NDIA, THE HIGH TECH MIRAGE
OFF EXPERT
TCR : 10:00:35:20
"In times of globalization, people have more opportunities, but more problems as well. Ambitions are high, they always want more money, more success, better performance. That competitive spirit in life creates a lot of problems. Bangalore has become the city of new technologies but you see a lot of perverse effects. That's why some media now nickname Bangalore the capital of suicide, and not the Silicon valley, as it used to be. "
COM
TCR : 10 :01:15:18
Bangalore, suicide capital? The numbers tell their own story. In ten years, the suicide rate has risen by 40%. How did "India's silicon valley", a showcase of the countries industrial prowess, get its new nickname? The city's youth is looking for answers.
ITW YOUNG MUSICIAN
TCR : 10:01:36:17
When I heard Bangalore was being named capital of suicide, I felt very upset. I wanted to understand where the problem came from, so we wrote a song with the band. We put ourselves in the skin of someone who feels lonely and abandoned.
LYRICS
TCR :10:02:01:10
"In this world, he lost his soul
He wasn't able to tell his story
His life stopped
Because he lived in the capital of suicide"
COM
TCR : 10:02:27:23
The brutal nickname hides a very complex reality: a city at the forefront of globalisation, where the structure of Indian society has been profoundly shaken. A city which embodies the hopes and dreams of a new generation.
OFF // IN NILU
TCR : 10:02:40:16
My name is Nilut Pola Shirma. I grew up in Guwahati, a very small town. It's been about 8 years that I have been working in Bangalore in a call-center for about 12 hours a day. I love to work here and feel that I am a part of the world. When I go to work I have one goal : make sales.
COM
TCR : 10:03:05:08
Nilut belongs to a new generation of Indian women who are independent and ambitious. She's 27, lives alone, far from her family. A lifestyle very different to that of her parents.
ITW NILUT
TCR : 10:03:17:13
I was so exhausted yesterday. I slept 8 hours, in one go. With no interruptions. Like a dead person. I slept and I woke up super fit ! I feel good.
COM
TCR : 10:03:35:01
It's 7 :30 pm. The day is starting for Nilut. She works nightshifts at Outsource Ace, a callcenter which offers customer service for American firms.
In Jamie, no subtitles:
COM
TCR : 10:03:48:04
For her clients, Nilut is called Jamie and lives in Miami. She's practicing her American accent. In 8 years, she's worked for 15 different firms. Each time she changes her job, she has to come up with a new identity.
Hi there, this is Bianca calling (pas de sous-titre)
COM
TCR : 10:04:04:15
Callcenters are a major factor in the economic boom of Bangalore. They provide jobs for hundreds of thousands Indians.
Online-shopping, surveys, or customer service. At Outsource Ace they are a few hundred to make and take calls, night in, night out.
Not long ago, women were forbidden to work nights. The law has since been eased.
ITW NILUT
TCR : 10:04:33:18
Working nights is not a piece of cake.
In a callcenter, everything's a question of timing. Every minute counts. You have to be there on time, log in on time, take your breaks on time, everything on time. You have to log off on time. Not a minute early, not a minute late. That's how it is.
COM
TCR : 10:04:54:02
In the past, you most probabely came from a privileged background to get a job in a callcenter. Nowadays, a high school diploma and some basic knowledge of English are all it takes. Nilut makes 260 dollars a month on average. It's not much for Bangalore, but enough to be independent.
TCR : 10:05:11 :16
For me, being independent means that I make my own money, pay my own bills, that I'm free to live my life. And to take my decisions, make my own choices. It's an amazing feeling to be independent.
ITW DECRYPTEUR
TCR : 10:05:31:08
Bosses expect a lot of these young professional's. They occupy some very demanding jobs. The first couple of years, they might be able to take on the challenge, but as time goes on, their needs change, the needs of their families change. That's why the pressure is rising.
COM
TCR :10:05:52:13
Bangalore's economy doesn't not just rely on callcenters.
In twenty years, it has evolved into a fully fledged technology hub. Software developers, IT sub-contractors and research and development firms generate 32 billion dollars for India's economy each year.
A success the region owes to the highly qualified of its engineers.
The largest Indian companies mix with hundreds of multinationals such as IBM and Axa.
Fiberlink, an American company, makes data security software. Nayan worked in the U.S. for a long times. He came back to India to open this outsourced branch in 2004.
ITW Nayan
TCR : 10:06:43:18
In most firms, the essential part of the marketing and the sales management is done in the U.S or in Europe, whereas the basic work, of all those people on their keyboards who really manage the programming or the databases, all of that is done in Bangalore.
