Americanized or just finding harmony.

When I got one too many brickbats for my postings on India I needed a reality check and turned to a friend whose judgment I value. I asked him, "do you think I am unduly harsh?". He said "I don't think so. What you wrote is reality but the only criticism that a reader might say is you are completely Americanized". I am sure he does not hold it against me for that or thinks ill of me for being Americanized. That said I want to look at the question deeper and July 4th is very apt for that.

Am I Americanized? Of course yes but only on the surface. I'd say that I had a core self that was in harmony with western civilization. America, the land I came to inhabit, is just the best of that Western civilization. A teenager who consumed Francis Bacon, Will Durant, Ayn Rand, Arthur Koestler, John Gribbin, English Poetry, Shakespeare, Churchill, Beethoven, Bach and much more. This is not to suggest that I grew up in some cocoon studying in some international school watching English movies or listening to Pop and reading only Wodehouse. Far from it. I've had my share of weekly Tamil movies, Ilayaraja, Sivaji Ganesan, Vikatan, Kumudam, Doordarshan, Oliyum Oliyum etc. I've read my share of Tamil novelists. Jeyakanthan, Balakumaran, Sujatha, Lakshmi, Sandilyan, Kalki, T.Janakiraman, Mu.Va etc.

 How did one influence win over the  other? Simple, politics. At every turn the government and the society at large kept reminding me that I am a, supposed forward community, and I should be punished for my birth. And punish they did. When my brother joined medical college we as family were clear that he would leave the country for postgraduate studies. Those who scream about his subsidised education at taxpayer cost can go fly a kite. An FC student getting a PG admission in choice disciplines was a distant oasis. My case was less clear because, thanks to reservation system, I ended up in Engineering. All that was just one factor. Irrespective of what I read or watched or listened in Tamil a constant thread was that much of it was far inferior to what the west offered. The west, with its penchant for merit and excellence stood in opposition to stifling mediocrity that not only existed around me but was in fact encouraged and extolled as virtue.

For those who would rush to charge that I was not instructed in the glorious history of India I'd say hold on. I used to be obsessed with anything written by Nehru and digested with avarice anything to do with Gandhi or Freedom struggle and India's history. Problem was that the best readable biography, then and now, of Gandhi is by Louis Fisher. The best readable book on India's moment of triumphal freedom was by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre. [Other good books on India's history are all by westerners like Stanley Wolpert]. Bharathi remains dear to heart but reality was different. Jeyakanthan always extolled Russian literature and Western Classical. Khushwant took delight in taking down Indian jingoism. Sujatha always quoted western authors and liberally borrowed from western books for his writings on science. Then there was Tavleen Singh who was a columnist in Indian Express. Tavleen Singh was untiring in tearing down hubris of Indian politicians and Indians in general.

By the time I graduated I knew I had to leave India. That my cousins had mostly left for USA made USA the choice. America with  its H1-B program opened its golden gate.

What do I love most about USA? Why do I love America? Let me phrase this succinctly. In the past 12 years in USA, despite the occasional rise and fall of personal fortunes, I've not seen even ONE aspect of America, excluding Indian food, where I could say wistfully 'this was better in India'. Am I criticizing India because of what I had seen or experienced  in US? Not at all. Every day I used to drive in my scooter in Korattur on a road that was nothing but an obstacle course I would swear 'not for long'. I did not have to come to US to realize what was wrong with India.


There is so much hollowness in the understanding of many Indians in USA about how and why America became what it is. Most have not even bothered to read elementary history of the country they chose to live and raise families. When I hear people say "oh they were advanced technologically, had a subway system in 1901", I feel like yelling in their ears, "Have you wondered WHY?". Has anybody wondered about the beauty of a constitution that placed limits on Congress stifling liberty 300 years ago? Has anybody wondered about people Alexander Hamilton or John Adams or Thomas Jefferson? How many have pondered on the magnificence of the Declaration of Independence? How did Magna Carta become the cornerstone of modern law 700 years ago? Why does America have 7 out of top 10 universities in the world for decades passed? Could just having money make a university become Harvard?

Is America without blemishes?  Of course not. What redeems America is its ability to address its blemishes and constantly reinvent itself. In a zeal to understand the country I sought out and read quite a number of books on American history and every book only made me love the country deeper and better. A biography of Benjamin Fraknlin would leave me stunned at the man's gigantic intellect. Reading many a book on the history behind America's constitution would leave me starry eyed. A biography of Alexander Hamilton and the origins of American capitalism would make me admire how a man of such humble origins could come about to architect the foundations of America's greatest strength. People,people and only people matter. America's biggest gift was its founding fathers. America's good fortune was through out history other leaders renewed their promise.

