Name:-
Zankhana .M.Matholiya
Roll.No:-36
Paper
No.-13- Modern Literature
Class
:- M.A. Sem-4
Topic:- Social issues in chetan bhagat novel “One night @ the call
centre”.
Enrollment
No:- 2069108420180036
College:-
Smt.S.B.Gardi Department of English
Email
ID :- zankhanamatholiya96@gmail.com
Submitted:-Department
of English M.K.University, Bhavnagar
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Ø Introduction Of The Writer:
·
ChetanBhagat (born 22 April 1974) is an Indian
author, columnist, screenwriter, television personality and motivational speaker,
known for his English-language dramedy novels about young urban
middle-class Indians. he is contemporary writer who has earned a different
name and made their distinction in the literary world.
·
Bhagat writes columns for popular
English and Hindi Newspapers, including The Times of India and Dainik Bhaskar
which is focusing on youth, career and issues based on national
development. Bhagat has a talent for tapping into the zeitgeist, that he
is not much older than the people he writes about makes him a particularly
credible portray of their world. We can say that because he includes some basic
problems of Indian people.
·
ChetanBhaga is a famous novelist of
this century who knocks down the book bazaar with great accomplishmen. All his
live novels were bestsellers and they had been filmed by famous Bollywood
direciors. his vibrant and witty way of portraying stories has motivated
reading habits among many Indians. Writing was his passion in 2010, his name
was enlisted in the Time's magazineas "World's 100 Most influential people
Ø His Top-selling Novels:
®
Five Point
Someone (2004)
®
One Night @
the Call Center (2005)
®
The Three
Mistakes of My Life (2008)
®
2 States
(2009)
®
Revolution
2020 (2011)
®
What Young
India Wants (2012)
®
Half
Girlfriend (2014)
·
Chetan Bhagat
has represented the contemporary middle class urban social milieu of India in
the novel One Night@ the Call Center very faithfully and accurately. The
picture of the society, which is described in the novel, is not utopian in
nature. The novel mirrors the portrait of the present society of Indian urban
milieu which is, in many ways, similar to the actual social set up of the
modern time. The reflection of contemporary Indian society can be understood
with the three basic constraints of the characters’ lives in the novel; their
personal life, their professional life and their social life. In each of the
constraints of the characters, a complete replica of the contemporary pang and
predicament of the middle class people of the present society is presented in a
realistic manner.
·
All the six
major characters in the novel represent a separate issue of the time. From the
personal constraints of the characters, one can observe that the problems in
the lives of all the characters are the consequences of their involvement in
the changing scenario of the society. The root of the issues in their life is
their restlessness
·
The
Novel One night @ the call centre (ON@TCC) is included in the 'New Literature'.
New literature means something which is published in 21st century with
contemporary issues.
®
Issues
Related to the Changing Indian Family System
®
Broken
Interpersonal Relationship
®
Generation
Conflicts
®
Condition of
Women
®
Rising
Individualism
®
Ruin of
Indian Social and Moral Value System
®
Dowry
®
Changing
Urban Metropolitan Realities in the Westernized Scenario
®
Issues
Related to Globalized Job Environment
®
Governmental
Policies and their impacts on the Young Generation
®
Cross-Cultural
Issues
®
Issues of
Metropolitan Youth Culture; Need for Counseling and Motivation
§
Issues
Related to the Changing Indian Family System
·
Indian
family system has established as an exclusive model for centuries together. The
concept of joint family is one of the unique characteristics of the system.
Some other distinctive features of it are dedicated interpersonal
relationships, sharing of common resources like dwelling, kitchen, property,
and other ancestral belongings.
·
The joint
family system offers economic, social and emotional protection to all the
members of the family irrespective of age or earning capacity. The third
generation the children are nurtured with love, care and kindness. Good
education and values of life are nurtured in them by the first generation i.e.
the elders in case the middle generation.
·
EX:-
Military
Uncle had to leave his son’s house and had to do the job of a call center’s
agent to supplement his income. As time passes, he realizes his mistake of
interfering in the individual life of his son and daughter-in-law. He wants to
settle the matter with his son and he wants to live again with him. He was in
touch with his grandson who is a school boy. He sends some e-mails containing
various pictures of animals and birds. The son is still angry with the father
and he comes to know that his father sends useless emails to his son. He writes
a mail to his father as:
·
Dad you have
cluttered my life enough, now stop cluttering my mail box. I do not know what
came over me that I allowed communication 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. (BHAGAT)
§
Broken
Interpersonal Relationship
·
In One Night
@the Call Center, the writer Chetan Bhagat has thrown light on the very serious
issue of broken interpersonal relationship in present Indian society. All the
prominent characters in the fiction acutely experience the embarrassment of
broken relationship with their relatives and its effects on their personal and
professional life.