COM
TCR : 10:07:06:14
Fiberlink has moved their most important operations to India : managing the security of all the data exchanged by their clients throughout the entire world.
A few hudred engineers work there, among the most highly skilled in the country, under strict surveillance from their American bosses.
CONF CALL :
TCR : 10:07:28:14
If there's the least problem with a client, or the least problem, we'll have to give the case a dedicated team to of 2 or 3 people, and they ‘ll work with one of us to find a solution. I'll be managing the timing of the operation, so be focused. No distraction will be tolerated. Everyone not person not mobilised on this project will have to ... leave the premises ?
COM
TCR : 10:07:58:12
Bangalore's engineers have to be ready at all times, and available in case of emergency, no matter what time of day or night.
TCR : 10:08:09:11
IN : are there any questions about this?
TCR : 10:08:12:05
I admit there's stress for the employees. There's always pressure to work faster. We're very careful to avoid overworking, make it so the people don't reach their limit in terms of fatigue, because they're constantly under pressure. A thing which is very valorized in indian culture is devotion, to work late, in the evening and at night, until the problems are solved.
COM
TCR : 10:08:55:17
At 34, René wouldn't leave her job for anything in the world.
This mother of two children, from south India has struggled to find her place in this environment. In a country where only one in three women work, it's an opportunity to climb the social ladder.
IW RENE
TCR : 10:09:18:22
If an opportunity presents itself, you have to take the best try that you have got. You always try to give more than 100% in our line of work. Work becomes a part of your life and a priority. Working for us is like... commanding a battleship. You know you are contributing to something that has value. You feel more important. It's very nice.
ITW DECRYPTEUR
TCR : 10:09:45:00
They are proud to be Indian, to work in this industry, to provide services to the western firms and to compete with the west. To be able to say "we are absolutely not inferior to the developed countries." And that raises their self-esteem.
COM
TCR : 10:10:01:05
In India, where the population is extremely young, no other sector offers as many opportunities. Each year, 190 000 new engineers try their luck.
In Mahindra, new employees arrive in busloads.
The giant of IT sub-contracting with its American campus is the dream of many indian parents, convinced that the future of their child lies here.
These are the latest recruits. Selected from the best and the brightest of India's elite universities. In a couple of days, they start their new life as young professionals.
ITW RECRUITS
TCR :10:10:40:15
All my friends and family encouraged me to work in new technologies. In my family, I am the first to leave the village. The new technologies industry is the future of ... everything. I'm proud to work in this sector, because it contributes to develop a lot of other sectors. My dream is to have ... a very big salary.
COM :
TCR : 10:11:08:01
It's the enthusiasm of these young people that has built Mahindra, but their aspirations are at odds with the goals of the management.
ITW? Management (not in the original script)
TCR : 10:11:16:22
Grab them while they are young and remodel them quickly : that's how we recruit the employees. The other reason of course, is that they're cheaper. That's why we need them to do all these subordinate tasks of our projects, and they do it very well. They learn very quickly, so they become productive very rapidly. That's why we need young people.
COM
TCR : 10:11:40:02
In this industry, staff turnover is very high. Because they are limited to small projects, or because their salary doesn't rise fast enough, most of them will stay no more than two years, before they start looking for professional success somewhere else.
ITW EXPERT
TCR : 10:11:58:12
We have recently found out that cases burn-out syndrome are multiplying exponentially among young professionals. Until 40 they are able to work, but at 40 or 45, they are almost done for life. In other lines of work, as your career progresses, you gain responsibility, your job evolves, you acquire new skills and you are able to develop them. In the technology industry, it's the opposite. They expect a lot from the beginning of their career. That's why the pressure ruins their lives.
OFF RENE
TCR :10:12:37:17
In this sector, you have to always be aware of what's new, otherwise you feel overstepped, as if you were just waking up from a long sleep, that you forgot everything. All things evolve, there is innovation, software updates. Today there is something new, tomorrow there is something else. And you have to learn about it.
TCR : 10:13:01:12
No way for René to take a break, even at home. She lives in a three bedroom apartment with her son and her husband Anthony. He's also a software engineer for a French company. Busing working life, that leave little times for the family.
RENE kitchen : ( off) :
TCR : 10:13:18:05
Usually, at the time I get home from work, my son has had dinner and is asleep. I come home, I have dinner. And then we start working.
Sometimes I sleep in the living room. Last week because I was sick, sometimes because it's very bothering to put on the light to work when the other wants to sleep.