What can I say in admiration about a country that had founding fathers who thought that a library of all books published should exist just so that its legislators can have recourse to any book to consult for their own benefit and for the benefit of their country when they legislate. The Library of Congress website says "The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress." What a country. "Research arm of the congress". Just pause and think. Legislators read books and do research for legislating and it was thought that legislators should read books. This in 18th century. Just run your eyes over the web page http://www.loc.gov/about/history.html that gives the history of that library.Does not this country deserve to be a super power?

Pulitzer Prize, Smithsonian museums, NASA, Ivy Leagues, Mac Arthur Genius awards, Scientific American magazine (published for layman for over 100 years), Congressional hearings, Senate confirmations, Presidential debates, checks and balances for power, ability to hold election officials accountable, transparency, basic honesty of general population, Museum of modern art, Rockefeller, Jefferson, Feynman, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Princeton, Carnegie Music Hall, New York Philharmonic, National Parks, Freedom. There is so much of America that I simply love, adore and respect.

At the height of health care bill negotiations the President called for a bi-partisan summit. For 8 hours both parties and the President debated thread bare a legislation that would touch every living American on live TV broadcast  on all channels. As an American I have differences with the bill but watching my elected representatives discuss in detail a historical bill made me respect the poltical system. The bill went to vote on a momentous day with 100% attendance in the house. The final voting completed past midnight. After a victorious vote that delivered history the President went to address the nation at 12:30 AM. What a country. Legislators wrestling with a bill for 12+ hours, discussing arcane finance implications, analysing budget deficits, worrying about federal debt and finally a President who was watching it all into the wee hours. Karunanidhi and his cabinet spent 8 hours watching vulgar dances.

So to answer the question of whether I am Americanized? Unambiguously, Yes. Did I forsake my soul" Not at all, not in the least. My ideas and principles just found a home. I was primed to be an American. A brief word on Indians who keep prattling about Indian values while enjoying American hospitality. I simply detest such hypocrisy. For all those who keep saying "oh this country is no different", I can only say "if  you think so please hand over your citizenship and go back to your beloved India at least then you would not be betraying both countries, the country of your birth and the country that welcomed you". I did not come to America leaving behind much of what I had to known to live as an Indian. I came here to be an American.

I do not agree with Indians celebrating Indian Independence day as American Citizens. As Americans I've but only flag and America gives me the liberty  to fly it from my rooftop or wear it as T-shirt. I do not think immigration is a right. Every country reserves the right to give it or deny. I am thankful to America for allowing me the privilege to enrich it. My only request to Indians in USA is please do not make a India out of USA like asking to ban stuff you do not like, like not collecting sales tax in stores you run, like honking horns, like spitting betel nut in theaters, like yelling in Hindi/Telugu/Tamil across the hallway in office etc.

Once Ayn Rand was asked why she was more zealous about America she answered "because I chose to be an American". Tomorrow is July 4th. God Bless America.

India: Criticisms and Solutions

A management cliche is "be part of a solution". It does not help telling a manager what the problem is alone, give a suggested solution alongside. A few well intentioned readers have indeed asked me that regarding my blogs on India. There is another Indian phrase that I mulled in that context. "Constructive criticism". We are often told criticism should be constructive. There is no such thing, its either fair or unfair period. V.S. Naipaul wrote 3 books on India, very searing commentaries that left Indians fuming. Not one page of what he wrote had "Indians can rectify this way or India can try that". It is service enough to show what is failing. The biggest tragedy in India is much of its failures are WILLFUL and CONSCIOUS inflictions. Does not a government servant know that asking for bribes is wrong? Does not a PhD professor know  that bribing a minister for Vice-Chancellorship is wrong? Does not a VC know that telling a CM that his crappy writing is Nobel worthy is sheer sycophancy? Does not a doctor know its wrong to get a cut from a laboratory? Does not a motor cyclist know that he should stop on red signal? Does not a contractor know its wrong to use incorrectly mixed cement? Does not Manmohan Singh know that spending Rs10,000 crores for games is sheer villainy in a country where millions live on less than a dollar a day? Does not MuKa know what a waste his conference? Does not every NRI who emigrated know that so much is wrong with their beloved motherland which is why despite its 'charms' they emigrated so eagerly begging the gods for a US visa (then a green card, then citizenship)?

