One Night at the Call Center: A Novel by Chetan Bhagat




Yea really interesting. Deals with the new generation in India. The challenges they are facing in the IT sector. It is a moving tale about the vast possibilities we, Indians, have in this global world. It analyzes the problems of Indian economy, its failure in the contemporary world. The main reason Bhagat mentioned is the mismanagement and inefficient rule of our political leaders. One major issue he trying to reminds us is that, even though we have potentials, our youngsters have abilities, they don't have courage,faith in themselves.
As far as the novel is concerned it satisfies me as a reader;eventhough I don't like the business with God[ what we say as Deus X Machina sometimes]. But the clever author interferes there and makes us believe that this is the correct ending and every other ending will be worse. In the present world people accept the idea of inner voice and issues related to it. The novelist cleverly utilized its possibility.

The interference of author in the actions of novel is an important feature of present day fiction writing. The post- Barthian novel genre is reluctant in accepting the concept of the deathn of the Author and somehow very childishly try to insert their power on the reader.
The more disturbing aspect of the novel, I think, is the connection made by Bhagat on India's progress with U.S. He blames the U.S. people and their governmental policies. We should not the U.S govt to took care of us, the Indians. And the comments on the emotional and intelligent superiority of Indians over the Americans is also an exaggerated one. To say India is great we not underestimate the other nations.



View all my reviews

A Ruling Passion

A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael




The novel discusses many issues. Basically it is a novel about two characters Valerie and Sybille and the clashes between both. But in a deeper analysis we can see that the novelist is throwing some intricate questions to the society. When the people think that money matters everything and to acquire money do anything the basic values of the human society will collapse. The loss of these humanitarian values is very well discussed in the novel.
Another crucial issue the novelist trying to discuss is the marketization of religion.In this world of globalization even religious ideals becomes another commodity and while selling the commodity only profit matters. The clash between religious values and market values goes back to Middle Ages itself. The influence of money corrupted even the established churches itself. The God-men and religious preachers are subjected to so many corruption nowadays.
The influence of mass medias and other technologies on society and how it discards social values, all discussed in this novel.
In the last part of the novel the author tried to give a psychological explanation to the bad deeds of the central 'negative' character, Sybille but failed.




View all my reviews

The Man Under The Mask-V.S

"We live in a world where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning."Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
"There is nothing more mysterious than a TV set left on in an empty room. It is even stranger than a man talking to himself or a woman standing dreaming at her stove. It is as if another planet is communicating with you."
Jean Baudrillard, America
"The futility of everything that comes to us from the media is the inescapable consequence of the absolute inability of that particular stage to remain silent. Music, commercial breaks, news flashes, adverts, news broadcasts, movies, presenters—there is no alternative but to fill the screen; otherwise there would be an irremediable void.... That’s why the slightest technical hitch, the slightest slip on the part of the presenter becomes so exciting, for it reveals the depth of the emptiness squinting out at us through this little window."
— Jean Baudrillard,Cool Memories
Who is V.S. is he a political leader or a symbol of resistance; resistance against the inhuman agendas of globalization and also against the ideological deviation of CPI(M). V.S. the Opposition leader and the Chief Minister are two individuals, two identities. Or it is just an idea constructed by the media and the pseudo-intellectuals of the day.
The Medias projected V.S as a warrior who is fighting against the decayed political ideology of the Communist Party. If this is the case the people supporting V.S., as claimed by the Medias, should have a clear political vision centred on the Communist ideology; that they have clear cut objection against Globalization.
The Medias, do they have any sentiments towards Communist ideology, no. Since they are the products of globalization they simply using the marketability of V.S. Not the ‘original’ (?) V.S. but the image, the “product”. So the impact of the long struggle conducted by V.S. is that he became an important product in the hands of consumeristic capitalism, the same thing he was fighting against. This argument is true only when we assume that V.S is actually fighting against globalization.
The man under the mask, V.S., is not fighting any battle, he need power. The bourgeois politician K. Karunakaran and V.S are not two different entities but signify the same political behaviour, the only difference is the strategy adopted by both; one with a mask and the other naked.
The book India On Television (Nalin Mehta) discusses the impact of television in Indian society. The role of media in constructing and destroying persons/ images is discussed in detail in this book.
Everywhere we are running behind images/idols. We don’t want to take risks so we construct some images and fighting for it. So the Man Under The Mask of V.S. is not V.S. but the medias itself.

India: Politics in the New Age

India
•    India is under the strategic/diplomatic cogency of the U.S. grip.
•    magnificent conferences about Indian democracy will not save the country.
•    India is a failure in International Politics, could not use its positive relations with other countries for the betterment of the nation.
•    The Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline would have been a great step towards diplomatic and financial success.
•    The movements initiated by India, for e.g. NAM was a great steps in constructing an identity of our own apart from the two power blocks, U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. Even though after the destruction of USSR it became meaningless, we should be independent in matters concerning global issues and should always be a great help to other Asian-African countries.
•    The enmity with Pakistan and China are an issue we should tackle ourselves without the help of any foreign powers including the US.
•    For us countries like China and US should be alike; if it is helpful we should join hands with all these nations.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/the-india-cables/article1538083.ece

orachante ormakkurippukal

"When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty."
— Thomas Jefferson
The book “Orachante Ormakkurippukal” is a memoir written by Prof. T.V. Eachara Warrior about his son Rajan, who died in the police cell during the Dark Periods of Emergency. It is more than a memoir; it portrays the struggle of Prof. Eachra Warrior against the government’s brutality.

The critic of Congress Party and of Indira Gandhi often cites this as an example of their anti-democratic concerns. Mrs. Gandhi was a dictator during those years.
The problem is not of Mrs. Gandhi or the Congress or Mr.Karunakaran, as the sympathisers of democracy would argue; it is the failure of democracy itself. Why the Constitution-makers included the provision of Emergency in the Constitution? They were aware of the fact that the system is inadequate in tackling serious issues. So the incident, Rajan’s death, will remain as a question mark in the history of Indian Union, more powerfully when prominent personalities like Dr. Binayak Zen is under police custody.21