Having arrived in New Delhi last week, I am still wondering at the massive changes I am seeing here. Notably the roads situation is much better with frenetic construction going on- on all fronts. Everyone seems to be realizing that that infrastructure needs to improve and is indeed improving rapidly. Also customer service whether it is your car provider or phone/Internet provider or restaurant seems to have vastly improved. Every one seems to be much more customer focused. My guess is that the customer service culture has percolated from the very large young force working in the global customer service business who have been spreading the word that the old Indian style of being occasionally curt with particularly weaker consumers will not work in the new global market. You can be curt occasionally but must be always responsive and resolve issues – and create satisfaction for the customer- stuff that the Mahatma always encouraged.
I was therefore smiling and am confident that outsourced prayers to India will work fine. According to this report catholic churches in the west are outsourcing mass to Kerala, India. However, in the impeccably structured organization that is the catholic church, the local bishop is given the task who finds an appropriate priest. Since God is the only witness the writer of this piece suggests that the delivery of this particular outsourced service is entirely based on trust. Knowing the Indian "God-fearing" culture and the new service credo I guess no priest will fudge or risk shortcuts with prayers. Here too new "business" models are emerging. Kerala has more catholics but is expensive so North Indian churches are looking for assignments and are being offered some. In addition priests from India are being called in on short term assignments overseas. Although just 2.5 percent of the population is catholic in India they are four times in number than catholics in Britain. If I were to get time off from my more mundane "commercial" studies in outsourcing this should be a really fascinating topic to research !