Then there are certain ills that are the concretely institutionalized. Inability to sue a patently corrupt CM, inability to criticize judges irrespective of how corrupt they are, a system that constantly reminds the ordinary poor citizen that his rulers are a 'privileged' class apart. Ministers can, by law, allot gas stations, get seats in schools, get seats in trains and much more. The Indian state, with assent of courts, can suspend Habeas Corpus, the cornerstone of modern civil law. The Indian state has promulgated the most draconian laws of detention that make Rowlatt act look like child's play (and the US patriot act like a Utopian dream). An Indian Supreme Court judge writes that "Intellectual Property rights" are alien to Indian culture of dispensing knowledge freely (that web page was copyrighted though). Private property is held at the will and pleasure of a state that can snatch it at will (Kerala seized a private Golf course so that not only the rich can play in it, the Supreme court assented).

I can say only one parting suggestion. Indians think that the problems in India are very unique to India and are without precedence. I've almost every problem in USA that in some way can suggest solutions to India. Indians first have to accept that they need to learn and look around.

Many of my blogs, with all humility, do contain very valid insightful observations but I've very little hope of anything being corrected. The comparisons that I incessantly draw upon are themselves prescriptions.

I can go on and on. Will India become Africa? Certainly not. India is not Congo. Will India come close to being a developed country? Certainly not. India is not mature. Will that happen in some distant future, well as Alexander Pope says "hope springs eternal in the human breast". After all in an evolutionary time scale if monkeys can become man why not???

India: Toll Road Exemptions and Allure of Power

Why does the average Indian love to see leaders abuse power? Abuse of power is a virtue in power drunk India. In fact if an MLA or a SP's car stops for traffic he/she is seen as "effete". This is not only true of semi-literate Indians. Supposedly well educated Indians in USA swear by "Kalaignar" or "Naidu" or "Modi" etc irrespective of their blatant abuses of power. What is worse these NRI's would abhor many such abuses by politicians in their adopted land.

When travelling from Trichy to Madurai on a nicely laid toll road I was surprised to see a huge board listing people who are exempted from paying tolls. The list included President, Prime minister, chief justice, CM etc. Think for a moment, the poor farmer taking his goods from Trichy to Madurai has to pay Rs 50 but the chief Justice need not. In USA probably only the President zips past a toll road, if he ever travels by one, that too only for security reasons. Our NJ governor pays tolls. Can we imagine Jaya or MK paying tolls even when not exempted by law????

Throughout the Indian citizen's life he/she is constantly reminded that the elected representatives are not 'representatives' but 'rulers'. If the common man accepts a bribe he can be investigated but to investigate a CM you need governor's approval. God help you if they both are of same party. Constitutionally and otherwise the Indian citizen is constantly reminded that the "ruling class" , politicians and bureaucrats, is entitled to different set of rules.

America's founding fathers were adamant in treating the would-be elected rulers on par with citizenry in fact the elected representatives are, by custom, held to a higher standard. The average American expects his governor or President to be judged by a higher bar than he applies to himself. The average Indian does the exact opposite. A politicians peccadilloes would disgust an American, for an Indian it is "macho". Bill Clinton paid a very heavy price for his Lewinsky fiasco.

Indians hate abuse of power only when it is not by their beloved leader. For a Dalit Mayawati's abuse of power is just "giving back to the upper caste". Jaya, Indira, Mayawati and Mamata proved that women are equally capable of being unscrupulous, corrupt, mean and venal like any man.

An American understands that a senator being frisked at the airport is no big deal. For an Indian its sacrilege that his matinee idol was questioned (not harassed as its done by Indian officials). Barack Obama and Bill Clinton would pay up from their pocket when they buy a burger or a book. A famous incident was when Bill Clinton was told by a bookshop assistant that Clinton's credit card had expired and Clinton borrowed money to buy the books. How many Indian politicians would buy a book about a country they are about to visit let alone pay for it?

