Teo Degas' Books & Decks

I always crave books in English from other cultures, so I was thrilled to find this one in my local library.

The book is very entertaining, unpretentious, a feel-good story, charming and fresh. Very cinematic, like a soap opera, no wonder the book was brought to the big screen in India.

The story chronicles the adventures of a mixed group of night-shift young workers at an Indian Call Centre. We are introduced into their family, personal and work lives, aspirations and problems, dreams and daily lives.I think it reflects the aspirations of the working and middle class Indian Youth, who we rarely see well represented in Western films and literature.

I truly hated the empty vacuous criticism of Americans and the American way of life, mostly based on crappy stereotypes which border with racism. I am not an American, but I found funny that the author, through his characters, vilifies Americans but the create characters that are very "Western". On the other hand, I think it reflects well the opinion of many young people in India, whose only exposure to the Western world comes through TV and their work at these centres.

This is a translation, so it is difficult to see whether the quality of the vernacular language used by the author was way better. The English used in this book is simply but effective, and the work is well composed and structured.

This is one of those books that I call summer book, unsubstantial literature that one enjoys while holidaying and lying by the beach.