·
Ex:-
·
To begin
with Vroom’s or Varun’s parents, one can observe that his father does not live
with his wife and an only son. Varun’s father had a relationship with his
office secretary and he left his wife and only son. Shyam narrates the case of
Varun’s family as: Vroom’s dad was a businessman who parted from his wife two
years ago. He preferred banging his secretary to bring with his family, so
Vroom and his mother now live without him
·
The case of
Radhika and her husband Anuj is another such example of broken interpersonal
relationship. In spite of all the loyalty and committed dedication for Anuj and
his family, her husband Anuj has a so called modern type girlfriend in Delhi
named Payal.
§
Generation
Conflicts
·
Another most
important issue related to the changing Indian family system of contemporary
Indian Society depicted in the novel One Night @the Call Center is generation
conflicts between the young generation and the old generation.
·
Priyanka the
chief female protagonist belongs to a middle class family but she is a modern
type of girl. She is a graduate. She has a boyfriend. She dates with him. She
does the job of a call center agent in the night shift. She wears clothes with
suits her modern looks. She prefers to eat fast food in expensive restaurants
so that she can express her modernity. She does not like golden jewellery as
she thinks that it is old fashioned and only ‘aunties’ prefers to wear it. She
has a mother with the traditional mind set. She wants her daughter Priyanka to
be obedient to what she thinks of her daughter.
·
Priyanka is
very individualistic in nature. She, initially, follows what her mother
instructs but gradually when she grows up, thinks that she has grown up enough
and her mother is trying to dominate her without meaning. She rebels against
her mother’s domination. Her mother wants Priyanka to marry a well settled boy,
most preferably NRI and she wants Priyanka to be away from her boyfriend Shyam
who is her colleague at the call center; a loser of some kind. Her mother has a
bitter experience in Prominent Issues of Metropolitan Society in One Night@ the
Call Center 174 Select Issues of Contemporary Indian Society in the Fictional
Works of Chetan Bhagat her life of marring a middle class person and all the
hardships of her life are due to it. She doesn’t want her daughter to
experience such hardships as she has experienced in life. The mother loves her
daughter a lot but she wants her daughter to be careful in important decisions
of her life. Priyanka shares with Shyam, the reason for her mother’s over
conscious worries for her future as:
·
She married
my dad who was just a government employee only because he seemed like a decent
human being. Her sisters waited better qualified boys and they are richer
today. Her concern for me comes from there. She is my mother. It is not as if
she does not know what is good for me.
·
The
generation clashes can also be observed in the father son relationship between
Military Uncle and his son.
·
Another
illustration to be observed regarding the generation clashes between the young
generation and old generation is between Esha and her parents., Esha wants to
become a model. She has moved to Delhi from Chandigarh against her parents’
wish. She works at the call center to earn regular income but she is passionate
about her modelling career. Her parents were not in favour of her decision of
becoming a model as they thought of many ills in this field but Esha did not
listen to them.
.
§
Condition of
Women
·
The issue of
the condition of women has been one of the major concerns of contemporary
Indian society. For years together, woman has been used as an object in the
hands of men. Male domination has been one of the chief characteristics of the
traditional Indian society. Apart from a few examples of revolutionary women in
the history of India, over all condition of woman in Indian society has been
pathetic.
·
The woman
characters like Priyanka, Esha and Radhika are modern and revolutionary; they
are also victims of the age. The women are mostly represented as exploited
physically, emotionally or psychologically in the novel.
·
Radhika, she
is very a sincere and obedient daughter-in-law but she is not appreciated for
that. She is a very loyal wife to her husband Anuj but she does not get equal
loyalty in return. Esha becomes a prey of casting couch and she is physically
exploited by a forty year old modelling professional for giving her a break in modelling
career but she finally comes to know that she has been deceived and rejected.
§
Changing
Urban Metropolitan Realities in the Westernized Scenario
·
The fiction
One Night @the Call Center throws noticeable light on certain very serious
issues related to the globalized job environment experienced by the middle
class people at their job places in contemporary Indian corporate scenario.
