The birth of India's call centre industry
Witness History

The birth of India's call centre industry

B2Upper-intermediateSeptember 17, 202611 min

In 1997, after years working abroad, Pramod Bhasin returned to India and spotted an opportunity that would help transform his country's economy. Despite major telecommunications challenges, he went on to set up India's first call centre, laying the foundations for a new outsourcing industry. In 2019, he told Rebecca Kesby how he overcame unreliable phone lines, scepticism and technical hurdles to turn an ambitious idea into reality. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in...

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Teita, elo.

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Hello, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service. Now, if this is already one

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B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 40%A2 34%B1 18%B2 6%C1 1%
  • 93% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 176 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 59 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Argea. Tonto e gar ulta. Golea argi amu.

0:34

Sittensei yo gun. Goghele pe mea hergoa. Oi yo guni gamago. Elovena.

0:45

Teita, elo. Hello, this is Witness History from the BBC. Hello, this is Witness History from the BBC World Service. Now, if this is already one of your favourite lessons, then feel free to skip this bit to get to today's episode.

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