The Tamil conference is the most shameful exhibit of the craven nature of Tamils. This is the state that supposedly was recast in the crucible of "self respect movement". No aspect of a Tamilian's life is devoid of sycophancy. Long back I was watching Tom Hanks receive a "lifetime achievement". Many of his co-stars who spoke poked fun at him and Tom was grinning from ear to ear. American politicians rub shoulders with the citizenry as equals. One of the signal moments after 9/11 was when Bush took the bull horn from a fire fighter and spoke to the world with his hand resting on the fire fighter's shoulder. The fire fighters standing next to the US President stood relaxed, deferential yes but not a bit obsequious. If it had been anybody but the President even that bit of deference would not have been there.

I was traveling by car in a very crowded street. Vehicles could barely move. Horns blared. Suddenly a jeep pulled along side us and the driver, apparently a policeman driving his superior, glared at our driver. He felt his authority was undermined by having had to yield to a citizen's car.

What is tragic is all this show of "power" is enshrined constitutionally and "THEREFORE" otherwise too. Paula Jones was a non-descript woman who sued a US president and caused his downfall. The US President is often rhetorically referred to as 'most powerful man on earth'. I'd say the MLA in any Indian assembly has more power than any US President. Of course that depends on how "power" is defined.

India: A litany of excuses

We took the Guruvayoor express to Chennai from Trichy. We had booked a/c sleepers. When we stepped into the a/c coach a distinctive stench hit our noses making Hydrogen-sulphide (chemistry textbooks call H2S as rotten egg smell) look like perfume in comparison. Near the toilet a chart duly noted that “Pest Control Department” last checked for pests on some date. Right next to it a passenger, presumably Indian, wrote “too many cockroaches”. If Indians can feel ‘too many cockroaches’ it REALLY has to be many. I was not disappointed. One look at where they stash the blankets and pillows made me puke. Only when I reflected I realized that I had paid only Rs 318 for the journey. Rs 318 for a 250+ KM train journey, in a/c “sleeper” with blankets provided. That is $7.5 approx. Even by Indian standards that price is ridiculously low. In a country where one liter of petrol is Rs50+ and an auto ride from Adyar to Egmore is Rs100+ this is dirt cheap and so no wonder it was dirty. Its impossible for Railways to maintain the coaches let alone modernize. When Indians work themselves upto a lather because Laloo “turned around” a loss making Railways not many pause to think what they got. When year after year fares are “maintained” and in a/c is made more affordable nobody pauses to think. Yes the fares are ‘maintained’ but the coaches are not.

During a couple of drives from Adyar to elsewhere Rowena saw Marina beach and wanted to visit it. I also wanted to take her to Marina just to see the colorful life on a beach. We often go to beaches in New Jersey but no beach in USA would have vendors selling stuff right on the beach its only done away from the beach area, no flying kites, no horse rides etc. Marina is colorful that way. Despite our tight schedule we made time for a beach visit on Friday evening around 7 PM. Contrary to my fears parking was easy. The beach road with its expanse, the sodium vapor lights in the median divider, the statues is quite a sight to behold on a nice evening when the weather is balmy. 

We spotted a horse ride and Rowena got on the horse with immense joy. I brought out my canon SLR to snap pictures. After seeing me take pictures the horse ride guy (jockey ???) told us “Sir  you have to pay me Rs 20 for each snap you take”. Of course we did not pay and we put him in place. What amazed me was how fast the guy cooked up a scheme to get money beyond what was his due. I’ve taken horse carriage rides in NYC, Amsterdam and elsewhere. Nowhere did anybody come up with such an excuse to extort money. In Amsterdam I paid 25 euro for a 30 min ride, our driver was a woman who did not utter a word as I snapped away to glory. I had a similar experience in 1999 when as a newlywed I stepped out in Egmore with three large suitcases. The porter demanded Rs 400 to take the suitcases a few feet to the taxi stand. I asked him why. The reply was simple “sir you are going to America”. How did he know. “who else carries these types of suitcases”. Just because I was going to America he felt “entitled” to get more than his due. The taxiwallah demanded Rs1000 to go from Egmore to Purasawalkam (an auto would charge Rs 30 those days for that trip). Again the reason was “you are going to America”.

That people feel “ENTITLED” to your money just because you earn more, considerably more, is a malaise that can be traced to the roots of our cinema culture where the hero is always “robbing the rich to pay the poor”. In a country like India where, until recent times, the rich were mostly landed gentry, zamindars, it’s not easy to comprehend or pay regard to the fact that people could get rich by hard work, honest work and be honest tax payers. “Poverty” is another excuse that I am tired of hearing. The woman in Amsterdam who drove us was not rich, she knew we were tourists, yet she did not feel ‘entitled’ to our money. A cabbie in NYC is not rich and getting a taxi license in NYC is so expensive (and corrupt too) but he does not feel entitled to my money beyond the meter. 

