On 12/19/05, sastry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It stinks > http://www.theonion.com/content/node/33080 > > New Tech-Support Caste Arises In India > > April 20, 2005 | Issue 41•16 > > NEW DELHI-Thanks to widespread outsourcing of telephone-service jobs, a sixth > caste has blossomed in India: the Khidakayas, a mid-level jati made up of > technical-support workers. "I am happy to be a Khidakaya," said > technical-support agent Ranji Prasat, who speaks English with a flawless > American accent and goes by the name "Ron" at work. "While we rank below > members of the reigning order, those of us responsible for helping Americans > track their online purchases and change their account PINs share many > privileges not enjoyed by the merchant class below us." Prasat said he > expects to marry another tech-support worker.
Ahh, The Onion. Members of this caste also call my father regularly, begging him to refinance his house and demanding to know the most intimate details of his financial situation. He rather enjoys the concern. Or is the telemarketer caste slightly below the tech support caste? It's so difficult to keep up with all the dizzying changes over there. I do wish they'd replace that naming system; rather than say, "I'm a Brahman so everyone else must lick my boots", I'd rather hear where they are on a scale of 0-10. 0 means, of course, the lowest of the untouchables, which in the US would map to a used car salesman, and 10 means you're like a Kennedy, able to murder pregnant girls while driving drunk and yet still reelected year after year - the other kind of untouchable. Otherwise, just giving me the caste name doesn't tell me anything. Whenever someone at work deigns to mention his caste, I like to ask for the number instead, but all I get is the usual blank stare, and the slow backing away. That's no fun. So far, no HR complaints. $;^D Anne Marie -- Moral Indignation is Jealousy with a halo. H.G. Wells, The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914)
