge of waking up in particularly pleasant weather, a wondrous treat awaits them.

For the regular gourmet like you and me - not the Pav Bhaji in a 5 star or an airconditioned dhaba recreated in a 7 star enviromnent - it is a treat. I presume that the "others" are not readers of this blog.

So, what can you expect in Bangalore? Idlis (or should it be Idlies or Idlys?) - soft and fluffy as they can be made with a textured finish. They are never ground completely like toothpaste, they have a grainy texture about them. They always taste fresh and simply melt in your mouth. Health freaks stop here.

Vadas - the biggest vadas in the country are in Bangalore. Round, generously big - a perfect Vada is brown and crisp on the outside - just right and obviously, very fleshy inside with a few bites of coconuts and chilli. No, they dont adulterate it with cabbage and onion, not yet, not here. Dont let cholesterol bother you, for now.

The dosa and the sambar - we can debate about it endlessly. Dosas are highly adaptive beings. In Bombay they are whitish, in Delhi, they are nearly spotless white. They are a golden brown in Chennai and a reddish brown in Bangalore. They are anorexically crisp in many places and plump in many other places (some coincidence that).

When it comes to Dosa my preference is for Chennai over Bangalore, though Bangalore is a second by just about a quarter of a Bombay dosa thickness. But the sambar is best served in Bangalore - with that undercurrent of jaggery. The discussion on Chennai and Bangalore Sambar can be a never ending one in certain circles. (Dont even bring the sugary sambar you get in Bombay into the discussion. That is not sambar, that is pani puri chutney.)

But coming back to Bangalore, there are dosas and there are dosas. The regular dosa is the "sada" dosa, the one filled with "masal" is the masala dosa and the one with onions spread on top is the onion dosa. The onion dosa is loosely similar to an onion uttappam, but there are places where you can see that the onion dosa is a lot of onions, coconut and small cut green chillies in a dosa whereas the uttapam has onions nicely mixed with the batter plus extra beings like tomatoes.

The other variants here are the "Set" Dosa, a set of three rather plump and succulent dosas. I hate the sagu and prefer the sambar anyday, but the sagu has a fan following itself. "Neer Dosa" is a slightly rarer variety, that can be found at ease in Udupi, but it is not easy to find in Bangalore. White to the point of being considered for a Rin ad, it has coconut water - hence neer and is usually served with a coconut jaggery combo. The Rava dosa is not really a dosa, so it gets left out of this discussion. It has its followers too, so do not underestimate it...

The Khara Bhath is the Bangalore version of the upma. The Khara Bhath is a grainy textured, spicy rava preparation and is never gooey like the upma. Served with sambar and Chutney, it is the lightest breakfast, this side of the idli. The Kesari Bhath is the richer cousin of the Sheera. The Khara bhath is always, served upturned - the measure is a small bowl and you get one bowl served upturned- sort of like a hot grainy igloo with coriander leaves and chilli on a green leaf base plate. And in Bangalore, you can get chow chow bhath - which is one bowl Khara Bhath and one bowl Kesari Bhath served upturned on the same plate. If it makes you cringe, do not - it is a delicacy on any hungry morning.

Aha, how could I miss the coffee. With a deft half twist off the monster sized "coffee filter", a huge drop of decoction with the left hand and a nearly overflowing (small) cup of sweetened milk sloshed onto it - the coffee here is the south indians dream come true. Starbucks, dont even try. Those espresso machines are, well, ersatz. This is real coffee, preferably served upturned with a tumbler on a "davara".

None of the hotels in Bangalore ever miss a step on any of these. The Vada is not a scoring subject since the varying oil content can make any calorie counter die of a mental heart attack. But the others are. Try out Bangalore for breakfast and you will know what you are missing.

What is India?

Neelakantan — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 11:44:55 EDT

How does India connect? Apart from the telephone networks, and the so called caste networks that many publications want us to believe?

