Human Predicaments in One Night At The Call Center.

At the beginning, the mention of three, things becomes proof of Bhagat's foreshadowing technique. They are fear, anger and disliking. They reveal human nature and realism of mankind. "Fear" is a feeling which threatens and makes one insecure, worried, eccentric, addicted, angry when one provides another with truth or says something which is not likable. Anger becomes outcome or origin of insecurity. What one does not like about himself is avoidance or lack of recognition and attention. The whole story lies in these three things.

Technique of Bhagat is manner of telling fiction in autobiographical way.  Story revolves around emptiness of human beings without companion. The book humorously shows archetypal of today's  youth's characteristic. It is like hidden desire that every human being wants "Someone will come when I will be alone like "angel coming" and all of a sudden someone rushes to you with pretty face to accompany you in your journey and your real journey begins. The story shows the wandering soul of man in search of companion.

Miracle happens as if god has finally listened   to your need and he sends someone and it has been shown by Bhagat when a lady meets him. What one longs for is fulfilled. It shows Bhagat's indication of human need through imagination by his fictional technique. Everybody wants his or her desire to be fulfilled.

Bhagat has gained notable command over describing women's beauty. The characteristic of Bhagat reminds us of Mr. Ramsay's character in Virginia Woolf's 'To the lighthouse' and male's only characteristic to gain attention from people especially from women. Bhagat's talk with lady seems to be showing his pathetic condition because he has not been imprisoned in large sense but a short sense. The "worth" of his first novel “Five Point Someone” is being demolished by lady. It not only shows male's pride and ego that is hurt when a woman does not respect him, but a general human ego from perspective of human's unwillingness to listen to someone when that person does not really consider his work worth but puts counter arguments.

Lady's advice to Bhagat to look around and peep into his narrow sense or come out from it to lead his real self to culmination makes reading of this text necessary and the book falls under the category of "Self Help Book". Youth does not belong to only IIT but it belongs to all other small areas where real youth lives, the people who feel real challenges. Lady makes him ask question to his own self, 'Can youth only be identified or recognized through university education or its students? When someone gives something which we are actually interested in and when we are bound by rope in form of promise is like fuck condition and something that ails us but it comes as an outcome of curiosity. Curiosity does not let person go away.

Any work suggests director’s own mind as Bhagat says Shyam seemed similar to him. Any work could be understood well from writer's perspective but problem comes when reader does not find any similarity with writer's thoughts but here Bhagat has given attention to Shyam.

          "Well, I will let Shyam

                   tell you that!"

It begins with a nightmare of Shyam containing  boss's cruelty on employers and he pushes Shyam's  head down in water. Something will be happening like this in upcoming chapters. Shyam Mehra – recently has suffered from break up. Radhika- a devoted wife to family taking care of her mother in law. The characteristic of Family and living people is ultra tradition. Radhika- who is divided into both the duties: Domestic and Job duty. The book contains 21st century lifestyle. Shyam shows characteristics of all other Indian boys and their lifestyles are just similar: working late night, late waking up, sudden breakfast, lack of management, tensions, uncertainty, and lack of accuracy.

What makes Bhagat's novel prominent is his way of writing description of physical beauty, dressing clothing and how it gets connected with people and their nature, the way people behave, the way they live. Somehow it creates live picture before readers' eyes. He writes in informal way or gives a different perspective to womanhood who goes on revealing women's nature characteristics. Esha is a modern passionate girl who wanted to be a model; hot, beautiful and sexy ! She moves to Delhi against her parents' wishes and the sense of individualism comes.

Human nature can be shown throughout the novel. Jealousy for one another  is also there but just in matter of appearance whereas at the end it proves to be wrong because characters understand one another. Priyanka who thinks of  Isha and  according to her, She is too short, and small town!

         But at the end it is Priyanka who seems to support Isha at every attempt and understands her situation. People always compare and never fail to create competition in comparison. It shows 'Loss of individuality that can be found in every human being if we distinguish them rather than to compare. Another quality is to get acquainted with everybody  but in heart no importance. Due to family, job corruption,  people lose perceptiveness in real sense and emotional stability too. Vroom's family background is somewhat like "broken home" whose parents are separate, and there is destruction of marriage or suffering of children due to parents’ lack of understanding.

