Driven by Values

Update: Anurag is currently working in an international call center in Gurgaon. It is an inbound process (that means customers call him and not vice versa)

Powered by Intellect, Driven by Values - The motto had sealed where I wanted to go after college. But then, there was a gap of six months between the day that I left college and the day that I would join my dream company. So here I am, biding my time at a call center.

The BPO is technical support for an anti-virus company based in USA. The job profile - Technical Sales. Unsuspecting customers call in for three main reasons:

• Their software isn't activated.
• They want to get rid of the software.
• They want to know more about our products after hearing our advertisements on radio and television.

Did I mention it was a 'sales' job? we have to convince our patrons that their system needs more than just some software to optimize performance. What they need are Microsoft certified technicians who would take care of their system while they have peace of mind. And they need not look elsewhere because we provide technical support for their system dirt cheap. It was an exciting profile. As a matter of fact, I was able to crack my first sale on my very first call.

Now comes the grey area - We are fraudsters. The software when installed for the first time brings in a few viruses with it. So, viruses are found on the system even if there weren't any before our software was installed. and our software makes sure the user's system slows down to a crawl. The customer is left with no option except to get a Microsoft Certified technician to work on it. If we are convincing enough, they subscribe to our service and a technician rids their system of all problems. To add insult to injury, there's hardly any technician in our process who is Microsoft Certified.

Our trainer Ashish (amazing guy, really) told us this was our way of getting back at the US. In US, even a person who can't afford to have three square meals a day will have atleast one computer at his home. And there's hardly anyone who uses it for anything other than surfing the net, playing games or checking mails. So, we are simply teaching them a lesson by taking their money and solving minor issues.

It's really a fun job, hearing customers scream 'Oh My God' the moment I open the System Configuration Utility (Run: msconfig) and show them weird looking startup items. My training lasted all of 12 days before I started the OJT (On the Job Training). In the words of our trainer, this was because the floor was BLEEDING. There weren't enough sales people to pick up all the calls we were getting. Life was fun until...

One fine day (or night, depending upon the time-zone you are in) I got a call from a customer who had just purchased our product. He was having trouble removing viruses from his system. Piece of cake! This was the very last call in my shift. I thought I might as well take a remote session of his computer and show him exactly show it is done. The customer said I would have to wait some time before he would be able to do the needful for me to take remote assistance.

It was only when I tried to show the customer how the software worked that I realized he was completely blind - with Windows Vista OS on his machine. He was using a text-to-speech converter on his system and our software wasn't compatible with it. My heart went out to him, frightened at what damage our software may cause on his computer. I let him know it was better if he would ask for a refund and remove our software from his system.

It is one thing to fool a lazy bum who knows nothing except drinking beer or visit pornographic sites and another to take money from a physically challenged person who had not given up despite his disability. For the first time, I realized what we'd been doing was wrong. A fool and his money are soon parted, but you should not be the one responsible for the partition.

There had been another customer who said that we had installed our software on his system without his permission. He was quite irate and wanted the software uninstalled immediately. I tried to convince him that we had over 15 million customers worldwide and we did not indulge in such back-handed tactics. He said that if I actually believed in what I said I must be the only man with scruples in the software industry. he told me I could mention any of the big names in computers and he would tell me atleast a dozen malpractices they had participated in. We all remember Microsoft and Anti-trust, don't we?

I'll be leaving the company after two months (maybe earlier, only time will tell). I just hope Infosys is really driven by values. I can't have it any other way.

Do all Christians go to Heaven?

(Original work by Stephen Knapp. Abridged by Anurag. The article is supposed to point out the fallacies in the Christian theology. What Jesus might have said has been lost in translation and what we follow today is nothing but our interpretation of His words. This is NOT an attack on Christianity. All religions deserve equal respect.)


Most Christians feel that they are bound to go to heaven simply because, as they say, Christ died for their sins. This is one of the basic principles of Christianity, which was idea originated from the apostle Paul. So, many Christians believe that even if they can't give up all of their sinful habits, all they have to do is believe in Jesus and that he died for their sins, and they will be saved. Its very simple!

Yet, mere belief in Jesus and his crucifixion as being all you need to be saved is a controversial point. Not all of the gospels that were in circulation when the New Testament was compiled agreed that the crucifixion was an act of atonement. This means that it may not be so easy just anyone to claim to be Christian and have an easy path to Heaven.

Firstly, Jesus was a Jew. His message was primarily for the Jewish people.

These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles and do not enter a city of the Samaritans
But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. - Matthew 10:5

And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."
But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."
But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Then she came and worshiped Him saying, "Lord, help me!"
But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."
And she said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour. - Matthew 15:22-28

So, do all Christians go to heaven? Not when you consider all the rules for exclusion. According to the books in the New Testament, Jesus left specific instructions that have to be followed or entrance into heaven may not be as sure as many Christians say.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. - Matthew 10:37

For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' - Matthew 15:4

But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. - Matthew 12:36

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. - Matthew 16:23

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or wife or children or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. - Matthew 19:29

Now we can see that requirements of getting into heaven have become more demanding. Many Christians may feel that faith alone is all they need to be saved, but these biblical quotes of Jesus certainly indicate that he expected and required much more than that. The list of rules is not exhaustive by any means. Open your copy of the Gideon Bible for more details.

So what happens to all those who cannot measure up to the proper standard?

The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and all those who practice lawlessness.
And will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 13:41

If all the rules that Jesus explains must be followed perfectly in order for Christians to go to heaven, then this furnace must be a mighty big place. According to Christian theology, people are given only one lifetime to have one chance at either becoming perfect and righteous or go to eternal hell. What is the value of eternal punishment if it never ends and the soul does not get a chance to rectify himself?