Hello friends,
Here in this blog I would like to talk about Chetan Bhagat's book " One Night @ The Call Center ". This novel is known as Popular literature. The book was first published in 2005. It takes place during one night, during which all of the leading characters confront some aspect of themselves or their lives they would like to change. So it's following the rule of an ideal plot. The story uses a literal deus ex machina, when the characters receive a phone call from God. So in Literature using the term Deus ex machina is the weakness of the author.
Here are some of the topics which I would like to discuss. These points are :--
Globalization has changed the blood and soul of all these things, the lifestyle of the people , behaviour of the people, each and every aspect of life. The Twenty First century is the age of globalization and India cannot go away from the impacts of such changes. Globalization has considerably benefited the urban part of developing India. As for India Globalization has become a buzzword after 1991 and day by day this buzzing is getting louder. It has touched all the domains of Indian life and experience.
"Globalization is no longer a theoretical concept; it is a glaring reality, impinging upon almost every aspect of human existence" (P. Sam, and G. Sam. 1044-1045).
Even in the name of the character also we can see globalization like Syam Mehara called Sam Macy.
The six characters in the story, in order to relieve themselves of troublesome and painful night experience, visit a nightclub. Those are Shayam, Vroom, Esha, Priyanka, Radhika, and Military Uncle pass through a very troublesome night.On the return journey as Vroom feels like vomiting, gets down along with Shaym, where they see several advertising hoardings along the road:
".... showing all kinds of people: a couple all smiles because they had just bought a toothbrush; a
group of friends giggling over their mobile phones; a family happily feeding their kid junk food; a
young graduate jumping with joy, clutching a credit card; a girl holding seven shopping bags and
beaming. All the ads had one thing in common. Everyone looked incredibly happy."
Upon it Vroom says,
"What the hell are they so happy about? .... Look at that toothbrush couple. My mom and dad, they are never that happy." ( Page, 211)
It is a reality, as Vroom says further, that nobody cares for anything. Along with being competitive, ambitious, and techno-savvy, the generation in Bhagat's fiction is trendy as well. The global trend has not left society untouched. Due to free incoming of values, costumes, dresses, and the living habits of western world, the basis of Indian culture has been greatly influenced.(P. Sam, and G. Sam. 1051)
👉 Self - help book and One Night @ The Call Center :--
A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. Micki McGee writes: "Some social observers have suggested that the Bible is perhaps the first and most significant of self-help books".
So let’s see the characteristics of self -help books. The following are the characteristic of the Self - help books :
Identifies a common problem
Shares personal experiences
Treats readers like equals
Backs up claims with research
Admits privileges or advantages
Points out what has worked for specific individuals, but doesn’t promise that the advice will work for everyone.
After reading the self help book we should feel empowered. Something about the world or our perception of it should make a little more sense.we should feel capable of doing anything.
So let's see how the novel One Night @ the Call Center is the self help book.
In Chetan Bhagat all books we see that he gives one activity on the first page of the novel begins, this page shows the self-help book's most important Characteristics.
In One Night @ the Call Center he gives activity like this:
Before you begin this book, I have a small request. Right here, not down three things. Write down something that
1) You fear,
2) Makes you angry and
3) You don’t like yourself.
Be honest, and write something that is meaningful to you.
Do not think too much about why I am asking you to do this just do it.
One thing I Fear:
One thing about that makes me angry.
One thing I do not like about myself.
Okay, now forget about this exercise and enjoy the story."
So this is how he begins his book. Here we see that Chetan Bhagat gives one small exercise, in this exercise he asks some questions, and those three questions about our personal thing. All three questions about our own self. He asks like our fear, when we are angry and do not like ourselves. So these all things present that Chetan Bhagat saw that our self.
Also in Chetan Bhagat all books we see the Prologue and Epilogue. In One Night @ the Call Center in epilogue we see one line like:
“It is true thought; we all have a dark side – something we don’t like about ourselves, Something that makes us angry and something we want to change about ourselves. The difference is how we choose to face it. Here Chetan Bhagat connects to us with all characters, and says that how we handle this type of situation in our life, that depends on ourselves.
One more thing in One Night @ the Call center that is God episode means when all characters in one problem that time God call them. God calls them is also the turning point of the story. God calls them and that time they ask God how our life changes and what we do. That time god gives them answer like this:
‘The inner call,’ God said.
‘The inner call’? Everyone said in unison.
Yes, the little voice inside that wants to talk to you."