'So Called' signs of modernity lie in bike, cigarettes jealousy, uncertainty, insecurity, fall of relationship, and blindness to drawbacks ! Another thing which comes up is break up of shyam and priyanka. In spite of break up shyam thinks of her all the day and having another girlfriend. Having another person after break up is to let heart get relax and it is necessary to have "someone". Priyanka is the one who has bitched fifty times about Esha to Shyam. But when they are with each other they behave like long sisters. 'Pretense' has been motif.

Priyanka wants Shyam and herself to move on. It creates conflict in definition of  move on. To move on means to go further but is it necessary to forget nostalgia or relations endowed with love? Here "to move on" is formality and 'have to do' activity to forget past and to step ahead, towards  not any kind of culmination  but  towards another doom.  To move on is development, an activity to improve, which shows path that leads  journey further but here it is like hell. Shefali perhaps is that 'move on activity' for Shyam who thinks of priyanka instead. At some extent parents' force or other domestic and survival reasons let people change their taste and this taste also changes intimacy in relationship. It shows: “It is difficult to maintain relations but it is more difficult to maintain life in relations." Relations go on changing but life is not managed.

Vroom also worked in newspaper agency and seems to be absorbed in social global issues. He is one of those characters who seems to question his own work and worth of his work or others also. His conversation with Shyam seems notable one.

Vroom : So what's Shefali ?

          Pacifier?

          Is she a source to decrease your anger?

Vroom questions not only shyam but he takes nature of relationship into consideration and tries to explore. After break up, when one attaches himself to other, he does this just to decrease his anger, to divert his mind but by letting another party become pacifier, he brings destruction. But mind can't get detached to that anger.

Woman's nature is also commented.

Shyam : You never tell women you don't like something they have done.

Women are supposed to be praised.
Another thing which goes on occurring in novel is nostalgia of Shyam and  it takes place many a times! When Shyam gets letter from Bakshi about training and to assist in accent training, he has a conversation with Vroom and Vroom laughed having listened about Bakshi's letter to Shyam and says: 

“It is standard way to dump responsibility on someone else". 

It is about Delhi people who Vroom thinks cannot be taught American qualities in a week.

Shyam brings back memory of Rail – Museum – Where Shyam had dated Priyanka. Nostalgia goes on peeping into future of people and every little moment reminds you and it because of people's anger unconsciously reflected due to break up. It needs a psychological reading. Priyanka who has ability to raise voice for what she feels and it is one of her genuine characteristics. It reminds of one incident of  Shyam and Priyanka's visit. A mother in law insults her daughter in law for giving birth to two girls. Priyanka can't suffer it and works like an investigator or demands the rights of women or what steps will be taken against here. Here Vroom can also not be forgotten who has better side too. He used to be a Journalist trainee. His second job is of call center agent. His direct satire on political system and corruption indicates his interest in social matters or perhaps  he could have been a good social activist.

 "Politicians don't feel anything and country is being run by people who don't feel."

 This claims that Vroom is keen in matters of  nation. Characters don't have that sense of feeling their own self who can reform something. It is later on given by God and his call. When he was working as journalist Trainee, Vroom had taken photographs and unflattering pictures of glitterati faces with food, drunk people and he takes  revenge  in page 3.  But he commits that money matters. He does not want to be excluded from his friends and their life styles. Priyanka also wanted to do B.ED  but saves money having a dream of nursery school.

Characters' rethinking of past occurs again and again. Shyam recalls his date with Priyanka in Rall Museum. Nostalgia and recalling show coherence between past and present. Bhagat's technique of narration is live.