Industrialization and globalization promise visible modernization of the trade,
commerce or the business sector of contemporary India. The same promises
unprecedented advancement in manufacture or production sectors.
·
In this novel
writer wants to give message to the Indians that who working in call center
they just get good salary but it not give it a opportunity to do something else
or for their skills and creativity Americanized form of English in the Call
Centers. How globalization forced the characters of this Novel to change their
names to Western: e.g. like,
Shyam Mehra – Sam Mercy
Varun Malhotra - Victor
Radhika Jha – Regima Jones
Esha singh – Elina
§
Governmental
Policies and their impacts on the Young Generation
·
The author
Chetan Bhagat in the present fiction One Night @the Call Center has criticised
the ruling governments for the contemporary situation of our country. It has
been more than seven and a half decades since we got independence but the
country has not done considerable progress like that of Japan, Germany or China
having fresh starts almost at the same time. There can be many reasons for that
but one of them can be the will power and the developmental policies by the
then ruling governments. The politicians have taken due care up till today to
save and secure their power and positions by all means. The governments seem to
have drastically failed to make effective policies that promise the country
peace, progress and prosperity.
·
character of
Varun who can be called his mouthpiece. Varun is an extrovert young boy from
the middle class urban background. He is not satisfied with his present
situation in life. He and his colleagues work hard but they do not get the
rewards of their work.
·
Vroom says:
There is nothing wrong with working night and I agree money is good. But the difference
is, we don’t have jobs that make us work to our potential. Look at our country,
we are still so behind, these Americans, even when, we know no less than them.
(. . .) like there is so much to do. We should be building roads, power plants,
airports, phone networks and metro trains in every city like madness. And if
the government moves it’s rear-end and does that, the young people in this
country will find jobs there: Hell, I would work days and nights for that-as
long as I know that what I am doing is helping build something for my country,
for its future. But the government doesn’t believe in doing any real work, so
they allow these BPOs to be opened and think they have taken care of then
youth. (BHAGAT)
§
Cross-Cultural
Issues
·
The fiction
One Night @the Call Center also throws light on the reciprocal cross cultural
issues in the minds of people between the Americans and Indians in considerable
varieties. The author seems to have taken a chance to criticize some of the routine
behaviors of the American people. Americans are obviously taken as the most
advanced citizens in their standards of living. They are considered world’s
most progressive population having an advanced life style and modernized
approach to life. One of the clients of the call center, in which all the six
major characters work as call center agents, is the Western Appliances..
·
Mr. William
Fox becomes very irritated and annoyed and starts passing racial comments which
can raise the eyebrow of any Indian. The further talk is like:
Who am I speaking to?
Victor, sir.
Tell me your fucking name. You are some kid in
India, isn’t it?
Sir, I am afraid I can’t
disclose my location.’
You are from India. Tell
me boy.
Yes sir. I am in India, Vroom gave in.
So what did you have to
do to get this job? Fucking degree in nuclear physics?
Sir, do you need help
with your cleaner or not? Vroom said.
C’mon son. Answer me. I
don’t need your help. Yeah, I’ll change the dust bag.
What about you guys? When will you change your
dusty country?
Excuse me sir, but I want you to stop talking
like that, Vroom said.
Oh, really, now some
brown kid will tell me what to do? (BHAGAT)
§
Conclusion
the present novel One Night
@the Call Center represents some of the very serious issue of contemporary
Indian metropolitan society which is modernized in form, westernized in
character and globalized in nature.Bhagat's novels are audience centric and not
literary centric. The themes involve the anxieties and insecurities of the
rising Indian middle class women, including questions about career, inadequacy,
marriage, family conflicts in a changing India, and the relationship of the
young Indian middle class to both executives and ordinary clients whom they
serve in the U.S.A. There is an aspect of self-help in the book as the author
invites readers to identify aspects of themselves and their lives that make
them angry and that they would like to change. But women employment is totally
different from women empowerment. Tension arises when their independence and
individualism conflict with traditional, cultural and social values. Though his
women characters display westemized life styles, some seek eloser relationship
with their husband, parents than their modern life style. But in general, the
attiude of the modern trendy young women need to be mended as going against the
will of social restrictions and getting success put them in greater
complexities.
Bibliography
BHAGAT, CHETAN. ONE NIGHT @ THE
CALL CENTER. 2005.
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