India connects to itself through its way of life. Most Mumbaikars will share this feeling. You can spot a Mumbaikar from a distance. The very mention of the city creates a bonding. I am sure Delhites will agree to the same feeling when they meet people from their cities. So, will Chennaites, Maduraites, Lucknowis and Bhopalis. Right?

Ask anybody who has worked in the Gulf. The Tamils there are a group unto themselves as are the Malayalees as are the other linguistic groups. Many collegians will tell you of a Gujarat group or a Bihar group at their hostels. Of course, the said group will hate any other said group, but that will not translate into anything other than a dinner conversation.

Ever met anyone from the US? Someone who has worked there? The Telugu and Kannada association is pretty strong there - as are the others, including the Marathi Mandals.

There is nothing wrong about this. This is how India connects. India, the nation, has carved out millions of identities and the people have done it for themselves. Each of these is independent in itself and is both tolerant and non-destructive of the other. So, the Telugu and Kannada association can at once represent South India as much as they can represent the Indian IT community or the Indian Diaspora. The Mumbaikars can represent all commuters at one time and can represent the state of Maharashtra or even the middle class of India or just the urbanized India. Each of these groupings view themselves as defenders of India and its way of life.

So, what is the identity that is India? Is it the states? If that is the case, there are quite a few of them, created and in creation, in the minds and on paper. Is it the language? If that is the case, there are hundreds, if not thousands of them. Is it just a mishmash of where we are born and brought up? Or is it more of the festivals we celebrate? Is it perhaps the places where we were educated? Or is it where we work?

Is it just the cricket team that makes us collectively root for it? Or is it the star power of Shah Rukh Khan? Or is it the dialogues of Rajinikanth? The baritone of Amitabh perhaps? The sublime cricket of Sachin? The mellifluous music of Ilayaraja or AR Rahman? Or the Suprabhatam of MS Subbalakshmi? Or the rush Tirupati? Or the beaches of Goa? What holds us together? Just the flag or the nation?

It is these micro identities, ever fluid, ever changing, yet tolerant of every other identity, that has characterized India so far. So far, because change is in the air. Those who wish to divide the nation have seen this as an evil that needs to be ripped apart. These identities are being tugged and pulled at in various directions to the detriment of this nation.

A couple of years back, we had a big argument in Hyderabad with an auto driver who did not want to speak to us in Telugu. He gave us a big bhashan on how Hindi is the national language. The whole thing ended by us walking out of his rickshaw. Obviously, he had been brought up with the belief that he did not identify with the "rest" of Hyderabad.

Recently, I was talking to someone from that 100% literate state and the person persistently refused to talk to me in Malayalam. Not that I realized it then, I continued and it was only later that I realized that all the while I spoke in Malayalam, he preferred to speak to me in English. Simply put, he did not want to identify himself as a "Keralite".

As we drove near the border of Kerala, into Tamil Nadu - this is somewhere near Tenkasi, I spotted a school of Arabic in a place that is basically a ghetto. An Arabic school in the middle of Tamil Nadu? Will they identify themselves with the Tamil Nadus way of life? And then you wonder where the students of this school will find jobs? Of course, they can serve their Arabic masters, when the time comes , as their bootlicking servants. In due course, these students will grow up as aliens in their own country with their grievances which we can sit down to address, by creating more Arabic schools and Arabic quotas, for example. And perhaps that is the intent of those who have funded a school like this in a poor area.

You might say, so what? It is the denial of the national identity, the heritage, which to date has been an identity to stand by, that is disturbing. The national identity of India closely identified with its linguistic identity and heritage irrespective of religion is being attempted to be superimposed by a "superior " identity, that of religion, that wants people to deny their heritage and accept a new one.

Religion, until recently here has always found its way in India through its heritage. Kerala Christians and Kashmiri Muslims are an example Religions have modified their presence in India, much like McDonalds customized its Aloo Tikki and it is this customization that is in danger. The India that has been held together by strands of language and customs that cut across religion suddenly finds itself being cut apart by the scissor of religion. Make no mistake. This is a trend that will have far reaching implications. This may be a little premature, but the signs are clear.