The favorite excuse of Indians is “population”. “we are a large country, population is a problem”. Until recent times population was only a “problem” but India’s demography is fast turning into a ‘mixed blessing’. India reaps by the tons the benefits of its rich demography, an eager and mostly young workforce by the millions is a boon that is transforming the country. In many other spheres the population is a challenge and in certain spheres it is a malaise. BUT Indians use it as a blanket excuse for all and sundry. Coming out of Meenambakkam I thought about the population question. If I told any Indian about the deplorable state of the airport I’d get a shrug “population”. Little do we realize  that Newark Airport or JFK or Brussels, uncluttered car park, the clean exit ramps I was back to civilization.

 

“Population” has got nothing to do with many ills that plague India. What has “population” or “poverty” got to do with a guy urinating near a 400 year old Mahal right under the “do not urinate here” sign? First of all why would there be a need for such a sign. Has anybody ever seen a “do not urinate here” sign in any other part of the world. What makes it ok for literate teenagers to scribble on the walls of a protected monument, again, right next to a “do not scribble on the walls”?

I went to a bookshop in the new mall “Chennai City Center”. This was a branch of the biggest bookstore in Chennai. The store had a cramped design and in places books were just piled on the floor. The shelves were crammed with titles. The Tamil DVD’s were in flimsy sleeves and stacked like they are done in Burma Bazaar, no sequencing  either. Most of the books were by western authors and local editions of foreign publications. Indian publishing industry is still in its infancy and is mostly just a “printing press”. Though India does have some reputable publishing houses like Penguin, Oxford University Press etc nothing to match the prestige of a Simon and Schuster or Harper Collins etc.  

Buying books is still a luxury in India. Any good book easily crosses Rs 500. For a salaried lecturer in Trichy its a princely sum.  Take Trichy for example. In US it would be typically called a "University Town" to emphasize the preponderance of premium educational institutions. But there is not a SINGLE book store that is good, let alone public libraries. Yes REC has a good library but I can bet the engineering student there does not have access to the latest NY Times bestseller on a number of topics. But then the student first should want to read those, he/she is stifled by a curriculum that thinks a tech student should only learn circuits and bridges. For the common Tamilian reading habit is what he/she most  grazes in the morning and some pot boilers.

Indians repeat ad nauseum about how the British left the country in a hurry and in a mess. As much as that is true little do we pause to think how "BLESSED" India was at its moment of birth. Indians did not have to 'invent' constitution writing like US, the country was linked from end to end physically, very importantly it was linked end-to-end administratively. India had the unique of strength of a wonderful administrative cadre schooled in the best institutions, India's leaders-to-be were also schooled in the best institutions.Above all the emotional unity, not withstanding the communal carnage in the border states, was amazing given India's historical fragmentation. Yet, Indians have unexceptionally squandered each and every advantage and what is worse turned every blessing into a curse.

I am often told, why keep complaining, can you say something as a curative suggestion. I shall address that in my next blog.

NRI's: Betraying with Jingoism.

My earlier blogs on my India visit and my facebook posting drew harsh brickbats from people supposedly in love with India. I was hectored duly with lectures on Indian values, the charm of India, the hoary traditions, the richness of India, the promise of becoming a super power etc etc.

To a friend I summed up USA like this: On 9/11 Americans said "Nobody does this to USA (i.e. Nobody can go scot free after such an attack). On Katrina Americans said: "This is not who we are. This is not us" (i.e. American citizens deserve much better). Thanks to our sense of outrage neither event has been repeated.

A nation that, as recently as 1991, had only one week of foreign exchange reserves and had to pawn its gold, in the space of 20 years is now brimming with confidence, has a $1 trillion economy, is constantly talked about as a land of promise by the external world. The country has indeed been unleashed. The Indian graduate is basking in the limelight of a market where companies dole out increments half yearly.

BUT.

The fundamentals of a country, its core governance, its body politic is corrupted beyond compare. The fantastic growth is nothing but lipstick on a pig.

