February 1, 2004
Outsourcing, Scottish style
Bemused workers in Indian call centres are being given lessons in Chewin’ the Fat catchphrases to help them understand Scottish customers.From the Sunday Times. Nations separated by a common language. . . .“Gonnae no dae that”, “get it right up yiz”, and “gie’s a gonk, ya dobber” have been put on the training syllabus for phone operators in Bangalore and Bombay to attune their ears to the Scottish brogue and encourage an appreciation of the country’s popular culture. . .
The course includes lessons in national cuisine — in particular haggis, neaps, mince and tatties and egg and chips. Saltires, Jimmy hats, sporrans and the sgian dubh (an ornamental dagger) are also explained.
The young Indian graduates who man the centres, often through the night because of the time difference with Britain, are also learning about the Scots’ fascination with the weather and to understand the meaning of a “gey driech day”.
The course has been devised by Mary Rose Graham, a grandmother from Glasgow who works for Oceans Connect, a British firm that runs a call centre in Pune, south of Bombay. . .
“When we were discussing Aberdeen I told them about my mum and aunt queuing up for the cinema when they were young. If it was busy and they got separated in the queue my mum would shout: ‘Ye offa crushed up thair Mags?’ She would shout back ‘Nae offa’. The Indians all found that very amusing.”
Posted by David on February 1, 2004 10:58 AM
The Tiger and the Thistle: Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India, 1760-1800. An online exhibit of the National Galleries of Scotland in English, Hindi, and Urdu:
1999 marked the two hundredth anniversary of the death of Tipu Sultan, ruler of the kindom of Mysore, in South India. He died on 4th May 1799, after the British had stormed his island capital of Seringapatam. The National Galleries of Scotland's bi-centennial exhibition The Tiger and the Thistle: Tipu Suitan and the Scots in India, c 1760-1800, was held at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, from 29th July to 3rd October 1999, to celebrate the stirring events of 1799, and their strong associations with Scotland. More significantly, however, it paid tribute to the 'Tiger of Mysore' by bringing together some of the textiles, weapons and jewellery which his craftsmen created. Many of these are decorated with tiger motifs and stylised tiger stipes (bubris), which denote Tipu's personal possessions, and which earned this fierce and brave ruler the name of 'The Tiger of Mysore.'
In particular, note the golden "Massive Tiger's Head... the teeth of rock crystal, the tongue of plain gold and moveable" from the footstool of Tipu's throne.
Posted by: Peter Shriner on February 1, 2004 3:44 PM
I trust they just talk about the Haggis, not eat it.
And http://www.haggishunt.com/ reminds us that it is out of season: "The annual haggis hunting season is over for another year and it is now unlawful to disturb the haggis until noon on St Andrew's Day, 30th November." However, their haggis-tracker cams are still live, for those who wish to select a good spot for the hunt later.
Posted by: John Anderson on February 2, 2004 6:30 AM
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