Spencer and I, accompanied by a young man called Ashok, rode
for one hour in a city commuter bus right across the city of Bangalore to the
main bus station for inter-city and inter-state buses. We boarded a sleeper
coach. This is an interesting bus because it has beds instead of seats. It is
the size of a 62-seater bus in Kenya, but it is fitted with 36 beds on two
levels. There is a narrow corridor with two beds on the left and one on the
right. One could sleep right through the whole trip but I was too excited to do
so.
The sleeper bus departed at 10.00 p.m. on Tuesday 15th May for the eight hour journey to Thirthahalli (pronounced titahali). Although we took the journey at night, I was able to notice that there were settlements, trees and other vegetation all along the way. I even caught a glimpse of rice paddies somewhere. We arrived at Thirthahalli at 6.00 a.m. and Ashok handed us over to our local chaperone, Vicky (short for Vikram and he is a man), who also works at the centre. Thirthahalli is a big town but we didn’t look around much. We were taken to our accommodation in a tuktuk (locally referred to as rickshaw).
Our accommodation was impressive from the onset. It was the guest wing in a home. The owner was called Gautam and he was very kind. He lived in the main house with his father and some other family members whose relationships we do not get to know. Our quarters were on the first floor while Gautam lived just below us on the ground floor. We had an ensuite bedroom with a big bed, a sitting room with antique furniture and satellite TV, and an open balcony with outdoor chairs overlooking the tree covered hills.
After checking in and freshening up, we were taken to the centre by Vicky and a friend on their motorbikes. On our way there we passed a swamp in which we saw a herd of Indian buffalo. We also saw a small group of dark skinned Indian families living in tents on a small valley floor. These, we were told are from a small Indian tribe who have no fixed abode, but move around working on farms for wages. When they move, they carry everything they own, which is not much.
The Thirthahalli Ruralshores centre is located in a large hall which used to be a community wedding hall. The whole area is quite developed, which is especially noticeable since it is considered to be rural. The roads are tarmac ked and the houses are permanent and beautiful with intricately sculptured patterns, reminiscent of Indian architecture. The people in this community look comfortable, healthy, and are very kind and friendly.
It was very refreshing to finally see a fully functional rural BPO gainfully employing more than a hundred youth right there in their village. We were welcomed by the manager, Hrishi, who looks very young but is very knowledgeable and experienced. He commands a lot of respect from all the workers and he is very humble (Can you imagine he rides a motor bike to work?). He gave us a good overview of the centre and also of his own profile.
All the young people working at the centre have gone through basic schooling. This is the equivalent of a secondary school education. A few have been to college and university. Most are advancing their education after getting the jobs, and all of them are happy to work there.
We got to meet three of the senior process associates (associates are what we call operators), Suprith, Divya, and Anjitha (pronounced anjita). Suprith is a young man; while Divya and Anjitha are young ladies (I know you couldn’t tell that from the names).The three started off as trainees, became process associates, and eventually got promoted to become senior process associates. They are hoping to become process leads and even better in future. What stood out to me was the loyalty they have to the company. This, they say, is because Ruralshores changed their lives and gave them hope to better their lives and that of their families. All three walk to the office and take their meals at home. They are thus able to save a lot of money and take part in family activities.
Suprith and Divya are currently undertaking their undergraduate studies by distance learning. Anjitha on the other hand, already had an honours degree when she joined Ruralshores. However, she couldn’t get a good job because her family would not allow her to leave home for the big cities. In this culture, girls are very sheltered and the rural concept is highly beneficial to them and their families. Anjitha is now undertaking her postgraduate studies and is happy have a world class job very near home. She is highly talented and she is assigned to handle all the particularly difficult clients at the call centre section where the three work.
In the afternoon on Wednesday, Spencer and I were privileged to sit in a training session for new recruits in the call centre section. This was conducted by Sachin, one of the process leads, and it was so simply structured and very effectively delivered. It covered the basics and enhanced confidence of the trainees. All the people at the centre seem to interact very freely with each other and there is a lot of mutual respect. This is evident in even the new trainees who have only been there for only a few days.