Bakshi is a character, an MBA – a boss who never misses to talk in manager's language. He takes advantages of others and knows nothing. Questions come up like phone lines are not working properly, how to approach problems. Shyam goes on helping Bakshi but Vroom wants Shyam to learn to identify the strategic variables. People go on telling Radhika not to follow all traditional rules but Radhika just does! She seems to have no problem with it. She does all the things willingly because she loves Anuj. Love has ability to make one willing to do anything. But what happens when that love becomes betrayal is shown. This is what happens with Radhika. Priyanka's Mother's desire to get Priyanka engaged to NRI shows obstacle in Shyam and Priyanka's relationship. Her mother thinks of her sister who married with well-settled  boy and she had to suffer so Priyanka should get married to well- settled  man who belongs to wealthy or settled family. On other side Priyanka does not like her mother's force and Shyam who bows down to Bakshi at every moment. What Priyanka's  mother wants can't be given by Shyam and perhaps the boss like Bakshi and his corruption is one of the reasons. One common man has to suffer due to politics in job or corrupted morons like Bakshi. In loss of man perhaps corruption and politics is responsible. But when self exploration is given by God it proves to be an outlet to come out from circumstance which has been so unbreakable.

Conversation between Vroom and Shyam about NRI is a note- worth taking. It says that an NRI does not become NRI because every man wants his life first but NRI is become NRI.
 

It is like "unwillingly made NRI for the sake of future companion". Priyanka who could not do B.Ed. perhaps understands the value, who has been lacking money or her NRI catch seems genuine with her conversation in museum. The feeling and relationship of Shyam and Priyanka is like vestigial organs. It serves no purpose or no value. They can give them pain in the appendix. Here relationship becomes like a purposelessness. The way Shyam addresses Priyanka's future husband shows his state of mind of not becoming able to reach him in matter of money.

 "It's hard to compete with Mr, Microsoft"

Vroom : Girls are strategic.

Vroom's this sentence shows his thinking about women and their minds are occupation of achieving an eyesight of profitable things. Characters seem keen in managing relationship willingly but they themselves find it of no value and ultimate outcome will be empty. They don't find proper way and either it is lack of devotion to beloved or it is a man who has been trapped into a cage of circumstances. The main conflict lies here about love. Does love categorize itself as need ? When love becomes need, it has to be used for survival and then there comes unwillingness. People leave other needs to fulfill love, love should not become  need but love ought to be happened to fulfill other  needs. It peeps into man's life or comes in life without giving any signal. Love does not explore whether you need it or not but it happens naturally!. In 'one night at the call center, love is a thing which is broken for "Need". This interpretation can be raised through the characters of Priyanka and Shyam.  Shyam is the one who has girlfriend- Shefali but on other hand, he has feeling for Priyanka who is getting married to NRI and has just broken up with Shyam.

Priyanka : Why do you let him do this to you ?

This is asked to Shyam and it shows characters who can't stand up and raise their voice against Bakshi. Women like such man who does not bow down to anyone. On other side Priyanka's mother screams and yells at her because Priyanka' s cousin gets married to a doctor. This nature of parents can be seen. They are bent on insisting their children to do the same. It shows how another's things play vital role in our life. Priyanka's mother goes on blackmailing her emotionally that Priyanka does not care for her. Parents attitude is to let their thoughts occupy their children's mind.

If one devotes himself or herself to anyone or family, problems are created by family members like Radhika's mother-in-law who complains Anuj about Radhika and claimed her for  working less for her, making faces in spite of Radhika's care and concerns for her. When a daughter-in-law tries to manage everything , a cruel name “mother-in- law which has always been negative in society destroys everything.

"So called" life-style of youth has been shown like fights in party, atmosphere in parties, rich kids, eccentric people drinking and making love. If you are in bar, it means you are supposed to drink like if you are in relationship, you are supposed to make love. In relationship, guys can never figure out, what to say in such emotional moments and they end up with stupid. They are innocent, stupid, cute, charming and need love. Virginia Woolf's literary sensibility of portraying  'male-figure' seems  to be real  here. It also reflects in Bhagat's 'Male-Figure'.

In fast century like 21^st, economical need is prioritized with a need of love, care, and devotion from a soul. Companion and its loss brings destruction. Humans need human. Loved one's presence animates everything and their absence destructs everything. Parents' desire to go with "Settled match" for children decreases love and self-esteem also! It's like:

"Show me the money and keep our daughter for the rest of your life."