As I was drooling and sinking my teeth into an exotic ripe mango I was told that fruit vendors ripen mangoes artificially in harmful ways. Not even Indians trust the tap water anymore. The bottled water we buy eagerly is also no guarantee, it is often tampered with. Tamil Nadu now has a 911 like service for ambulance. Many say it is prompt but often the government hospital van operators in cahoots with poly clinics do not arrive until a private hospital ambulance has ferried the injured to a costly private hospital. Educational courses and colleges are worse than locusts, gullible parents beguiled by fancy subjects put their children into courses about which nobody has a good idea. Name ONE good thing and I can bet you can add a "BUT" to highlight its corrupted side.

What really alarms me is the abject intellectual degradation. On a Sunday morning I channel surfed not a single indigenous channel had anything remotely intellectual. The plethora of Tamil channels are 100% film oriented. Turn on the FM channels and its even more insipid.

I stepped into a computer showroom. The attendant helpfully tells me the price of a compaq is Rs30,000 for a certain config. Finally, as matter of fact, adds 'by the way the OS will be pirated copy'. This for a branded PC. No buyer balks at it, nobody hesitates. Be a Roman I am told.[ A reputed PC reseller once quoted my dad on company letter pad prices with pirated and authorised software].

When Indians sanctimoniously pontificate on Indian values usually it is within the framework of sexual morality, familial attachments, divorce rates, teen pregnancies and the like. With tongues firmly in cheek many an NRI would draw attention to statistics in USA (yes its always that). Not many understand that divorce rates, for example have a socio-economic component and is correlated to the financial independence of women. Also the statistics in the western world is largely accurate unlike India where government statistics is a joke. Pray, tell me in which western country do governing politicians strut about with two wives (its not just Mu,Ka, many in his cabinet, also Mulayam the socialist).

No NRI bothers with the fact that Indians as a country are habitually unethical in public conduct. Loan defaults, eagerness to bribe and be bribed, complete absence of civic conduct (blaring loudspeakers from Christian and MUslim worship places assault my neighborhood EVERYDAY).

Cars are sold with no airbags, no child locks, when roads are closed no detours are marked, children are packed in highly unsafe share autos like sardines, food is unsafe, water is unsafe (many do not even get it), thousands of villages lack basic health care.

Ok. Where do NRI's fit in this? NRI's, the ones who are citizens/permanent residency holders in western countries confuse nostalgia with love. We all share an instinctive love for the places where we spent our carefree childhood. CHildhood and adolescence is, by hindsight, always fun memories especially in relation to our present where we worry about jobs, career, savings, retirement, children's education etc. Also we visit India mostly to spend time with aged parents, to let them spend a few happy moments with their grand children. To top it all our dollars and pounds enable us to travel in air-conditioned comfort, stay at choice hotels, eat at choice places, buy Bisleri by the crates. We NRI's basically cocoon ourselves in replicated environs. Occasionally we peek from our bubbles and interact with the masses.

An American child, gets fluoride from tap water and is protected from tooth decay, travels in school buses for which traffic will come to a stop, the child is safely tucked in baby seats (rated by a trustworthy consumer reports), the child gets sun lotion SP 50 for heat that is far less, in winter the child is treated to Aquaphor, the county school provides a seat with no recommendation and good education, we have 30 day return policy for most, our children play in the safest designed playgrounds complete with soft cork for grounds to protect the soft knees. I can go on.Just yesterday my child went to play in the apartment playground. Somebody had spat his betel nut on the sand.

I love Thomas Friedman for the columns he writes excoriating Americans not to take their status for granted. I love the scare mongering that Americans would lose their place. Indians on the other hand, especially NRI's, who brook no criticism do India a great disservice. For the sake of the impoverished millions I wish India progressed more and faster. A nation of one billion people cannot be ignored. As an American I wish India prospers and engages in more open trade with USA by opening up Indian markets ensuring a symbiotic growth.

Was it Johnson who said "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". (Before anybody misunderstands it let me explain that what he meant was that often 'patriotism' is used as an excuse to cover-up shortcomings).

The Great Indian Education Bazaar

Thomas Friedman gushed effusively in his book "The World is Flat" about the millions that graduate from Indian colleges. Given the excitement over outsourcing and getting "Bangalored" (yes thats a verb now) this truism stayed etched in popular imagination. An interviewer once asked Friedman "why do you write about Globalization only from the perspective of the CEO's and you never talk to ordinary people". Friedman smugly replied 'if I have to understand globalization I need to talk to Nandan (Nilekani) not to the guy on the shop floor". Then came an analyst's report on the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India & China) from Goldman Sachs that predicted India would be within striking distance of US GDP in 50 years. Indians went into euphoria. The death of IT in USA was predicted with glee. Its been 8 years since CNN"s Lou Dobb's ran his story "Exporting America" on outsourcing. IT is here to stay. Outsourcing in major financial industries is in shambles, only grunt work is sent to India, only 'productionized processes' are sent (euphemism for tasks for which instruction sheets can be written). Finally a McKinsey study blew a gaping hole that more than 50% of India's graduates cannot pass an interview at an MNC.