Too far fetched? Think about this example. Bengal and Bangladesh, once upon a time, were linked by their common language and customs. Today, there is no real link between WestBengal and Bangladesh anywhere except in the cobwebs of nostalgia that people weave in their senile brains sitting in their decrepit armchairs. In any case, the East Bengal will never resemble what the West Bengal was or is. It is well on its way to slavishly emulating something else, denying every single thing that its heritage once stood for.

The linguistic state formation, however wrong, was an endorsement of how we identified strongly with our heritage and languages that we grew up with. And that was there on the ground to see. Today, that fabric is being slowly torn apart. By educating in English (including myself) without education in their local languages, by choosing not to highlight our heritage to our children and of course, by external forces, for whom it is beneficial that we live in denial about our heritage.

Yet I am not entirely pessimistic about this. There are many more pieces that hold India beyond this. Yet, my sense is that every single icon that holds us together is in danger of being attacked by these divisive forces.

What can hold us together inspite of these forces? Many things. India is a land of many icons, starting from Shivaji to Gandhiji and Buddha to Asoka. This is one example of strong glue that can hold us together. Somehow, deliberately, slowly, through our education system
there is this puzzling inability to highlight what some of these historical successes. The tolerant India is rapidly losing many strands of its fabric. And that is to the advantage of some who wish to divide this country. And our politicians, willy nilly play into their hands little knowing that their short term gain will cost us a country...

Poetry: 60 Years in 60 Words

Neelakantan — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:12:06 EDT

Freedom. Exhilaration. Kashmir Incursion. Integration. Republic formation. Linguistic division. Industrialization. IIT formation. Growth stagnation. Chinese aggression. Aksai Chin occupation. Green Revolution. LOC creation. Corruption. Emergency declaration. Democracy restoration. World cup acquisition. Punjab terrorization. Sensex popularization. Mandal commission. Reservation. Liberalization. Communal conflagration. Nuclear detonation. Kargil invasion. Media revolution. Y2K resolution. Outsourcing nation. Investment destination. Terrorism explosion. Leadership Inaction. 60 years completion.

Not sure if I got this entirely correct, but wish you all a happy Independence day.

The Halter Neck

Neelakantan — Mon, 14 May 2007 01:09:21 EDT

Imagine a typical Tam Brahm wedding. The traditional welcome table with a sprinkling of rose water, sandal paste and some sugar candy. Flowers twined together in a smallish length of thread - only jasmine please - for all the women. The men get to taste a pinch of sugar candy if they so wish. The wedding is all about the maamis, the maamas are there only as a side show, a background, in their white mundu and shirts, except when they have to lift the groom and bride as part of the ritual.

A wedding in any Indian community is an earthshaking event. It is all about entire forests of family trees meeting each other. Like Ents in the Lord of Rings, entire forests congregate for the wedding of a branch somewhere in the world (usually South of the Vindhyas) and then disappear to their resting places, sipping Narasu's (or ersatz) filter coffee, until the next wedding, nostalgically reminiscing the days gone by.

The scene is from one such wedding where crisp Kanjeevarams were enjoying their exposure to outside air after a long time. Long since having spent time mothballed inside cupboards, save the occasional airing, they were glad to have come back to the occasion that was the raison d'etre of their existence. Many of them had won stiff competition from their shelfmates before they were chosen to represent their owners in this particular wedding.

No Kanjeevaram in their entire history has ever attended any two weddings consecutively. In the folklore of Kanjeevaram saree history it's said that "unlucky is a Kanjeevaram which has to visit two weddings consecutively without a chance for its shelfmates, for it leads a lonely existence". So, there you are.

Picture the Kanjeevarams enjoying their day out, a day in which their fellow jeans, skirts, salwar kameezes were no competition. On any day which was a non event, the jeans and salwars were victorious, but these special occasions - festivals, weddings - the only ones which counted for Kanjeevarams, they won hands down. There were bottle green sarees, magenta sarees, sarees with a putta design, rani (green) coloured sarees, mampazha (Mango) colour sarees. Imitation? Bah. Only genuine stuff was allowed here. Anything other than a genuine silk saree stood out like a cactus in a desert on such occasions.

