Perfectspeak - Volume 4

by **Habitual Perfectionist** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 5:22 am

Why should we subject ourselves to such indignity?

Happy to be back once again with this week's volume of Perfectpeak. The past week has been a roller coaster one for yours truly. This week also saw two landmark events of the year - The UPA government's first Railway & General budgets. Although it was a highly tempting issue to write about, I somehow felt that a lot had already been said about it. After debating on the possible issue for two days (thursday & friday); I got my answer in Saturday's newspaper. A seemingly insignificant news item on a page generally reserved for minor business & political news rekindled an issue, on which I wanted to express my views for a long time. The news report quoted from Strobe Talbott (ex Secretary of State, USA)'s memoirs that our ex Defense Minister, Mr.George Fernandez was strip searched twice at the Dulles airport in Washington DC.

The question that struck me first on reading this was - Why should we subject ourselves to such indignity? The first time this question had struck me was when the US had invaded Afghanistan. We (the Indian government) proudly wore our non-aligned credentials on our sleeve then. We proclaimed that we would not participate in any act of war, come what may. I was really proud to see the stand my government had taken then. But my pride came down crashing a few days later when it was casually mentioned in another seemingly inocuous news report that our then PM, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee had woken up in the middle of the night to take a call from the then US Sec. of State, Colin Powell. I had asked myself then, "Would the PM have taken the call had it been from the foreign minister of Nepal?" The call would have been screened by security and I'm doubly sure that a babu from the External Affairs ministry would have been woken up and made to take the call. Why then, was his equivalent number from the US accorded the special treatment?

I've also asked this question to myself quite a few times at my workplace too. I'm from the BPO industry and time and again, I've seen a pattern in BPO organisations across the board - A servile attitude towards people from the west, especially the US & UK. I've seen certain smaller companies go hammer and tongs in their quest to make their employees speak in foreign accents. The result? A bunch of people whose phony accent coupled with a heavy accent makes them the most incomprehensible creatures on Planet Earth, save perhaps orangutans (no offense meant, you animal rights activists). There are also some large companies who, in the name of Customer Satisfaction, put such extreme pressure over the poor agents - a pressure to achieve targets that any sane person would classify as impossible - that many of the agents are driven to exhaustion, anxiety, depression and what not. The surprisingly common factor in 80% of these cases, whether a small or a large company, is that the chair making the decisions belongs to Indians.

The west, no doubt, is lapping up this elevated position. Western politicians are brashly ignoring popular convention and are going above hierarchical heads. Western businesses treat Indian businesses as if we are nothing but a bunch of incompetent workers but efficient machines working together. Western commoners are looking at this third world revival with an air of mistrust & are overreacting by finding fault with everything oriental. All this for what? For working for the western companies for less than minimum wage? For performing much better than they could ever achieve in their own countries? For giving their economy a boost though our sweat and toil? Why should we subject ourselves to such indignity?

A few countries like China and Brazil have upheld their national honour despite being faced with severe consequences. China braved economic embargoes from the US to finally getting an MFN status. Brazil found a novel way to protest against the strip searching of Braizlian citizens in the US. They started strip searching US visitors to Brazil. I fail to understand why we cannot take some steps to shrug the western countries off our backs. I think this has a lot to do with our servile attitude after 200+ years of colonialism. This requires a huge amount of national pride to be infested in our youth and school going children. This needs a lot of reforms in education as well as the media.

I remember having grown up on a strong dose of Amar Chitra Katha, with stuff like Archies, Phantom, Mandrake, Batman & Spiderman thrown in just to create some balance. I remember that while I loved watching the Lucy show & street hawk on TV, I was equally eager to watch Bharat : Ek Khoj. I remember that while I read Alexandre Dumas, Charles _, Jane Austen etc., I also had a lot to do with Munshi Prem Chand & Subhadrakumari Chauhan. I was brought up in full consciousness of being a citizen of India, which is a great nation. I feel we all should make an effort to inculcate a sense of national pride in everyone who lacks it. The government needs to take its won initiatives in reforming the educational system. The media should be more responsible by bringing out Indianness prominently rather than just sucking up to western concepts.

All good things come to an end. So does this issue of perfectspeak. Say whatever you have to...a reply is assured. I'll be back next monday with some more food for thought. Till then, happy posting and a goodbye.

by **The Rainmaker** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 11:46 pm

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:Mr.George Fernandez

i'm glad that George has taken a stand on this. he's sworn never to visit the US again. Word of this must have reached Bush's ears. Hehe, that ignorant fella doesnt even know where India is, but it'll send a message of some sort to the US govt that the Indians arent exactly pleased. Only wish George had made this declaration while he was in power.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee had woken up in the middle of the night

Is that a fact? Jeez.

A bunch of people whose phony accent coupled with a heavy accent makes them the most incomprehensible creatures on Planet Earth

I HATE those accents... why can't Indians stick to speaking Indian english, i wonder?

Western businesses treat Indian businesses as if we are nothing but a bunch of incompetent workers but efficient machines working together.

Yeah, the latest argument against moving IT branches to India is that "indian workers make more errors in programming, so even though they're cheaper, they're not good enough". this rumour prevails despite the fact that the average indian worker is more qualified.