Here we see that Chetan Bhagat tries to say that how we solve our problem with only ourselves. In the book ahead we read the conversation of god and all characters and we find that everyone knows how they solve their problem. But no one knew that, because they all never listened to their inner voice.
Episode of god that saw that we need only know about ourselves. Not ignore our inner voice. Whenever we all have some problem that time we try to listen to ourselves, what we want? And how we choose the right way. In the end we see that all characters find their solution because now they all know how to face the problem and choose the right way of life.
We also need to listen to our inner voice and face the problem and then get a solution to the problem.
👉 Popular literature and One Night@ The Call Center :--
If we think about popular literature then people always say that popular literature is not valuable. But in a way that is half truth. Because there are some points which are always notable. If anything is ' Popular' then that is not meaningless. In a way popular literature is not considered great literature.
Because it lacks something, that is the high seriousness or we can't find various interpretations. There is no possibility of various interpretations and aspects.
What the popular writer thinks how to tell and the legendary writer thinks about What is to be told ? Many people also say that the Popular literature is like fast food.
So in a way the novel One Night @ The Call Center is not a great work of art where characters do extraordinary works. But it's a popular book. The novel not answered are abstract questions. But the novel is in simple language, without high thinking and seriousness. There is no philosophy of life. The ending of the movie is also questionable because it is a happy ending in life we never have a happy ending. It is rather like a Bollywood film. From this way we can put this novel in the realm of Popular literature. But because it is a popular novel and that is why we degrade the text that is not well done. Each and every book has its own meaningfulness.
👉 Comparative study of Narrative structure on One Night @ The Call Center :--
Life of Pi is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian Tamil boy from Pondicherry who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age.
Author’s Note :-
The novel begins with a preface in which the “author” details the events that led to the creation of Pi’s story. This “author” is as much a character in the story as anyone else, often asserting himself into it to provide a description of Pi’s current life in Canada. This “author” is not Yann Martel specifically, but a fictionalized autobiographical inspiration. For example, the author states that in 1996, his second novel was published in Canada and flopped badly. This is the same year of publication for Martel’s flop Self. Ultimately, the semi-fictional author is spending time in India to glean inspiration for his next novel, which is set in Portugal. He finds the manuscript to be uninspired and mails it to a fictional address in Siberia. He then travels to Pondicherry where he meets Francis Adribasamy, who tells him, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” The author then returns to Canada and finds Pi in Toronto.
The book begins with a note from the author, which is an integral part of the novel. The first part of Pi’s story tells precisely the beginning and end of it, the end being Pi’s life in the present. The story is told entirely in first person, with Pi serving as the narrator and the author recounting aspects of Pi’s current life in italics. Pi tells the story of his childhood preceding the shipwreck, his life at the zoo and his adoption of three separate religions. Here, we learn of Pi’s father’s many lessons, the origins of his nickname, and his family structure.
The novel One Night @ The begins with the epilogy and one interesting exercise.
In the novel One Night@The Call Center is an unreliable narrative structure in the novel because from the very beginning the story is narrated by a strange woman to Chetan Bhagat in the train. Then she forced him to write it as his second book without mentioning her name. Chetan Bhagat then wrote the story and used one character Shyam for narration. In this way it becomes unreliable.
Here we can find the similarity of narrative structure between Life of Pi and One Night @call centre. In the life of Pi, the protagonist told the story to the writer, just like the woman in the train telling the story to Chetan Bhagat. There are two stories being told and it was upon the writer that which they select to write, the one is with God or the one without God. In both the cases the writer chose to write a story with God. So this is the structure of both the novels.
👉 Problems of Youth : How do you relate yourself with the problems of Youth discussed in the novel ?
First of all we have to find out which type of problem is discussed in the novel. Then and we can relate ourselves with that.
So Let's see the issues and problem which is discovered in the novel :-
Problems of Marriage
Office politics
Cybercrime
Issues in the glamour world
Generation Gap ( military uncle and his son )
Lack of self confident (shyam and vroon)
Jobs and salary
This type of issues I am finding through the novel. In which I relate myself with the problems of jobs and salary. Because there are a lot of people who don't get jobs. In private jobs they don't get enough salaries.
Work cited :--
Bhagat,Chetan. One Night @ the Call Center. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. 2005. 52nd impression 2008.
McGee,Michi. Self-help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life (Oxford 2005).
P. Sam, Daniel, and G. Sam, Aroma. "Globalisation - New challenges to Education in India". World Trade Organization and Indian Economic Reforms. Ed. Jugale, V.B. Vol.2. New Delhi: Serials Publications. (2005): 1042 - 1068.
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