India Trip in Conclusion: New Disocveries & Old Confirmations

At the start of this India trip (Oct 17 through Nov 6) I wanted to find out about the "New India" for myself - the new India of outsourcing, call centers, rapid economic growth, changed attitudes of its peoples, a new found confidence, a certain spring in its step...

At the end of the not-enough-time trip, I found some signs of this new India but tons of evidence of the same old - the same old lack of good roads, uninterrupted power supply, lack of basic sanitation in cities (see right), nightmarish traffic, mismanaged public services (including bus stands, as a small example; see below), generally a lack of commitment among public servants to help people, corruption, horrible pollution, and a definite lack of focus on improving quality of life for the vast masses of the country.

In my various conversations with auto rickshaw & taxi drivers, street vendors, etc. there was a palpable frustration with their inability to find opportunities and means to improve their lives, send their children to good schools, have access to good health care.

To me this is real India - the struggling masses. There was a definite enthusiasm in certain sections of middle classes as their earning potential and access to opportunities to advance seems to have increased by leaps and bounds thanks to newly created jobs from an influx of multinational corporations. The challenge for any government in India would be how to extend these benefits to many many more teeming millions living in the villages, slums, and small satellite towns!

I was also disappointed in the deterioration of standards in the media in India. I remember the leading English language national dailies (Times of India, Hindustan Times, etc.) for their high quality and a journalistic fervor to expose the malfeasance of the powerful. But now they have all turned into tabloids more interested in covering celebrity gossip and tidbits from Bollywood. Similarly there has been a profusion of television channels but they also, with very exceptions, waste precious air time on covering the tawdry. Late night these multiple channels turn to stories with a heavy dose of supernatural, superstition and illicit sex.

The trip was a very pleasant discovery of the past glory and natural beauty of India - be it the Mughal architecture in Delhi & Agra, backwaters and spices of Kerala, lagoons around islands of Lacadives, beaches of Goa (see left), and successful synthesis of foreign influences (Portuguese and Dutch influences in Kerala and Goa).

The best part of the trip for me was meeting so many interesting people, developing acquaintances, and the conversations I had with them. People who were so willing to open up and share about their lives, their dreams and their families - the road side vendors, the small children performing their tricks in the trains, the hotel managers...