Our Last Weeks in Mumbai.... and a glimpse into the call centre phenomenon

Alright, alright.
So it's been forever since I've written and here it all is finally.
For those of you who dislike periods of silence and then long detailed entries, I intend to write more frequently from now on, but have also decided to break up the following entries into sizable chunks for you.
With Pictures.
I might not get to labeling the pictures today, so check in again and I will explain them in due time.

First, our extended last weeks in Mumbai:

We ended up staying in Mumbai longer than expected for a couple reasons. First, we stayed a week or so longer as we needed to re-do our tattoos at the original Tattoo parlor that initially did them as they were going to do the touch-ups for free. (I'm referring to the small identical wedding bands on our fingers that Jon and I had intended to do in Canada). But as Jon's took longer and longer to heal we decided that we would leave for the South West state of Goa (where my mom's family lives and which is also known as the vacation state for both international and domestic travelers as it has some beautiful beaches) and return to Mumbai to get our tattoos done and then onwards to Dharamsala. Tickets proved difficult to get to Dharamsala so we were delayed further in Mumbai.

Borivili -a northern suburb in Mumbai where I was born

The two vehicles on the far left and right are auto-rickshaws
for those that haven't seen them before

The infamous Banyon Trees
-their roots creep downwards from their tall branches
until they plant themselves into the ground.
-Jon's picture.

me getting restless as Jon takes picture after picture of the tree...
I'm holding onto the roots
p.s. This is in downtown Mumbai

While we were both going a little crazy with boredom we managed to take in some family time, a couple nights out and a play at the National Centre for Performing Arts. The play was called "1-888- Just-Dial-India". It was a clever comedy that exposed the power relations between Western and Indian culture where Indians strive to be more and more like the west, and where the west depends more and more on India for various outsourcing. The play was about an Indian business man who decides that the next wave of business genius is to outsource America's suicide hotline to India. The play touched about key points such as North America's self-absorption, ignorance and righteousness and India's willingness to abandon its culture and be more like the west, and relationships for consumption and glitz. The play also displayed underlying issues of how global politics in the form of a saviour called "globalization", are spearheading cultural disintegration and Western imperialism through the dissemination of western culture in various insidious forms. Suffice to say, the play was clever, hilarious and both Jon and I enjoyed both the political nature of the script and the talent of the 6 performers.

India’s IT Industry –a glimpse into the politics of race, identity and consumption:

To give you a sense of the politics behind the so called Information Technology (I.T.) industry in India and the call-centre phenomenon, here is an excerpt from an interview of Arundhati Roy (the author of The God of Small Things) in her book The Shape of the Beast, from her chapter on "Development Nationalism" (pg 89-90):

The journalist asks:

"India Today, a weekly magazine, has a fairly large circulation. It recently had a cover story entitled 'India Is Now the Electronic Housekeeper of the World'. General Electric, American Express, Citibank, AT&T and other US corporations are shifting what they call their back-office operations to India. It's called the fastest-growing industry in India, and the workers are mostly young women. Many are hired to answer customer service questions for US customers. They might be on the other end of the line when I want someone to look up the balance on my credit card account or when Avis telemarkets a cheap vacation package to San Diego. They take on American names and American persona's and tell jokes in American English. The people who are in favour of corporate globalization say this is a great thing. These girls would not ordinarily get jobs, and now they have an opportunity to earn some money. Is there anything wrong with that argument?"

Arundhati Roy replies:

"The call-centre industry is based on lies and racism. The people who call in are misled into believing that they are talking to some white American sitting in America. The people who work in those call centres are told that they're not good enough for the market, that US customers will complain if they find out that their service is being provided by and Indian. So Indians must take on false identities, pretend to be Americans, learn a 'correct' accent. It leads to a psychosis. One way of looking at this is to say, 'These people at least have jobs.' You could say that about prostitution or child labour or anything- 'At least they're being paid for it.' Their premise is that either these workers don't have jobs or they have jobs which they have to humiliate themselves. But is that the only choice?"

Of course there is much more to this issue, but I think the excerpt above points to some key issues surrounding the advancement of corporate globalization and how it is affecting racial, cultural, relationships. This is a prime example of how social structures such as our jobs act as factors that contribute to the re-orientation of identity. Like Roy says, the fact that call centre employees are required to pretend to be American in order to provide customer service to America and other western countries, says to Indians that they aren’t good enough, that they aren’t desired. This industry significantly perpetuates racial hierarchies. Not only are Indians told what not to be, but they are told what they should be: Western. But the scary thing is that this relationship does not end in the economic sector. While it may literally pay to be more western in relation to the job market, the entire world is constantly told via mass media outlets such as movies, advertisements, the news, global politics, etc that your entire life will improve if you embrace and pursue a western lifestyle.

Do you know what one of the highest selling commodities is in India? Skin whitening creams. Not only are they sold anywhere and everywhere, but they are made accessible even to the poor by the availability of smaller, cheaper, pocket-sized sachets. If you need any proof of mass media that encourages the pursuit of Western culture check out Bollywood. Bollywood is the name given to the massive Hindi film industry which, (according to the Lonely Planet 2005 edition, pg 69) is the largest film industry in the World. The World. If you look at the actors and actresses in the industry you will quickly see that all of them are very, very fair skinned –almost even white. I have yet to see a fairly brown skinned actress let alone a dark skinned one. And I’m not exaggerating, I bet if you asked any local Indians who frequently watch Bollywood films how many dark skinned actors they’ve seen, I’d be surprised if they even said one. So is it a surprise that skin whitening creams are such a hot product when the largest film industry in the world religiously employs fair skinned actors?

Be sure to market to all consumer groups...

And that’s just Bollywood. What about all the other social practices that perpetuate this racial hierarchy? And what about the numerous other things that are changed and lost in the pursuit of self-identification and happiness through Western lifestyles?

“The recent IT boom and outsourcing of overseas industries to India has given birth to a new breed of Indian yuppie... According to a recent survey, these young professionals (many in their twenties and unmarried) are ditching traditional spending patterns (eg for household goods and retirement) and spending a sizable chunk of their incomes on more hedonistic pursuits such as dining out at fancy restaurants” (Lonely Planet, 2005, Pg. 60).

(Gasp. Is it really true? Is the generation of rabid consumerism a by-product of this phenomenon?)
What about how this changes social relations between parents and children, family structure? Will this generation of ‘yuppies’ be as willing to take care of their aging parents as their parents once were of their grandparents (in a society where social care services such as those for the elderly are almost non-existent and those that are, are inaccessible to most of the population because they can’t afford it)?

ok, ok, that's the end of my rant.