Some Hardtalk for Indians

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arjun,

I`m a scotch man mahself. can`t stand that sweet sh1t they call bourbon :))

Agree with most what you said.

mohar,
you`re an idiot. go watch big brother and the adults talk here

Ref arjun_m #54

[nitpick: When the American interstate system was built, America was already a super power having won a world war in the previous decade..]

But the US did have reasonably good roads for the traffic it had prior to WWII. Route 66 linked Chicago to Los Angeles. The Pennsylvania Turnpike (upgraded to Interstate-76) was built as a 4-lane divided highway in the 1940`s.

WWII war materiel moved primarily on railroads. Through rationing of gasoline, the use of private cars were severely curtailed during WWII freeing up the existing roads for the war efforts. Also, the US did not have the automobile explosion until after WWII when Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc., could return to peace-time automobile production.

Do not justify the 50-year Congress misrule by pointing out some examples - fake at that - in other countries. Perhaps we could all take comfort that in Tirana, they have mule-drawn carts just like we have camel carts in New Delhi!

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Of all the fundamentals needed for development, I would say that India now has 20% of them. Such as sizeable middle class, individual entrepreneurship ( Grocery shops, jewellery shops, etc, etc... ), sizeable demand for new goods which drives the need for supply ( thus entrepreneurship ). However, 80% of the ``fundamentals`` still do not exist. Such as a rigorous and extensive system for determining credit worthiness of individuals, good electric power generation, good highways, good governance and honesty ( no corruption ). Unless these things are achieved, India will never become a ``Super power``.

People who think that Good roads are not needed are just idiots who are not capable of seeing beyond their nose. I was in India couple of years ago and noticed an interesting thing. A kilo of Tomatoes were very cheap on one end of Hyderabad where as they were very costly on the opposite end of the city. The whole supply chain suffers because bad roads and bad infrastructure. And coming to the Tomatoes, it has long been my observation that, in India, the middle man really screws the Farmer as well as the end consumer. I sometimes feel that these middlemen should be hung from the nearest lamp post... anyway, i got off on a tangent here.

I think india is shining, in some of the middle-class grass-roots ways that is not so obvious. To say that the shine is only available to middle class is silly, since the middle-class is very large numerically, and growing as a percentage. There are food-banks (no not the friday khichadi in masjid or alms at the temple) run in chennai, where substantial dry-goods are donated by very middle-class family (1 bowl of rice a day type stuff), which allows honorable ways to suplement food needs of some needy families. This type of community spirit is due to the new confidence of the middle class. Similarly in a simpler case, many urban middle class patronised schools have PTAs (parent teacher orgs) which take considerable interest in the schooling. This is surely a new shine. The PTAs do seemingly simple things like ensure quality filtered water to kids etc., and demand (and get) accountability like never before. So, the difference is that the middle class is feeling empowered, and that is shine as compared to down-and-out the middle class exemplified in Laxman`s cartoons in 70`s and 80`s.

Gujjubania,

``the biggest opposition to outsourcing to India comes from so-called
Indian-Americans and British-Asians....``

Ah, another pearl of wisdom, I see. Care to tell us where you got that info
from ?

#44 by soundmeister on March 23, 2004 9:38pm PT
//...I detect undertones of defeatism, a condescending ``these natives will never do it`` in your rantings...//

Cut the cr@@p man - this ``Native Good - NonReseident Bad`` ( or vice versa ) line is so dumb that it doesn`t deserve a comment.

My company develops most of its software in B`lore, India ..... and we are going open our own outfit there next month....... So yeah - you can bet your a##$ I contribute a fair share to your economy........And I a still on H1 - which means I haven`t crossed over entirely as yet. Now - does that qualify me to rant on this newest ``India Shining`` thing you ``natives`` are so proud of ? ....... Thank you!

``India Shinging`` is a political rhetoric - and a good one at that, as far as such things go. Just like ``garibi hatao`` ( drive out poverty ). It is timely and puts a positive spin on things and seems to have captured the imagination of the nation. But it goes only that far - no further.

Just like ``garibi hatao`` - this latest slogan has all signs of being just another slogan ... unless the actual deeds match up to the rhetoric. That`s the clear and present danger - unless your hard-working ``natives`` wake up before it is too late.

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gujjubania

~~the biggest opposition to outsourcing to India comes from so-called Indian-Americans and British-Asians~~

I dont think so. British Indians are very happy to see India doing well and currently enjoy chatting in Hindi to ``Steven`` and ``Julie`` in Delhi or Bangalore while they are settling their credit card or electricity bill.

Where do you get your information on British Indians from dude?

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mohar11 #41
IMO, the River-linking project is pure pork-barrel. And it is potentially an explosive issue in interstate/center-state politics. The way BJP snuck it in is also extremely shady.

I once watched it being being discussed on TV, for the first time I saw some value in Arundhati Roy`s political junketing - she was the only one who opposed it in a whole panel of BJP/Cong/etc politicians.

Mohar,

India shining your a$$ as you rightly point out, but those of us who still live here and contribute our 34.5% to the economy are beginning to see changes- some great, some small, but positive increments nonetheless- that non-residents can`t (or don`t want to) see. It`s convenient to sit in your armchair, bourbon in hand and laugh at what`s wrong in India, based on your Olympic style once-in-4-year visits there. There are huge battles to be fought yet, but we will fight them. And this is exemplified more so in Bangalore than anywhere else, where citizens are getting more and more involved in administration than ever before. Infosys` Nilekani and Wipro`s Premji, just to quote the media-savvy ones, not to mention the likes of Jayakar Jerome, trying to make a difference from the inside, as it were. This is taking a long time, not very surprising, given that political exigiencies make what could be irritants for you and me- farmer suicides, river water distribution, rural development- take precedence over international airports, smooth motorways, metro railways and the like. So while it makes sense for **me** to whine about the way things are- given that I in my own small way contribute to it- I can`t understand why you need to scream yourself hoarse over it. I detect undertones of defeatism, a condescending ``these natives will never do it`` in your rantings.

Shut up willya....

#32 by gujjubania,

``.. Rajeev Srinivasan is my role model !!!!``

Good for U, gujju saab! He`s obviously a very smart guy, very knowledgable too. My junior in college (by 7-8 years I guess).

If only he`d quit being so `reactive`...and also temper his opinions!

Arjun #39,

We are simply venting here. Not much different from repeating the ``Paki t-shirt``
line ad nauseum, is it ? :)

Harimau #40,

Never have been to Cochin. And let us not even talk about the passenger traffic
in and out of Calcutta. Every 2 years, Brit Air and/or KLM threatens to withdraw
their whopping 2 weekly flights out of the city, and the CPM goes ballistic about
how this is a Central conspiracy against the state !! It is beyond pathetic.

At Bombay airport some years ago, the luggage conveyor belt stopped midway
through the process because IA went on strike. Can you imagine the ridiculousness
of the situation ? I had to use all my powers of persuasion to retrieve my bags.