I remember having grown up on a strong dose of Amar Chitra Katha, Bharat : Ek Khoj.

yeah me too. Amar Chitra Katha was on par with the batmans and supermans. Bharat Ek Khoj was a wonderful program as well... they should have re-runs of it instead of dumb serials like "kyu hota hai pyarr". how sad that our fellow countrymen think western is cool while indian is primitive.

by **Habitual Perfectionist** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 11:52 pm

Finally, someone replied.

thanks rainmaker

by **The Rainmaker** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 12:59 am

ah, dont get formal. only the two of us will keep posting here... so u'll have to keep thanking me over and over again!

i think the perfectspeak is toooo long for people to read patiently. but then if it was just one para, it would be a grave injustice to this weekly bulletin. hmmm, maybe you should post it in a "poll" db next time around. invite them to say Y or N to some sorta question.

by **Habitual Perfectionist** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 1:03 am

Suggestion well taken.

I know that these are long reads. Not something everyone would be conditioned to. But then, its a rant. And I write whatever comes to my mind....impromptu. Can't really do much about the size. I don't mind even one person reading to it and replying. Thats satisfaction enough for me.

by **rabbithole** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:36 am

hey HP! i read yer weekly notes! i am too lajy to reply ..dat's all..keep em comin

by **Alexis** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:05 am

Hi HP,

Very well-written new edition of PS. As always.

Rainie, Im sure Shri ABV had taken the call in the middle of the night.......remember different time zones? Besides, I doubt Mr. Powell would have been considerate enough to make it a point to call him at a more convenient time.

Sucking up to Westerners and adopting their concepts should stop before Indians completely lose touch of how and what they really are and believe.

If China and Brazil can uphold their national honor by devising clever plans to protect themselves from foreign pollutants, why cant India?

Its no surprise that Westerners treat the third-world revival with so much distrust and suspicion---India is a third-world country! You think they believe that Indian workers deserve any acclaim or recognition? Think again.

Americans especially are so arrogant and conceited, simply for the fact that theyre American. They fail to see that Ameica is what it is because of the sweat, toil, ingenuity, and skill of the different races that inhabit the country.

by **CtrlAltDel** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:17 am

A Classic Perfectspeak HP

most of my views have been said by rainmaker...so i add my $0.02 here:

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:Why then, was his equivalent number from the US accorded the special treatment?

thats US money n power talking on phone, not just Powel. sad state of affairs.

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:I've seen certain smaller companies go hammer and tongs in their quest to make their employees speak in foreign accents. The result? A bunch of people whose phony accent coupled with a heavy accent makes them the most incomprehensible creatures on Planet Earth, save perhaps orangutans (no offense meant, you animal rights activists).

i asked the same question to a BPO HR guy. he told me that the western customers do not find it easy to comprehend Indian accents. I experienced this with Aussies in my previous company. thats why stress is laid on accent training. bt the bad side effect is that those call center chaps get out of the office n continue talking in those fake accents n use their fake work-names - pretending its a hip thing to do. its just plain irritating.

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:Brazil found a novel way to protest against the strip searching of Braizlian citizens in the US. They started strip searching US visitors to Brazil.

i'd love to see that happen here...

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:I remember having grown up on a strong dose of Amar Chitra Katha, with stuff like Archies, Phantom, Mandrake, Batman & Spiderman thrown in just to create some balance.

me too...i love old amar chitra katha comics. its sad that its no longer being ppublished. a few months ago i posted a thread asking ppl for old amar chitra katha comix. got no reply :roll:

i ask again: if anyone has old amar chitra katha comix they dont want, plz give em to me...i am looking for them...

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:The government needs to take its won initiatives in reforming the educational system.

as long as the leftists have influence nothing of that sort wud happen.

by **Habitual Perfectionist** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 10:27 pm

CtrlAltDel wrote:i asked the same question to a BPO HR guy. he told me that the western customers do not find it easy to comprehend Indian accents. I experienced this with Aussies in my previous company. thats why stress is laid on accent training. bt the bad side effect is that those call center chaps get out of the office n continue talking in those fake accents n use their fake work-names - pretending its a hip thing to do. its just plain irritating.

I have experienced the sensitivities involved in multicultural exchanges and I understand firangs having problems with Indian accents. But the solution is not what is practiced by most organisations. The thrust should be on accent neutralisation rather than accent enhancement. I don't think any westerner would have problems comprehending neutral accents.

by **CtrlAltDel** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:51 pm

Habitual Perfectionist wrote:The thrust should be on accent neutralisation rather than accent enhancement. I don't think any westerner would have problems comprehending neutral accents.

thats right....but i think these companies want to create an impression with their customers that they r dealing with their own countrymen/women....these guys are even given fake names to be used at work. i know a Prabhavathi who calls herself Phoebe to her callers and at her workplace too :roll:

by **The Rainmaker** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 1:54 am

CtrlAltDel wrote:i think these companies want to create an impression with their customers that they r dealing with their own countrymen/women....

is true, CAD. Dell (or was it some other company) gave its Bangalore employees training in "putting on an american accent." despite this, their customers complained that they couldnt understand the call center operators. so the company closed down its BPO center @ bangalore.

by **Alexis** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:47 am

We have a DELL computer, and when a virus attacked it (3 wks ago), we contacted Customer Service----which was in India. The accent that the rep had was not hard to understand at all! It wasnt an American accent and she wasnt trying to put one on either, thankfully.

by **CtrlAltDel** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 8:49 am

Alexis wrote:The accent that the rep had was not hard to understand at all!

thats coz u r an Indian :roll:

Alexis wrote:It wasnt an American accent and she wasnt trying to put one on either, thankfully.

good....the companies must be getting off the accents craze...or maybe its the "neutral accent"

by **azazel** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 12:23 pm

au contriare.. "accent training" is still provided along with fake names n all for the call centre , tech support work-force.. infact, ive heard of instances where the employees got an earful from clients who said they cannot understand the accent n also, people wanting their call shifted from India to the States.. :roll:

well-wriiten article HP.. as always, me's late to respond :oops: