U.S. Payrolls Change Lives in Bangalore
By SARITHA RAI

BANGALORE, India, Feb. 21 - A social revolution is under way in 
India's numerous back offices and call centers.

Many of the employees are barely in their 20's, and just a year 
or two ago they were living traditional lives in their parents' 
homes, often in smaller towns. 

Now, caste, religion and other age-old Indian social divisions 
are being shaken. Empowered by an ample paycheck, often from big 
American companies like American Express and America Online, 
some Indian workers are living lavishly on credit cards, and 
their open-mindedness is breaking conventions about dating. 

Foreign companies are rushing to India, lured by its low wages, 
high technology and good communication networks, and the country's 
annual surge of 1.5 million English-speaking university graduates.

Roopa Murthy, 24, works at 24/7 Customer, a back-office company that 
employs 3,000 others like her - well-educated, English-speaking 
workers from middle-class families. This small army works mostly 
for American companies and some Canadian and British businesses, 
selling services for satellite television, handling credit card 
and insurance inquiries, and selling telephone cards offering 
online support for technology companies.

Ms. Murthy moved to Bangalore in 2002, with an accounting degree 
from a women's college. She shunned smoking, drinking and late 
nights. 

Now, she earns $400 a month, a sum several times her father's salary 
when he retired after decades in government service. She sends part 
of her earnings home to help out the family. Once shy and introverted, 
she has changed into a self-assured young woman.

Her newfound confidence, she said, came from dealing with hundreds 
of strangers around the globe. Her long hair is now cut in a short 
style similar to the one worn by her idol, the character Dana Scully 
of the television show "X-Files," whose name she has adopted at her 
workplace to answer customer inquiries or to market products and 
services on the telephone. Her daily makeup includes foundation, 
lipstick, eyeliner and sometimes eye shadow. 

The salwar kameez, the loose-fitting Indian dress that was a standard 
in her wardrobe back home, has given way to Western attire with 
designer labels. Ms. Murthy, who said she owned one pair of sandals 
through college, now has Nike and Adidas sneakers and half a dozen 
other pairs of footwear.


Posted by anne at February 22, 2004 11:40 AM