To work in a call center, you need to be able to speak, read and write English. You do not need a university degree, you do not need to possess a particular te

To work in a call center, you need to be able to speak, read and write English. You do not need a university degree, you do not need to possess a particular technical skill set. Most call centers will offer just enough training to get an employee going. India has a huge number of young people who may not be able to join the IT companies, manufacturing industries, or the booming private financial sector because they may not have the education, inclination or aptitude to do so. Call centers, much reviled as they are, provide an avenue for hundreds of thousands of people to hold down a well paying, stable job. I think the author's experience there is fairly typical, but there is a crucial difference in perception. What the author finds depressing (or pointless) is actually a gateway to a "middle class" life for many thousands of people. I am sure if the author went back in time to Michigan in the 20s, he would have similar things to say about workers on the automobile assembly lines. But while the great American manufacturing boom of the early 20th century is celebrated as a gateway to prosperity, a fairly similar thing happening in India is looked upon with a somewhat negative bias.