But sometimes, we meet, for instance during the weekend. Then, the three of us sleep together.
COM
TCR : 10:13:53:22
Chris is 5, he has lived the first five years of his life 200 km from here.
To pursue their careers, René and Anthony decided to leave the education of their son in the hands of their parents.
ITW RENE
TCR : 10:14:13:15
Tomorrow morning you are getting up early, your daddy has to work early.
TCR : 10:14:16:06
Chris came back to Bangalore six months ago. It's a trial period to see if raising a son is compatible with their work schedule.
TCR : 10:14:23:11
My parents really encouraged me to work in the IT sector. It was their dream that their child to have a good career, so they told me "we'll care for the children, you do what you have got to do, and when the children are ready, we will send them to you.
TCR : 10:14:38:15
René has another 3-year-old son, who still lives with her grand-parents. She visits him on week-ends.
ITW RENE
TCR : 10:14:46:08
He doesn't understand I'm his mother. He calls me "tata mommy". But he knows his father very well. He really loves his father. Maybe he thinks that his name is "father", I don't know.
ITW MARI
TCR : 10:15:01:05
We don't have many options to raise him here during the first years. It's the first year of school for our oldest, so we will see if he's able to adapt to life in Bangalore, and if it works out, the second will join us next year. That's what I hope. If you ask what I feel when I think of the youngest, I feel a bit bad.
ITW RENE
TCR : 10:15:30:24
My mother is preparing him. She tells him "next year you will be in Bangalore, you will have to be a good boy, listen to mommy..."
ITW MARI
TCR : 10:15:37:23
I find comfort by telling myself that I will bring him here next year, I always focus on the future... I don't think about the present or about the past, I always look towards the future
ITW DECRYPTEUR
TCR : 10:15:50:16
You have to understand that before, in India, the support provided by the family was primordial. These people lived with all their family, in the larger sense of the word But now, little by little, the reduced family is becoming the norm, and family support is lessened. A husband, a wide, a child and that is it. And if both parents work, the child is left to himself. There is no one to confide in and life has become mechanic. That just creates more stress, and the problems of suicide depression. That is what is happening in Bangalore.
COM :
TCR : 10:16:38:02
Overwork, stress, depression. 1717 people committed suicide in Bangalore in 2011. This hospital, built a year ago, specializes in therapies, specially adapted to these new sicknesses.
ITW DIRECTRICE
TCR : 10:16:54:13
We were really asking ourselves why the suicide rate is so high in India and in Bangalore in particular. Many theories were built. One of the theories is that there is a sort of intolerance to stress, and intolerance to failure, people don't manage their frustrations, they have become more impulsive, the social network shrinks and you don't know who to talk to when difficulties arise and the expectations are so high. Every negative feeling turns into shame, guilt, incapacity to live in society. And there is so much pressure on people to perform.
COM
TCR : 10:17:31:12
In India, depression remains taboo. To seek help is often a difficult decision. This IT technician prefers to remain anonymous.
ITW IT
TCR : 10:17:41:09
I'm an engineer in a French firm. I wanted to shine. I come from a very small city. I wanted to have an experience in new technologies. That's why I came to Bangalore. I found a job. I had to fight a little, but I succeeded. I made my dream come true. As soon as your firm needs you, you have to be there, and work, be it day or night. You have to be productive. You have to be profitable for the company. And that, that brings me down, and it's created problems in my family. My problems also affect their lives. That's why I want to get out of this environment.
ITW DIRECTRICE
TCR : 10:18:38:03
The transition was brutal. They come from another city, and get here and work 24/7. They don't have support anymore: society isn't the relief valve it used to be. They don't have any relieve valve anymore.
TCR : 10:18:53:10
To answer the emergency, this hospital forms specialised counsellors. Some of them will work directly in the firms. They are starting to acknowledge the danger for the system.
Song without subtitles.
COM
TCR : 10:19:11:14
Nonetheless, day and night, the fight for success goes on.
Tonight is thanksgiving in the United States. No calls to Outsource Ace. The management has seized the opportunity to organize a training session for Nilu and her collegues.
OFF FABLE
TCR : 10:19:33:00
Once upon a time, there was a rabbit and a turtle who were fighting to know which one of them was the fastest.
COM
TCR : 10:19:38:08
A callcenter fairy tale. As so often, to encourage employee productivity.
ITW young worker
TCR : 10:20:07:11
If I hear one of my colleagues on the phone with a client, who sells a product to a client, it encourages me to do the same. That's how it works. The moral of the story is that the story applies perfectly to our work.