There were heads that were decked with a flower garland piece each, a place of pride very few flowers got on a day to day basis. The heavyweight necklaces and earrings and the vaira (diamond) thodu were there too, having won a day out against stringy 18 carat fancy pieces, platinum, white gold and other toy ornaments that are considered mere fancy trinkets in the dress code for a wedding.

"The amount of gold in that necklace is less than what my saree has in the jarigai (border, usually woven)," boasted a silk haired paati to the gujju sari clad granddaughter. The gujju style of saree, incidentally had made significant inroads and it was accepted, only in receptions though. The core function was still like the Gaul camp in the middle of the Romans. It was a show where one outfit shone against the other - they were ageless.

The 1965 Kanjeevaram with pearl necklace was as much a winner as the latest design from Nallis embellished with a smart design from Ganjam. No Armani or YSL here. They wouldn't even be offered recognition. As each of them preened their creases and lifted their borders from offending Kolams, one of them shrieked. Suddenly, everybody looked away from the 1965 Kanjeevaram - itself of good pedigree.

A pink chiffon was giving them competition and how. Suddenly, the 1965 Kanjeevaram found itself staring itself at a halter neck blouse and a pink chiffon. The heads decked with flowers turned towards the halter neck. They nodded in stern disapproval. The Kanjeevarams, the epitome of fashion and conservativeness looked away aghast in horror at the intruder in their midst.

Starched mundus and check shirts with gold bracelets and gold watches looked up and, in an instant, the Kanjeevarams that held them in thrall for centuries no longer did. The mundus were all eyes on the chiffon. "So much for our age old loyalty," said the Kanjeevarams.

"How times have changed," they lamented collectively even as some among them began to spell their epitaph in the face of competition in the shape of halter necks.

Coffee sipping short and longsighted eyes now turned towards the pink chiffon and halter neck which in the meantime had positioned itself in the middle of the crowd. They gazed towards the chairs, the decorations every few seconds, snatching an eyeful of the chiffon. The flower decked heads wafted their smells in their direction as did the coffee, but there was no distracting anyone from the attention that the chiffon enjoyed.

"Aha," said one paati. "Her mother had worn a sleeveless blouse in my wedding, said one wizened old one who could barely see and cursed her shortsightedness and her son for not taking her for an eye check up. She managed it all in the same breath, which was found wanting too.

"Right," nodded another kollu paati, who was preening her white tresses, "her grandmother has a bob cut - karmam."

Newly returned You-yes-yeah mama and mami in their Walmart jeans and Boston Celtics Tee-shirt and Liz Taylor Bob cut looked as modern as blue Ambassador cars with metallic paint. Suddenly their conversation about how the Grand Canyon and Niagara have changed in the last few years had no audience. The 1974 putta jarigai which was the talk of the Kanjeevaram gang was left in suspended animation in the middle of a conversation. Forgotten branches of the same family trees were nearly coming together split apart like a thunderstorm had separated them.

A little coffee spilt everywhere, nadaswarams lost their buzz and the thavils missed a beat. The vadyar swallowed a few mantras and the muhurtam was hurriedly advanced by both the families lest the groom change his mind at the last minute. The videographer had to be cajoled to continue shooting the wedding even as he made a modeling offer to the halter neck. The photographer had, in the meantime, shot a portfolio of her.

The halter neck had nearly halted the wedding, but only just. In the meantime, a quick thinking maami offered the halterneck a readymade blouse and a new silk saree as a wedding gift. "Please wear it and be back for the traditional function," she at once ordered and requested. The day was saved, but it is there in the video for all to see.

Very soon they were all back in the cupboard with the mothballs and mundus. "Today it is one halter neck, but tomorrow if there are many, I think we are powerless," one of the Kanjeevarams lamented even as they came up a strategy to keep halter necks out of weddings.

"I think you should welcome change," started the gold bordered mundu even as they turned their backs to each other, awaiting the next wedding.