This being June its admission season in Tamil Nadu. Every news paper, every magazine is littered with ads in every page for courses, each ad flaunts some accredition or the other, many boast of liasons with universities abroad, flashy photographs depicting luxuriously furnished classrooms/labs/dorms are posted. Every college, including Government colleges now put out a board at the entrance listing courses offered like Udipi hotels displaying their dinner menu. There are even magazines that rank colleges.

I picked a magazine "Careers 360" that had a special issue of college rankings. All the deemed universities in TN were ranked AA. Two of those universities have been marked by Central Govt, in a case before supreme court, to be stripped of their deemed university status. I spoke to a person who claims to run an MBA program in Singapore linked to a UK university. He talked about how he has linked Deemed Universities in TN (all X-ian as he was, not incidentally, a X-ian) with that Singapore based MBA program. The MBA program does not require GMAT. One of the deemed university is in the list to be demoted as I said before. I asked him about that. I was told "oh thats nothing, they will just lose university status and instead go back to being a college as before". I was stumped thinking of the poor parents in that small hamlet in Tanjore who were duped into admitting their children thinking they were attending a "deemed university" which claimed that the autonomy gave academic independence. When that university loses its status and becomes a college it would need to get affiliation from a government run university which then could throw out the MBA program too (new beaurocrats).

When I stayed at the Taj Gateway I had an interesting encounter. We were having lunch and a family sat in the nearby table. Their manner of dress and speech clearly suggested that they were there courtesy of some ill-begotten wealth. The guy started talking animatedly to the waiter about a "hotel management" college he runs. As luck would have it that day's "Indian Express" carried an article on how admissions can be bought for money. A rate table for various colleges and various engineering courses was listed. The wife took a look at it and in Tamil, spoken like slang, chimed "why are these fools wasting their money on Engg courses, that too look at the prices". If this was a conversation held in Renganathan Street, T.Nagar CHennai, about potatoes being sold by a competitor, the tone of the conversation, the accents none of it would be out of place. The guy looked and acted like a vegetable vendor. His young son was exactly in his mould. I could imagine him sitting in an a/c room as "correspondent" hiring teachers with less care than he would give choosing tomatoes between different vendors.

Here are few excerpts from Narayana Murthy's book "A Better India, a Better World", the chapter is "A framework for Reforms in Higher Education".

1. India's annual output of PhD's in Comp.Science is 25. USA - 800.
2. Indian ranks 119th (among 149) in citations Index.
1. A typical IIT gets 2-3 patents a year. Stanford gets 52.
3. India spends 1.9 % (2006) of its GDP on education. Kothari commission asked for 6%, 38 years ago!!
4. Beauracracy severely hampers visits by foreign academics, investments by NRI's have to jump through so many hoops that many times they fabulously fail.
5. World bank researchers made random visits to 200 primary schools and found no teaching activity in half of them.
6. "we have a tendency to design our standards based on the worst performers, and demotivating outstanding students". A standards based SOLELY on lowest common denominator. Lowering the bar as habit.

For his ideas on reforms I'd refer the reader to the book.

Casteim is rampant in both student enrollment (especially in Arts colleges) and faculty. It is not a surprise that Hindu colleges would refuse admission to Christians (and vice versa as compliment !!!). A Brahmin college (what a categorisation, sad but true) would have 99% Brahmin faculty. Likewise for a Nadar college and so on.

In the wake of Kumbokonam tragedy when 70+ children perished in a fire at an ill-equipped, badly constructed school the government stipulated that all schools must get a clearance from fire department (why should that have to be only after such a tragedy??). Now that is used to fleece money from schools. This is India, I am told. The harassed schools formed a consortium and negotiated "a price" for the certificates!!!!!!!

Yesterday's paper had an ad by a college flaunting its NAAC accredition calling for students to apply. Just beneath that ad it called for applications for "Principal, lecturers, professors". Now one wonders how they got accredition in the first place.

