Whenever a discussion on India comes up, you get to hear one of the following sentences: "India will never become like the US"... "India has a long way to go".. or "India is getting rich too fast and it is not getting time to organize itself like the US".

 

Now, here's my question... where is the written rule that for a country to become a successful economy that it must follow the west. That India must first transform itself into the US and then become a super-power.

 

If becoming a super-power needs a plan then chances for India are next to nothing because... well... there is no plan for anything. Does that mean India cannot? That is for time to tell. Several centuries ago when India was called the "Golden Bird" of the east, was it like the US? Well, was there anything known as the US?

 

Becoming a Super Power is circumstancial. US became a super power because of Nazi Germany. They created a threat, that forced the US to innovate in Military and other technologies which in turn got sold to rest of the world and US made money.

 

One thing that is going good for India right now is it's entrepreneurship. It's opportunistic mind. No country with the history, culture and demographics of India has done as well and that is what we need to compare with. And when I say this, some of my friends immediately bring up two countries... Singapore and Malaysia. Well, my argument still stands. Calling Singapore a country would be like calling Madagascar a continent. You cannot compare a 42 Kms diameter island to a 3.3 million square kilometers spread of India (and lets not even dare to compare the population).

 

Malaysia... yeah, agreed that they have done well for themselves as a tourism destination but they still rank 34th in Purchase Power Parity (GDP $290 Billion) as opposed to India that ranks 10th (GDP of $1 Trillion). So once again, just tourism is not going to get them too far. You need entrepreneurship like India. You need The Tata's, The Ambanis and Malayas.

 

If India must become a super power, it must do so with all it's baggage (poverty, illitracy et al). It's not a step process.

For the past week, I have been debating between two topics that I wanted to write about. And just then, a memorable incidence just blew me away.

 

Yesterday I was coming back from work. If you read my other blogs, you might have learnt that I use a bike for commuting. When I started, it was cloudy but not raining. And then came a dark heavy cloud and it began to pour cats and dogs. First few minutes you enjoy the rain. Then you realize that yo have a laptop on your back . So you immediately find a shelter and of course several other bikers will huddle with you under a thin shop roof as you watch the rain pour. People running around with a book on their head. Crowd of folks running to catch a bus. Ladies hailing for rickshaws. It's like that hypothetical experience of watching the world running around while you stand still and enjoy the show.  I got to experience another great thing about biking.

 

Anyways, then I remembered, my father was supposed to take my mom for a doctor's appointment and the clinic was not too far from where I was taking protection from the rain. So I decided, might as well get a bit more wet and meet my parents at the clinic. So, I rode my bike for another kilometer or so and reached the Clinic. My parents had just got done with their appointment and were walking out. Delighted to see me, they were now trying to figure out the best way for me to reach home dry. They had arrived in our car, so the obvious choice was for me to leave my bike at the clinic and go in the car. Once the rain stops, we come back and pick up the bike. And then my dear Mom got a brilliant idea (I love my Mom for this). She suggested that my father go in the car. We will send my backpack and other stuff with him. And the two of us (me and my mom) will enjoy the rain on the bike.

 

I jumped two feet off the ground when I heard that. Here I am, 36 year old young-gun, trying to escape the rain. And here is a 65 year old lady suggesting otherwise.

 

But I loved the idea so we did exactly that. My father took the car and me and my mom, well, enjoyed the rain. My mom was so thrilled. She had not gotten wet in the rain for so many years. And when we arrived home, soaking wet, we were welcomed with hot bhajjis... yum.

 

Now these are the moments to live for. These are times I thank my wisdom for making the choice of coming back to India and stealing these memorable family moments.

 

Well, I had to document this. The other two topics that I was thinking about writing on, can wait.

