Hi mates,
For those who have already read the national best seller ’5 point someone’, there are two different ways of reading this book.
(1) Compare One night @ call centre with five point someone every now and then
(2) Read as if this is Chetan’s first book
I took the second option and hence here comes the review..
More than 10 reviews have already discussed about the plot here. Anyways I will give some insight into the book
Shyam, Vroom, Esha, Priyanka, Radhika & Military Uncle are working with Connexions call centre, Gurgaon. Unlike a typical call centre team, they come to office in the same cab. One day, for that matter, one night, the worst things started happening in their life. When they feel they are going through hell, they get a call from GOD. And then ….
OOps !! If I’m continuing with this what’s the purpose of Chetan?
The cab coming @ midnight by blowing constant horn has become a part of my life. Not because I’m working with a call centre but as my room mate is a tech supporter. I feel the author is successful in the research of regular call centre life.
There are some laudable moments in this book. In one scene Shyam’s Aunt is asking whether the maid has stolen the screw of her ear ring. The typical ‘Yeshman’ (land lady) attitude. The agony you feel when your boss refer you as a resource is portrayed beautifully. I am damn sure a huge percentage of Indian youth hate the word ‘resource’. Don’t you? In front of media, industries say that employees are their asset. But inside, there are no employees, just a few resources. If you have been in Kuwait, you must know that most Kuwaitis call you ‘Rafeeq’ (friend) once they realize that you are an Indian. I remember once my friend Hakeem(an NRI) told me about the irritation it causes when you hear this. Man, I can relate this to the word resource.
The manager Bakshi is the life of this book. He is THE Project manager. You will enjoy reading the Bakshi part. The jargons he uses here are the real ones you will hear in Software & BPO industries. In the acknowledgement section, Chetan has written about his ex-boss. Author thanks his ex-boss for providing him with lots of bad experience which he was able to convert into a book. A sweet revenge. The responses Bakshi gives when Shyam meets him with a complaint is the best part of this book. I laughed a lot while reading the section.
Below are some jargons from the book.
‘Focus on the big picture man’
‘Learn about strategic variables’
‘Seasoned manager has to study all underlying variables’
‘I empowered you and you delivered the output’.
I tried my best to not to compare this book with 5 point someone. But many a time I saw Ryan’s and Hari’s ghosts entering Vroom’s and Shyam’s bodies. The resemblance might be coincidental as they say..
Thanks for reading my review. Don’t forget to rate this.
Cheers
~j0s