(An edited version of this made it to print, in the Deccan Herald 5/13, titled - "Out of Cupboards")

Satire: How To Write About India

Neelakantan — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:52:37 EST

Or how to be successful/popular/sought after as a journalist/writer/author especially abroad. Here are the rule(s) of thumb when writing about India for a Western audience...

Here's how you go about it.

Your piece has to start well. Therefore you first create, with good vocabulary, a nice paragraph on the social inequities in India. Keywords to be used are caste, poverty, illiteracy. Statistics like 80% of India lives on farms or 50% of India is illiterate or 70% of India does not use soap can be very handy. Other than percentages, use population figures. 4,32, 1235 houses do not have more than 12 volts of electricity for 3 days of the week would make a great sentence. Include a few names like Vidharba, Madurai if you want greater impact other than the usual outskirts of Bangalore or Hyderabad or slums of Mumbai.

If you want to become particularly rabid at this juncture mention child marriage. A comparison with Pakistan and Bangladesh at this juncture would make great reading especially from a literacy rates standpoint or the great strides those two nations have made. If you have to mention China, mention that they are simply a great nation or that they will overtake India in the next 3 minutes. Never, not even once, create an impression that overall India is moving in the right direction.

The second paragraph should be about India's growth in the last few years. Don't forget to add a sentence in the end of this para to denounce the growth. Keep this para as short as possible. Keywords are myth, haves vs have nots, elitist bias. So, a sentence in this paragraph should read, even though India's IT and BPO sector has grown, farmers commit suicides. Do not, repeat, do not make a connection that reforms have never really happened in the farm sector and that it is because reforms have not reached them that this happens. Insist, by repeated assertion, that it is IT and its success at the expense of the farm sector that causes this to happen.

In the third para or thereabouts, compare to death. Example: Compare the life of an educated professional with a gardener and say that the gardener earns about 1/10th of what the professional earns. The other good comparison is the number of hutments outside the balcony of your hotel room or the number of beggars in trains. Wonder aloud why reforms have not reached beggars travelling on trains. In the same trend close your eyes to the number of people cellphones have reached, also close your eyes to how individuals are pulling themselves out of poverty using these very things.

Over the next few paras, whine and whine. Now that you already know how to write, just continue in the same vein. For every one sentence of India's growth, three sentences have to denounce it in the strongest terms. Mention two murders which took place recently in fairly graphic detail.

Somewhere just before the end, mention that India's progress has not benefited anybody. Do not talk about people who have gotten out of poverty thanks to this progress. Try to ignore gardeners who maintain lawns in the IT campuses, also ignore cab drivers who are cab owners today.

Preferably avoid talking to maids and security guards who would not have had a job if it were not for this level of growth. Try not to talk to people who are working hard so that their children are educated and their next generation gets out of poverty.

Also, if you have to mention that the BPO sector attracts fresh graduates, mention that these jobs are bad for their gall bladder at the very least. Ignore the fact that for many graduates, a BPO job is a godsend without which they would be working for peanuts at best or standing at the end of a long line at the employment exchange. Ignore the fact that for many of them, the job is a stepping stone to many other things. Ignore the fact that BPOs treat them with dignity and pays them well.

Ignore the fact that jobs are available for the asking in India at almost all levels. Cooks to caterers to security guards to courier boys to shop assistants to technology architects to structural engineers. Also never once, ask the question to the man on the street - has their life changed for the better over the last 10 years. (Believe me, the answer, except in some very dark corners or leftists, will be a resounding yes.)

Your last paragraph has to sound a warning to all those who read your article. Mention about how people and companies and the government has to take more responsibility for poverty and paint it with a broad brush of "private public partnership to make a significant impact".

And oh, the headline of your article should be sufficiently apocalyptic. "Social inequality threatening India's Economic Stability" would make a great example.

BTW, India really is about contrasts. While not getting carried away by the growth and saying all is well here, let us also not go to the other extreme of saying that the reforms have done nothing and that all is wrong here. Neither will reforms take away inequity all of a sudden nor will inequity take away reforms. Both these arguments miss the wood for the trees (or whatever).