	Travel	Air	2500	15000	Per person air ticket depending on how you bought it, airline, how early etc.
		Bus	200	600	500 kms by red bus vs Volvo
		Car rental	400	1000	Day rental (ford ikon)
	Hotel	Stay	800	15000	Depends on place/name, Bangalore is expensive but one night stay hotel varies – 15k + is norm in Bangalore/chennai due to shortage in 5 stars – normal places will charge you 1500/2500/night. A holy place will have decent night stay from 500 rs+/night (example from kukke). Assumption is family(parents/wife etc are present)
		Jungle lodges	1500	2100	Good idea for per person/day cost at one of those place
		Club Mahindra	1200	2000
	Medical	Generic	500	2000	80-100 rs for simple visit to doctor Hospitalization is costly – manipal being the 7 star place – where appendicitis operation+stay resulted in 75 k for 5 days !!! (Covered by company insurance though). Company insurance also covers your parents.
		Lipid test etc	500	2000	Yearly stuff (high end stuff is for  * hospital)
		Dental	500	4000	Simple stuff –replacement/crown/surgery , bridges etc are 15-25k – can not claim unlike us
		Vision	800	25k	Checkup/specs on lower side – cataract operation with high end lenses
	Electronic stuff	Refrigerator	8000	17000
		Microwave/oven	5000	15000
		Gas range	2000	25000	Italian stuff is costly
		DVD Player	2000	5000
		TV	8000	1,00,0000	Small tv – lcd/plasma is on higher side

 

Interest

                Banks – 1 yrs deposit+ 9 %

                PPF – 8.5 %

                PostOffice – 9 %

 

New stuff

                VAT – 12%

                Service tax is norm – 4%+

	Connectivity/Entertainment
		Cable	100	250	Satellite stuff is cheaper and does not get shut down during bandh. Cheaper for Apartment complexes than single family homes.
		Phone	500	2000	(cell phones are better deal, combo deals are coming)
		Internet	250	1000	Basic cookie cutter stuff.
		Movie	500	1000	Weekdays – 100 Weekends – 160 Boutique (with private cabin and served dinner) - 1000
		Subway burger	75	150	1-2 people
		Pizza	250	1000	Very expensive but very tasty
		Eat Out	250	2000	Leela Palace Brunch – 2000 per person. Good ambiance restaurant – 250 per person (Not including drinks)
		Idli	6	9	Darshini (2 idlis)
		Coffee/tea	4	6	Darshini
	Travel	Air	2500	15000	Per person air ticket depending on how you bought it, airline, how early etc.
		Bus	200	600	500 kms by red bus vs Volvo
		Car rental	400	1000	Day rental (ford ikon)
	Hotel	Stay	800	15000	Depends on place/name, Bangalore is expensive but one night stay hotel varies – 15k + is norm in Bangalore/chennai due to shortage in 5 stars – normal places will charge you 1500/2500/night. A holy place will have decent night stay from 500 rs+/night (example from kukke). Assumption is family(parents/wife etc are present)
		Jungle lodges	1500	2100	Good idea for per person/day cost at one of those place

For Pune - Divide by 2

For Mumbai - Multiply by 3 (Especially the rent)

A few days ago, I saw my friend Govind typing away furiously till the middle of the day and finally stopping with a sigh..."that should do it". Assuming that it must be a long argument to some technical debate, to my surprise, I found it was a table of some daily expenses and stuff. Apparently, too many of his colleagues and friends in the US of A have been asking him about the cost of living in India. Based on which they are going to decide if they wanna move... as I said previously... don't think guys...just do it. Especially, Green Card holders. I see no reason for them to just try it out. The good part is that the Indian experience will no longer harm your career. Infact it might just add a few stars to your resume. Oh... India experience... he can deal with those Indian programmers... you know what I mean? Every tom-dick-and harry of the IT industry has India presence.

 

While having lunch at our desks, we realized, well this could be a good excercise to do. So we went through the list he had made and revised it together. And we also came up with city factors. Unfortunately, the list grew too big for a blog enrty. So I we are publishing it in three parts. Here is the first

 

Why is it that I have to struggle to open a packet of Kellog's cereal while it would open so easily in the US? Why did the US cereal have real stawberries while the same brand sells strawberry cereal with no strawberries, but a cheap strawberry color and flavour? Why is it that my Toyota Innova does not have a Headlight alarm and I always have to remember to turn the headlights off to prevent draining the battery, while the cheapest of the vehicles in the US have a headlight alarm.

 

I think a very different kind of "British Raj" is going on even today. Except that this time it is in the form of consumer companies from the west "Consumer ignorance" is being used by multinational consumer brands to sell low quality products at a premium. Consumers of the west would not tolerate these low-grade products and would immediately show up at the company door with a lawsuit. But an Indian consumer, well, he won't complaint. He will adjust. Most of them don't even have a frame of reference. So, lets exploit them.

 

I think the India consumers are being taken for a ride in the name of growing economy and market investment.