According to Priyanka a definition of arranged marriage is as if daughters are supposed to be sent to wealthy men. Vroom's speech regarding country and its people is notable who says,

" we are not poor because they  are smarter, not because our country is poor and their country is rich but our country is run by losers".

He shows his angers on leaders. He desires if he could have been there at the place of TV reporters or Journalists.

Bhagat's comparison of man with machine is noteworthy. When Shyam  presses 'start' button’, copier got cracked.  It was 'paper Jam'. Here the copier is not machine but a person. When a man assembles himself with inner or external world, it is like press button' to get result or to survive (to get Xerox copy) but instead of getting Xerox copy, due to many papers; it gets cracked. Many papers symbolize many obstacles and problems and what is getting cracked symbolizes man's life.

Vroom needs to fall in love and it is said by Shyam because for Shyam love matters. For Vroom perhaps it becomes secondary because he considers side effect of love rather than positive. He goes on claiming  Esha and her interest ! He thinks she is not interested but never tries to convince or prevail on her. On the other side, Priyanka fails to make her mother discern who wants Priyanka to get married within months but Priyanka  regrets. Her mother thinks she should be made happy by her daughter's behavior. It seems people suffer from individualism which lies in dependency. Expectation of others and their influences matter a lot, where the mother is bent on making her daughter agree for marriage and the daughter does not want. The novel includes the genre of Menippean satire. It deals with mental attitudes instead of specific individuals. The genre of Menippean satire is usually used in prose which has characteristics of "Serio-comic" moments alongside Socratic Dialogue.

Division of priority is also taken into consideration. When expectation from family comes , it assembles  belongingness and then love is sacrificed. External and inner worlds disturb hidden (love) alive thing that is soul. This nation is to be dealt with self exploration.

Chetan Bhagat uses technique of hidden human desire and inner feeling of a human being who always yearns for "angle-coming". In heart everybody needs shelter from someone and that person will redeem but here external world leads person out of the inner world to experience. We worship and we fail to talk to god and it is inner call and one's own talk with own self. God is like exploration. Shyam for example cannot prevail on others or does not seem to have the guts to prevail on someone either in case of  Bakshi and call center work or his own relationship. It also shows loss of a man in domestic inner sense or in external job world. To have inner call and talk with own self is to raise voice against unfair if it has been done to anyone. He says that he does not have the leadership skills to influence anyone. Shyam's this claiming can be seen either in case of Bakshi or Priyanka. He never attempts to influence her  relationship or job. Sometime a person is supposed to show his right to people.

Bakshi falls under the category of 'copy-cate'. The file is copied by Bakshi which Shyam and Vroom send him. It is Bakshi who takes much advantage from others and uses others' intelligence. It raises one worth point which is to be taken into consideration that people have fear from unknown always but they are copied sometimes and sometimes by known people also. Sharing is caring and it is done for welfare, good for the society, industry or company, and country but people take advantage of it many a times. The novel deals with the genre 'cyberpunk' and it is a post-modern science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life". It features advanced and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown of radical change in the social order. Technology and internet is outcome of misrepresentation as it is a kind of medium of press and mass. Technology is high,and advanced but thinking is low where things are copied from other sources and pasted also. People physically harm their own self to prevent mental pain. In beginning Bhagat asks for  the thing one doesn't like and  here comes past and the thing which creates fear makes one angry. Anger, fear and disliking assemble one another. What happens with Esha needs to be understood.  'Sex' lies in term of business and shows motif of 'body' one wants. A man turns out to be a spendthrift who spends money behind his hunger of body and this hunger is prioritized. It shows loss of womanhood in hand of bodily hunger. Either it is the case when she is used or the case when she is left by man. Military Uncle's son does not want his Father's shadow on his son and orders him to stop doing mails. Conflict between generations can be seen. Esha shares his bad story with Shyam. 'Sex' has become one major issue.

'Sex' is taken into both categories. It sounds good or melodious and pathetic as well. It becomes a necessary activity in relationship. It comes when characters feel nostalgia and when they doubt their beloved. It can be seen in case of Shyam and Radhika and Esha from another perspective of being misused in case of sex. This physical disease called 'sex' creates 'mental disease’ with amalgamation of eccentricities. It leads one man turning out to be insane.

After the issue of sex, nature of relationship and love becomes important. After breakup people should follow the rules that they should be intended to behave as friends but the people who have moved on, they somehow fail to understand how it can be possible for anyone who has loved someone to befriend that person whom he or she has loved. Some relations remain forever and it is proved at the end when Priyanka ultimately leaves NRI and realizes her love.

Conflict between firing people and right sizing them is noteworthy. To right size means to manage to divide people and put them into coherence accurately. Here Bakshi gives it the name and it is to 'right size' instead of using “to fire people”. His only desire is to let his employers be troublesome. This situation not only reminds of this trouble of working people in call centre but it shows various issues like corruption, corrupted people in power position and their attitudes to let others bow down to them. This politics show education in destruction, job market, society caste, religion state, country. Another thing is there are possibilities but in spite of their visibility, they are ignored for the sake of personal achievement or welfare. This is what happens at the end and characters raise voice against Bakshi using technology. One cannot prevail on people's unwillingness but one can come over their willingness by adding his efforts. Unwillingness comes from within in form of either genuine hatred for particular thing because it is rigid, selfish-unchangeable so 'self pride – honored unwillingness' cannot be won. This is what god wants form all six characters and makes them examine their predicaments.

Self-finance-private company' s corruption has been shown, the way working people in call centers are treated without their faults, and people are fired. There are two types of people in the world. One will express a lot by being silent because he is aware that everything will be futile; in effort of prevailing on villains. The later will try because he has hope that his goodness and logicality will convince others. None of these two is wrong. It is proved by Priyanka the way she slaps Vroom and convinces that everyone is worried and has turned troublesome.

When we feel trouble, in that time it makes us aware of not our state of 'being' but it makes us aware of others' genuine grief. The life itself has turned out to let people be in trouble. The way Vroom apologizes to Esha, it is his sense of discernment and he realizes everything. The way Esha gets caught because of her dream to be model, the same way Vroom realizes himself to be in cage of Bakshi and he also realizes  'fall of man' when one really becomes puppet in others hand or they are betrayed physically, mentally or psychologically.

The world which is shown in novel is destruction of social life, economical life, love life, cultural life, domestic life and also matrimonial life. The main life is an individual's inner temperament. Vroom's satire on government seems genuine and he also blames people by whom government is made. Vroom seems modern and fashionable but he is not that much "so called modern" by thoughts. Tradition has nothing to do with old orthodoxy made up of narrowness of thinking but tradition is all that includes “worth way of thinking”. It includes welfare and unity. Vroom raises problems against media, MTV portrayal of Women's clothing, British hegemony. It feels tradition and modernity lie in people's state of mind. He goes on commenting government's misuse of young generation who devote themselves to call centre. Vroom is one character who not only raises voice against unfair that does injustice to all, but he also questions his own work, own self and peeps into his mind. Self-exploration is achieved by Vroom what almighty's call ultimately wants to convey to people, "look at  yourself", "Search for 'why' ". Shyam on the other hand says that call centers give people air-conditioned office and simple easy task to attend, to call, collect pay and go home. This is performed by thousands of young people. Shyam finds other works hard. Shyam at first extent does not find problem with his job. Asking question to own self becomes necessary. But Shyam's point of government that has given job to many people in India also makes sense. Shyam does not seem to question Bakshi, government, relationship but he lets things happen in his life.

 Characters really start thinking. It should be expected from every human-being to question to give space to own self to think. Help own self is significant This notion deals with the category “self-help book” the novel falls under.

Episode of God again shows mankind's faith in God, and religion. It creates the picture of bollywood movies. People are in trouble and angle comes to redeem. At some extent it does not make sense. How can people be called by God? It shows human nature also when people have been suffering from crises, they somehow try to prevail on themselves that god will look after them. Another perspective deals with self-study of one and belief that god is within. A worth question which ought to be understood by readers is when god is asked to prove  himself that he is god and god's answer contains meaning of the very existence of human beings.

"So to impress you I have to break the same laws of physics that I made ?

Whatever happens around one is the world which has been created by himself only and there can be others who devote their contribution but people are the first who are only responsible. One has been given strength to love, to hate, to control, to develop, to improve, to decrease. God's question contains ultimate solution if six of them understand  what god has said. What one has made is supposed to be broken by him? Whatever has been created  is supposed to be destroyed by him? One needs to value his own world and is supposed to manage that world but fact is that one breaks his own world. There are people who are eager to destroy everything of others' but here it is 'one' who himself destroys his or her own being. God's question is not only to these six characters but it is to mankind. In this century people have forgotten to talk to own self. Discernment only comes from within and it is natural. When corruption increases, political conflicts come into existence, crime happens, we think of god and people start thinking what would god think when he will see the people who have been made by him are breaking his own rules and people are making god 'a puppet' in their hands. People hear their inner call when they have free time. In free time they talk to their own self but in sad times and in time of duties it is hard to hear inner call. People never connect with inner world and get attached with outer world. People think what other people would think of themselves but one does not need  to be afraid of others but he needs to have fear to be afraid of his own self as evil lies within. Inner call connects one with soul and it reminds one of his own self who he is. God can only be found within. People need not go anywhere but they have to recognize him.

Shyam’s claiming that sometimes that inner call  bites him is correct because he has conscience and realization regarding Bakshi and he is well aware that he is not raising his voice but lets himself bow down to him without culminating himself and it shows that he really pushed his inner voice back and let not it be taken out.

Vroom finally understands  that he should not have been afraid of being excluded from his Friend's life-styles but there should be a job for one which not only gives him money but defines his ability.

"I want my mother to be happy but I cannot kill myself for it."

Priyanka's mother thinks of her daughter's focus that should be on her-life. What she wants. It feels she becomes obstacle in relationship. She thinks of her daughter's well settled life but it is not settled and the reason is lack of happiness. People think what they are expected but they never think what they should expect from their own self. This is an intimacy between soul and body and god wants it, where soul says and reminds person 'this is what expected from you'! Do it." And body replies: "Yes, this is what I am supposed to do". When they get connected with each-other, and start functioning, everything will start getting recovered. Military uncle is also reminded of his outdated values. Radhika desires for divorce and wants to be the same as she was before marriage. She devoted her life to family and when one changes for others, it seems good but person should never fail to respect his or her own self and one has to make balance between charge and inner identity. One can't ignore his own self in devoting himself to other. This is what similar in case of Esha too. She decides that she will never care for her looks, and height. People should like the person as he or she is and what one has. Shyam finally decides to set up a small web design company. He realizes he should have thought of it before and also thinks from Priyanka's perspective how it would have affected Priyanka and how she would have felt it. Shyam expresses his desire to have someone who can merge, assemble friendship and love together. This is what today' s every relationship lacks.

Disease of the soul has been used for Bakshi .A Colonizer like him has the ability to make one lose self-confidence and man in power position can do everything. He is one who made others lose their soul, inner-self and conscience. Dominance traps one in fear. Bakshi is diseases of soul. Sometimes it works so negatively that people like Bakshi, makes people think against their own intelligence and makes them think that something is not wrong in others but something is wrong within them. Intelligence, imagination, self-confidence, and failure play a vital role.

God confesses that  becoming successful, failure is necessary. Once one has failed, he won't have fear because he knows what was missing and how it destructed. Failure makes one different between wrong doing and truth and it leads to possibilities.

 In God's episode, Bhagat mentions that fear lies itself in sentiment of war. The country which is associated with war has a kind of fear and it  loses  something. Bhagat's technique to assemble war and fear together shows that wherever the feeling of war lies is not happy place but there can be beyond something to work silently to prevent war. This helps all six characters to take revenge to Bakshi. People are indulged in war, fighting and when one is having abomination for someone, he can be aroused easily. The way god gives philosophical portrayal of himself is best narration of god by Chetan Bhagat.