The Truth About Jobs

Neelakantan — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 01:14:24 EDT

The call center job has attracted the ire of many. There are those who say it is a dead end job. There are others who say that there are cultural ramifications, health hazards, moral hazards and what not. Some are very charitable to it and just say it is a McJob.

The truth is that the call center job is a choice made by those who work there. It is the choice of this era. Ideally, every man in India would be a Shah Rukh Khan and every woman would perhaps be a Preity Zinta? If that's not possible, every man could perhaps be a Sunil Mittal and every woman perhaps a Sucheta Dalal? Or how about Sehwag and Sania? But somewhere between Shah Rukh, Sehwag and Sunil lies reality. The reality that one has to have a job to earn a living. Make ends meet.

So what do you do if nobody comes forward to you with film offers or a place in the national cricket team or an industry to run? You take the job that is available. Mind well that I am not talking about someone who has a post graduate degree in marketing and has the choice of two jobs - one which pays well but offers no work life balance and the other which is a low paying job with greater responsibility - the standard choice trotted by well heeled MBAs. I am talking about the average Ramu on the street - the graduate (less than that, some other time).

I never tire of saying this, but a job is a job is a job. It is a means to earn a living. There are a chosen few who derive a decent livelihood out of their passion; for many others, a job is a means to earn their living. Period. For them their passion is their hobby.

Let's look at the past. In the 60s and 70s, the trains which brought people to Bombay, Delhi from the South of India were known as "Stenographers Express". Today we know and read about IT jobs today and the mushrooming of NIIT-like computer training institutes. Then, every gully had a typing institute that taught you speed typing and shorthand. To standardize this situation, the government introduced a typing and shorthand test. (It exists even today.) Who in their right frame of mind will argue that a typist's job can have any passion? And much more than the call center job, a typist's job was a dead end job.

Cut to the 80s, when it was the Gulf job boom. That was about 25 years back. So, thousands of Indians went there. How many are CEOs today, since 25 years in service is a reasonably long time to rise to a CEO position? Incredibly - none (or three). You can cry hoarse to argue that many of them went there as low level position - I know that nobody went to the "Gulf" as a CEO, but 25 years is a long time. Truth is that the Gulf jobs were all about labour arbitrage and zero progress. You joined as an accounts clerk you died as one. Dead end job anyone?

The 90s saw the bodyshopper job. The Gulf job replaced by the contractor (consultants - if you wanted to elevate your position) in the American firm. Many of these programmers have seen one (or two or three) applications in their entire job profile. (Indian programmers of IT companies by contrast know "all there is to know" because they work in multiple projects across a year or so.) Apart from the handful who graduated to founding companies (and many of them were US educated) during the dot com boom, the rest of the minions are just sitting there capitalizing on labour arbitrage and cultivating an accent (something you did not get in the Gulf). Isn't this a dead end job too?

Take any other job. Clerk? Salesman? Accounts officer? Receptionist? Office boy? Challenging or Dead end? Jobs can be dead end, as long as they help the employee earn his living and live comfortably. It is better to be a bit television artist earning money than it is to stand in front of a big banner film company office and wait until you are "discovered". Likewise, if I cannot become Sehwag, Sunil or Shahrukh, I need a job to survive. Once my bread and butter are taken care of, I will look to do something else. Like blog, perhaps.

So, is the call center a dead end job or not? The call center job is way way better than any of the above. Because except for the typists, the other job booms sucked out qualified engineers (for the most part) out of the country. The call center takes the jobs to graduates. They are part of those who, as we have seen in many of the art films of the 80s, are the educated unemployed and would have seen themselves at the end of a line in an "employment exchange" were it not for a call center. Many of these call center execs work in swank offices, are paid well, are trained in a whole host of things, get to travel abroad, gain multicultural experience (either through travel or by interacting with visitors).

The job of the 00s is the call center job. It will soon pass and somewhere in the next few years we will see another boom in a job of a different sort. Then we will all come together and rant and say how the "future job" is a dead end job.