There is so much to learn both in terms of processes and of the people and their attitudes. We have transformed ourselves into sponges to absorb as much as we can. The learning continues.
The sleeper bus departed at 10.00 p.m. on Tuesday 15th May for the eight hour journey to Thirthahalli (pronounced titahali). Although we took the journey at night, I was able to notice that there were settlements, trees and other vegetation all along the way. I even caught a glimpse of rice paddies somewhere. We arrived at Thirthahalli at 6.00 a.m. and Ashok handed us over to our local chaperone, Vicky (short for Vikram and he is a man), who also works at the centre. Thirthahalli is a big town but we didn’t look around much. We were taken to our accommodation in a tuktuk (locally referred to as rickshaw).
Our accommodation was impressive from the onset. It was the guest wing in a home. The owner was called Gautam and he was very kind. He lived in the main house with his father and some other family members whose relationships we do not get to know. Our quarters were on the first floor while Gautam lived just below us on the ground floor. We had an ensuite bedroom with a big bed, a sitting room with antique furniture and satellite TV, and an open balcony with outdoor chairs overlooking the tree covered hills.
After checking in and freshening up, we were taken to the centre by Vicky and a friend on their motorbikes. On our way there we passed a swamp in which we saw a herd of Indian buffalo. We also saw a small group of dark skinned Indian families living in tents on a small valley floor. These, we were told are from a small Indian tribe who have no fixed abode, but move around working on farms for wages. When they move, they carry everything they own, which is not much.
The Thirthahalli Ruralshores centre is located in a large hall which used to be a community wedding hall. The whole area is quite developed, which is especially noticeable since it is considered to be rural. The roads are tarmac ked and the houses are permanent and beautiful with intricately sculptured patterns, reminiscent of Indian architecture. The people in this community look comfortable, healthy, and are very kind and friendly.
It was very refreshing to finally see a fully functional rural BPO gainfully employing more than a hundred youth right there in their village. We were welcomed by the manager, Hrishi, who looks very young but is very knowledgeable and experienced. He commands a lot of respect from all the workers and he is very humble (Can you imagine he rides a motor bike to work?). He gave us a good overview of the centre and also of his own profile.
All the young people working at the centre have gone through basic schooling. This is the equivalent of a secondary school education. A few have been to college and university. Most are advancing their education after getting the jobs, and all of them are happy to work there.
We got to meet three of the senior process associates (associates are what we call operators), Suprith, Divya, and Anjitha (pronounced anjita). Suprith is a young man; while Divya and Anjitha are young ladies (I know you couldn’t tell that from the names).The three started off as trainees, became process associates, and eventually got promoted to become senior process associates. They are hoping to become process leads and even better in future. What stood out to me was the loyalty they have to the company. This, they say, is because Ruralshores changed their lives and gave them hope to better their lives and that of their families. All three walk to the office and take their meals at home. They are thus able to save a lot of money and take part in family activities.
Suprith and Divya are currently undertaking their undergraduate studies by distance learning. Anjitha on the other hand, already had an honours degree when she joined Ruralshores. However, she couldn’t get a good job because her family would not allow her to leave home for the big cities. In this culture, girls are very sheltered and the rural concept is highly beneficial to them and their families. Anjitha is now undertaking her postgraduate studies and is happy have a world class job very near home. She is highly talented and she is assigned to handle all the particularly difficult clients at the call centre section where the three work.
In the afternoon on Wednesday, Spencer and I were privileged to sit in a training session for new recruits in the call centre section. This was conducted by Sachin, one of the process leads, and it was so simply structured and very effectively delivered. It covered the basics and enhanced confidence of the trainees. All the people at the centre seem to interact very freely with each other and there is a lot of mutual respect. This is evident in even the new trainees who have only been there for only a few days.
There is so much to learn both in terms of processes and of the people and their attitudes. We have transformed ourselves into sponges to absorb as much as we can. The learning continues.
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