Switch
Most of the articles you will read will be for Switch, the magazine of which I was Editor. It's a lifestyle magazine for BPO/ call center employees.
Coffee and Cigarettes
Wisps of smoke curl into the dark of the night. A slow, hypnotic burn. Warmth in a pool of black magic. Coffee and a cigarette… a.k.a. friends. Their silent presence calms me. They speak to me in a language that doesn’t hurt, doesn’t judge.
Stub the cigarette. Toss my empty plastic cup (Sorry environment). Our conversation is over. I enter the office again.
My phone buzzes. Its 3 pm. A friend just got off work. Life isn’t much different for him either. It’s the young generation of India slogging for deadlines that keep coming. Achieve. Being young is no longer an excuse.
Look around for a friendly face. There's Sheena (the warrior princess) LOL. She hates that nick. There's the buzz for the team meeting. Focus. It's time. Lights…Camera… Action.
Now, anyone who thinks I am a BPO employee or a writer speaking from the point of view of a BPO employee. You've been had. I am just another professional who happens to be writing about my day. I happen to be a writer. I could be a software professional. I could be a film maker. I could well be just about any hardworking person (yeah! possibly a boss's slave too). BPO, non BPO … all the same. Although, I must say you are the media stars. Believe me, there's reams and reams of print talking about you guys!
Well BPO, non BPO … it doesn’t matter. Software professionals' work on projects that need replicated code. Mind numbing for entry level engineers. Some grow to being managers. Some don’t. Media professionals today work nights trying to feed the greedy monster that 24/7 channels have created. Journalists spend nights writing marketing dictated articles. Designers and animators work at mediocre projects that demand them to spend 32 - 48 straight. The similarities are endless. And, quite a few of these jobs are a dead end. Although, only one industry is making an effort to put rules in place to enforce these health and safety practices. The lucky BPO guys.
Standards that ensure health and happiness of employees still need to be implemented in all sectors. A place of work is as good or as bad as the management. If next door Sheila aunty thinks your job is beneath her beautiful daughter and the "No Entry" board is put up or Ramesh uncle nods his head disapprovingly every time he sees you... Well…
Imagine zooming full throttle on a highway without fuel. Young India is a go getter. Fuel to an urban economy at full throttle. Businesses are thriving based on this spending power. Hypocrisy for this particular section of a BPO industry that runs the economy is a surprising and amusing factor.
Work smart. Grow. Make the moolah. Quit. The truth is the youth of India is empowered. They have the freedom to choose. I have the freedom to choose.
Time is of essence. Young India knows its value. The 10/15/20 minute breaks everywhere are like short movies. They laugh. Swap jokes. Talk to a pretty gal. Bat eyelids at the hunk on the next table. Connect. Plan. They don’t need the flak. Create the "value addition" jobs. They are not afraid of hard work. Until then 54% of India will forge ahead with whatever resources the system provides. They wait for the change of fair corporate practices. Better humans as managers. Better clients. Better projects. Like all industries.
Coffee and Cigarettes. Witness to a change. The thoughts. Their lives. The injustice too. But, they'll kill ya. So stay sane. Stay healthy.
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* Thank you Jim Jarsmusch for Coffee and Cigarettes
Coffee and Cigarettes
Wisps of smoke curl into the dark of the night. A slow, hypnotic burn. Warmth in a pool of black magic. Coffee and a cigarette… a.k.a. friends. Their silent presence calms me. They speak to me in a language that doesn’t hurt, doesn’t judge.
Stub the cigarette. Toss my empty plastic cup (Sorry environment). Our conversation is over. I enter the office again.
My phone buzzes. Its 3 pm. A friend just got off work. Life isn’t much different for him either. It’s the young generation of India slogging for deadlines that keep coming. Achieve. Being young is no longer an excuse.
Look around for a friendly face. There's Sheena (the warrior princess) LOL. She hates that nick. There's the buzz for the team meeting. Focus. It's time. Lights…Camera… Action.
Now, anyone who thinks I am a BPO employee or a writer speaking from the point of view of a BPO employee. You've been had. I am just another professional who happens to be writing about my day. I happen to be a writer. I could be a software professional. I could be a film maker. I could well be just about any hardworking person (yeah! possibly a boss's slave too). BPO, non BPO … all the same. Although, I must say you are the media stars. Believe me, there's reams and reams of print talking about you guys!
Well BPO, non BPO … it doesn’t matter. Software professionals' work on projects that need replicated code. Mind numbing for entry level engineers. Some grow to being managers. Some don’t. Media professionals today work nights trying to feed the greedy monster that 24/7 channels have created. Journalists spend nights writing marketing dictated articles. Designers and animators work at mediocre projects that demand them to spend 32 - 48 straight. The similarities are endless. And, quite a few of these jobs are a dead end. Although, only one industry is making an effort to put rules in place to enforce these health and safety practices. The lucky BPO guys.
Standards that ensure health and happiness of employees still need to be implemented in all sectors. A place of work is as good or as bad as the management. If next door Sheila aunty thinks your job is beneath her beautiful daughter and the "No Entry" board is put up or Ramesh uncle nods his head disapprovingly every time he sees you... Well…
Imagine zooming full throttle on a highway without fuel. Young India is a go getter. Fuel to an urban economy at full throttle. Businesses are thriving based on this spending power. Hypocrisy for this particular section of a BPO industry that runs the economy is a surprising and amusing factor.
Work smart. Grow. Make the moolah. Quit. The truth is the youth of India is empowered. They have the freedom to choose. I have the freedom to choose.
Time is of essence. Young India knows its value. The 10/15/20 minute breaks everywhere are like short movies. They laugh. Swap jokes. Talk to a pretty gal. Bat eyelids at the hunk on the next table. Connect. Plan. They don’t need the flak. Create the "value addition" jobs. They are not afraid of hard work. Until then 54% of India will forge ahead with whatever resources the system provides. They wait for the change of fair corporate practices. Better humans as managers. Better clients. Better projects. Like all industries.
Coffee and Cigarettes. Witness to a change. The thoughts. Their lives. The injustice too. But, they'll kill ya. So stay sane. Stay healthy.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Thank you Jim Jarsmusch for Coffee and Cigarettes
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