One Night at the Call Center

Marc Notes: Previously published as: One night @ the call center. Publisher Marketing: Press 1 for technical support. Press 2 for broken hearts. Press 3 if your life has totally crashed. . . . Six friends work nights at a call center in India, providing technical support for a major U. S. appliance corporation. Skilled in patience-and accent management-they help American consumers keep their lives running. Yet behind the headsets, everybody's heart is on the line. Shyam (Sam to his callers) has lost his self-confidence after being dumped by the girl who just so happens to be sitting next to him. Priyanka's domineering mother has arranged for her daughter's upscale marriage to an Indian man in Seattle. Esha""longs to be a model but discovers it's a horizontal romp to the runway. Lost, dissatisfied Vroom has high ideals, but compromises them by talking on the phone to idiots each night. Traditional Radhika has just found out that her husband is sleeping with his secretary. And Military Uncle (nobody knows his real name) sits alone working the online chat. They all try to make it through their shifts-and maintain their sanity-under the eagle eye of a boss whose ego rivals his incompetence. But tonight is no ordinary night. Tonight is Thanksgiving in America: Appliances are going haywire, and the phones are ringing off their hooks. Then one call, from one very special caller, changes everything. Chetan Bhagat's delicious romantic comedy takes us inside the world of the international call center, where cultural cross-wires come together with perfect pathos, hilarity, and spice. Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 03/19/2007 pg. 40 (EAN 9780345498328, Paperback) Booklist 04/01/2007 pg. 23 (EAN 9780345498328, Paperback) Contributor Bio:  Bhagat, Chetan Chettan Bhagat graduated from IIT Delhi in 1995. Post IIT he did an MBA from IIM-A, from where he graduated in 1997. He currently lives in Hong Kong and works in a prominent US investment bank. Apart from writing, the author has a keen interest in yoga.