The Chairman of MCI (Medical council of India) was arrested by CBI on charges of corruption running to hundreds of crores. No wonder there are so many 'accredited' medical colleges.

All that I've written is just a tip of  the iceberg.

Saree shopping and the changing face of India.

After I wrote the last blog the heaviness in heart and mind weighed me down. I shall turn to some pleasant aspects now. Much of this will be old hat to those who live in India or visit India more often than me. Nevertheless I hope to add my 2 cents to the narrative.

I just love shopping especially dress shopping. Shopping for women's dresses is the most entertaining one. Back in 1996 one day I felt irritated looking at my wardrobe of pants. The colors were shades of gray, shades of blue, one or two exotic colors thats it. I thought I am probably choosing limited colors. I decided, for a change, to check out what other men wear during traffic stops. This being India in 1996 many were using two wheelers which facilitated me. My dress choices were pretty much in line with the average male. Forget about the range of colors in Churidhars the sheer variety of 'styles' in churidhars is amazing. How many different ways can a man's pant be cut? Maybe 2 variation at the bottom hem, thats it. Having a girl child is a boon too.

I wanted to take my mom to Pothy's at Madurai to get some sarees for her. It was a Sunday evening and I was told that many shops, including Pothys, would be open till 10 PM. Europe shuts down at 7 PM weekday and is completely closed on Sundays. Shops is USA are open only until 6 PM on Sunday. The streets were crowded like a weekday. Pothys was overflowing with people like NY Macy's on Black Friday. It had 4 floors with almost 3 floors for women (Macys too devotes most floor space for women). Around 1300 employees work in that complex alone, with nice photo ID's. The floor is divided into Sarees, CHuridhars etc and subdivided on price/variety. Once you make a purchase (barcoded) you get a barcoded reciept. The merchandise is taken to delivery section. After completion of payment you can collect your stuff. Of course at the delivery section there is no queue, you are better off muscling in. In every saree section its only "salesmen" no girls whereas all errand runners are ONLY girls. The elevators and escalators are swanky enough to match any modern airport amenities. There is a rewards program too complete with a store card. The salesmen, errand girls, cashiers and almost everyone is pretty street smart and sharp. The cashiers especially are savvy to deal aternatively with cash and credit card payments and quickly switch modes of payments when a card fails. Given the thousands of packets being run around the store that they almost never miss is amazing (think dabbawalla's of Mumbai who are a subject of study in IIM's I hear).

The sheer varieties of churidhars and sarees is amazing. I saw a silk saree for Rs 1,06,000 it was sheer gold plated. There was another for Rs1.25 lakhs. Armani suits in Saks Fifth Avenue could be had for less. If only these poor weavers could enter a corporate framework their skills would take them miles beyond proud Italian brands. I wish some Kanchipuram weaver becomes a household name like Armani or Valentino.

The Taj Gateway resort was just fabulous. Set in sylvan surroundings commanding a princely sum it was worth it. The rooms would match the best anywhere in the world. When Ratan Tata bought over the British Luxury car maker Jaguar some in Britain chuckled about loss of "brand value". Tata beat them back highlighting the luxury hotels of Tata group. The staff were polite. I wish they stopped just short of appearing obsequous.

I got up at 4 AM and took a stroll. The resort is located in Pasumalai that overlooks the city. When all was quite around except for the chirping of birds and peacocks at 5 AM suddenly the valley came alive with booming film songs. The sound filled the low lands. If I could hear the song up on a hillock god save the neighbors on the streets. Again a sad reminder of our so called 'values'.

A penchant to spend money of luxury and 'enjoying' life is now reshaping the Indian consumer making MNC's queue up to sell quite a lot that most Indians had no use for until recent times. When a small village like "Kottampatti' boasts of cell phone connection you know that changes have happened.

The service sector is on a jet set. Construction industry is booming with constructions all around the city, need I say anything about IT. Indian students are more confident of better living, better jobs than at any point in India's history. I saw timid girls step into unconventional roles in hotels. Yes change is afoot.

The question though is how deep are the changes? What is the disparity level? Would the changes help India to cure itself corruption that is eating into the bowels of the country? How much of these changes are driven by sensible public policy from corridors of legislature? Are we sowing the seeds for institutionalizing and capitalizing the changes?

Very sadly the answer is NO. A few key incidents I heard and saw would help close the argument. Thats for another day.