"Remember", the instructor said to the class,"a 35 year old American's brain and IQ is the same as a 10 year old Indian's brain.... Americans are dumb, just accept it. "
- pg 53, One Night in a Call Centre
Yeah right. Much as I would like to revel in the idea of Indians being mentally superior, tuning into Go 92.5 FM's morning show over the last week has brought home this sobering reality.
We Indians are right up there when it comes to "dumb". How else would you explain the pathetic performance of listener after listener in Go's '30 ka 30' contest (30 foreign holidays to be won in 30 days!)
The questions are absolutely junta-level and yet, contestants struggle and squirm.
Q: Arnold Schwarzenegger is the governor of which US state?
Ans: Minnesota?
Q: In which country is carmaker Hyundai based?
Ans: Japan?
Q: Complete the book title: Zen and the Art of _______ Maintenance
Ans: Could you repeat the question, please?
Competition is stiff. There have been instances where answering just 1 out of 4 such questions wins you that free trip. Sometimes both people get that 1 answer right and there is a 'tie-breaker'.
RJ Taraana herself got exasperated and had to clarify: It's luck, pure luck, who gets selected. So there. Don't blame us - we don't have a rigorous screening procedure. Boo hoo hoo to that!
Now you might argue 'low IQ' and 'poor GK' are two different things. Perhaps.
But Go 92.5 is aimed at people whom advertisers refer to as SEC (Socio-Economic Classification) A/ A1 category of listeners. The padha-likha class.
Lagta hai sab class mein chain ki neend so rahe the... !