ITW NILU
TCR : 10:20:21:21
Of course there's competition. But for me it's good competition, because I think that if there wasn't any competition, we would become complacent. It would mean that there is no hope of growth, no motivation to make more money. Because we also have a lot of financial incentives.
COM
TCR : 10:20:42:13
In reality, hopes of climbing the professional scale are slim for Nilu. At best, she hopes to become manager in her callcenter. She never thought she would stay this long in the industry. With no diploma, she has no alternative.
In : Oh Gosh Traffic jam man :
TCR : 10:21:04:23
Nonetheless, she is proud to be able to stand on her own two feet. At twenty, very few Indian woman have her courage. She lives in the suburbs, in a sort of youth hostel for the children of the globalized world, a typical sight in Bangalore.
ITW NILU
TCR : 10:21:27:04
Here we get food, there is a place to stay. That's the idea. For a working woman it's great!
And most parents are not happy with the idea to have their daughter stay by herself in an apartment. That is one of the reasons why many girls choose to live in these hostels.
In my room we are four, and seventeen in the whole hostel. We all work in different companies, some in callcenters, some in other industries. That makes for for a lot of people.
COM
TCR : 10:22:06:13
For this room, Nilu spends a third of her salary. She barely knows her roomates. Since she works night shifts, she only meets them a couple of minutes each morning.
Nilu visits her Family twice a year, but she is enjoying her freedom.
ITW NILU
TCR : 10:22:25:11
Every week-end I meet my friends and ... I party. I travel a lot. I've went pretty much everywhere in India. So... I have fun !
Before, I had a boyfriend. I had so many boyfriends in fact ! But I think love isn't meant for me. Unfortunately. But I'm OK with that now. I've made peace with that ! I'm not looking to commit. I'm happy. I'm single and happy now.
COM
TCR : 10:23:01:19
More and more girls openly admit to being single. A small revolution in this country of arranged marriage.
//
No Generation is spared from the social change in Bangalore. Even the elderly.
//
The former paradise for seniors, known for its beautiful gardens, has become a cold megacity, focused on work, where the elderly are left on the sidelines.
//
A center has been built to take care of seniors, and help them in their solitude. A common sight in western countries, but a new concept in India, where the family elders where taken care of by their children.
//
The seniors are between 65 and 73 years old and all have something in common : their children are pursuing careers in the technology sector.
// AMBIENT //
ITW RAJANAL
I live alone with my wife. I have three children. They have all left the hiuse. They are doing very well in their jobs, they are having a nice career. Without them, ma financial situation wouldn't be this well. Because they progress very quickly, they make money, they push things forward in their field. I'm very proud as a father. I raised them and they grew to turn out as I had hoped. Emotionally ... of course ... it's harder, but we have to live with it.
COM
TCR : 10:24:50:04
Rajanal has even decided to go back to work, and to also ride the wave of the technology boom. He's starting a three month traineeship. He's going to learn basics in IT, client relation, and will be prepared for eventual job interviews.
TRAINEESHIP
TCR : 10:25:12:15
Will you join me for a quick job interview?
Of course, thank you.
Please, have a seat.
Thank you.
So I'm meeting you to discuss a job where you would have to answer clients who use your phone network.
TCR : 10:25:33:11
Very few seniors actually find a job. In a city where youth is king, firms are reluctant to invest in age and experience.
Bangalore has become a world city.
It built itself on the needs of the western economies. Today, it harvests the benefits, but also suffers the downsides.
The members of this band are 20 years old, the same age as this new Bangalore.
An age at which one wonders about the future.
ITW JEUNE
TCR : 10:26:11:09
There will always be pressure, negative aspects, but you have to learn to live with it. And Bangalore teaches that. It's like a mother who shapes you after her image, who teaches you to surpass yourself and finally you ... you learn it's for your own good.
We bet everything on new technologies, and not enough on other sectors that should ... develop, and grow too. But I think that these last years people have started to understand. Many people started looking away from new technologies. For instance, many of my school friends want to go into bioengineering. They want to become scientists, researchers for the good of India. India is a third world country, it's a fact, even if I can't believe it, it's a fact. But we want to move on, the youth has to diversify itself. I'm convinced, the youth has to mobilise so that Bangalore loses its nickname of suicide capital.
TCR : 10:27:17:07
Even if the transition is difficult, Bangalore continues to embody the promise of a better future.
Engineering, aeronautics, biotechnology, the city continues to grow and to reinvent itself.
It's a laboratory for India's future.
Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, more and more cities are following in its footsteps.