Of late, India has been able to capitalize its youth and middle class which are responsible for the increasing economy of the nation. Many multi national companies find it more sensible to pay an Indian around $5.00 a day compared to paying someone around $50.00 in the United States for the same job. A lot of American companies like AOL, Microsoft, HP, Compaq have set up their call centers in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkatta. If you are using some kind of
electrical device like television, computer, digital camera and so on and if they stop working, you will be either calling service or the usual 1-800 number for troubleshooting. Don't be surprised if you would hear a person with an accent. Chances are that your phone was connected to some call center in India and the person on the phone would help you with your troubleshooting. Joining a call center company has become a trend for the nation's millions of youth. Their pay would range from early ten thousands to the mid-thirties a month depending upon how good they are and what kind of position they hold.
| Call center Employee in India. These employees work nights when it is day in the USA. (Source: Textually.org) |
More interestingly, these youths have actually found a variety of ideas on how to manage their salaries and money. Many would save the money by having fixed deposits (Certificate
of Deposits or CD's) in banks, while some would invest in properties, while some would invest in stock markets. However, due to recent market crashes, many have pulled out of that particular option.
According to Wikipedia, India's GDP growth was recorded at 9.4% for the year of 2006-2007. Many reasons can be accounted for India's GDP growth, one being outsourcing. India has ample of skilled professionals in engineering and technologies. These professionals either go to the countries like USA, UK, Australia for further studies and consequently settling there, or join some big companies like Infosys, Reliance, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, and many others. India has became one of the leading countries where jobs are outsourced. Other countries are Phillipines, Mexico, and China. The spending capacity of many people is increasing and people are willing to spend in order to live a comfortable and luxurious life. Cordless phones and pagers have became things of past. Cellular phones have now became a way of life for most youths, a trend for many college students, and a necessity for businessmen. Mobile phone users and subscribers are increasing daily each day and every single month. According to Wikipedia, India currently has 200 million plus cellular phone users in India compared to USA's 233 million cellular phone users. There is a high possibility that India might overtake United States in terms of cellular users.
There is increasing economy, booming middle class and the challenge-driven youths on one side- the other side is more darker. Many people in rural areas are yet to hear the world television. Many are yet to recieve at least eight hours of electricity; while many people hardly find enough food and water to feed themselves at least once a day. The rural portion of the country is so much under developed that many have to actually walk miles just to find water in torturing heat. A young boy has to work to fulfill his appetite by earning about few rupees a day. Around 17 people travel in a Jeep for over 60 kilometers, still the offenders go unpunished. If you wonder why, here's the answer you will get: "This is India, this is how the way it is", "What's wrong in this?" No proper civic system is maintained in rural India and those who want to make a difference are actually made a victim of chaos and infamous publicity.