 

We all are reading about the gory Virginia Tech tragedy. Today they revealed his writings and the horrifying violent plays that the student wrote before committing this crime.

 

I blame the 1st Amendment and the education style in the US or what they call as "Independent Learning". The whole concept of letting kids do what they want and any destructive thought coming from them is creativity etc. etc. is what leads to Columbine and VA Tech tragedies.As one of the US professors said... “We teach students that anything you want to do is up to you and you can decide whether anything is right or wrong".

 

In India and lot of the Asian countries, culture and society dominate an individual’s thoughts. Any one deviating from these is brought back on track by society and family. And while some of my friends would beg to differ, but I think this is the right way to educate kids.

 

In India, if a student is observed writing such violent stories or creating distorted images, it immediately becomes a major concern. Parent-Teacher meetings are called for, parents consult with senior family members and the kid is immediately given a dose of "life" and "peace" and whatever else might the mythology say.

 

Kids don't know right from wrong and it is very important that the right v/s wrong concepts be formed at an early age. Kids don't have an opinion and hence letting them do what they want would lead to some random consequences. 

 

Anyways, these are my opinions. Even though my children’s education is one of the reasons why I returned, the number one reason still is, not having to do Laundry  

 

One of the funniest things that most folks find when they move back to India, is the gross violation of what they know as the "Right of way".  

For the benefit of those who don't know what it means... in the US (and most developed countries), there are rules to solve a traffic dead-lock situation. So, for example, if a pedestrian and car reach a road crossing at the same time, then a car must yield to the pedestrian as it is his right of way (that's the rule). If two cars reach a small crossing then the one who reached it first has the right of way. If it is difficult to decide who reached first then the car on the right has the right of way. And all this is done by making eye-contact and polite gestures. These rules are designed to help solve an accident situation. One who does not follow these "right of way" rules is the defaulter. Pretty simple and logical.

But in India, logic is not the way of life. It is the land of "fuzzy logic". Nobody yields for anybody. Whoever reaches the middle of the crossing first automatically stops all the other folks around and he claims the right of way. In most ways, I find this to be quite efficient. I definitely spend lesser time stopping in India than I used in the US especially in smaller lanes and by-lanes (oh those boring stop signs).  

The fun starts when an accident takes place. After an accident, "right of way" is resolved by using a very simple rule. The smaller of the vehicles involved in the accident (irrespective of the fault) has the right of way. So if a car hits a motorcycle, the motorcyclist and folks around can simply start bashing up the car driver as it was the motorcyclist's right of way. Pretty simple. Those of you in technology, can relate this to "late binding". Making the rule concrete after the accident happens. Before that is it a loose definition.  

This is also one of the reasons why I moved to motor-biking. I enjoy better "right of way" credits in case of an accident  unless I hit a pedestrian, in which case I must always remember to flee the location or face the mob.

One of the things that really hits you when you move back, is the Traffic. And it's not like I did not know how it is in India. After all I have driven on these roads for so many years. It's the increase in traffic that frustrates you. Number of people on the road and the side-effects of that.

 

I got my car in two to three months after "the move" and almost immediately started driving. I made a not so traffic-friendly choice for a car...an eight-seater Toyota Innova. But pretty soon I found out that it does not matter. As long as you are aware of it's size and your reflexes are good, you are ok.

 

One of the things that used to frustrate me, and let me repeat...used to frustrate me, are the two wheelers. The way they zipped passed me when I was stuck in a traffic jam. Sometimes they made me stand on my brakes by cutting infront of me. I knew I could do nothing about it. Any amount of swearing and yelling would only boil my blood while the two-wheeler dissapears into the thick dense traffic (almost like a fog).

 

So, what do I do? I thought to myself. My gas bills were running high and I was feeling ashamed of sitting alone in an eight-seater in the middle of a traffic jam. Then it struck me... If you can't beat them, join them. Instead of being frustrated, become someone else's frustration :-) Why not get a bike?

 

One month of reasearch into bikes and I now own a Black TVS Apache (http://www.tvsapache.com/) that I zip around on. And I must say commute has never been so much fun. The best part is that suddenly you are surrounded by hundreds of biker friends on the road. They will give you way. They will collaborate and cooperate and form a bee line to get out of a narrow spot in a traffic jam. As opposed to the stares I used to get while sitting in my Toyota Innova.

 

It is one of the most practical decision I have made lately and I am loving it.