Rreading a book on the pavements of New York on a warm summer day – Just one of the things that you can’t really do in India.

From my answer to a question on Quora.

Here is a word of advice for all NRI’s who are looking to move back to India.

“If you are looking to move to India because you are bored of your job in the US or feel there are more opportunities here, then DON’T move back”

I moved to Gurgaon 6 months back and its been a mix of pleasure and pain

Its dusty, dirty, noisy, crowded, humid with crappy roads, even more crappier condos etc etc..you get the drift.

If you want to live in a condo like you lived in the US, it will cost you atleast a lakh per month

Most service providers and handymen will not be on time and will even be very blase about it.

Shopping for good quality veggies and fruits is a pain.

The fine line between a weekday and the weekend usually blurs.

Maids and cooks are supposed to be a convenience but they are usually a pain in the neck because you gotta supervise them and keep an eye on them.

Options for weekend breaks are very limited.

If Google Maps says you will reach a place in 6 hours, it will take anywhere between 10-16hours.

Sports facilities are pretty limited and the ones that are available are pretty expensive.

The gyms here are crappy and are usually in the basement of some house nearby. There are good ones but usually very far from where you live and the commute is just not worth it.

5kms of travel is like 25 miles of travel here.

If you have been out of India for more than 3+ years, and have not been here in the last 3 years, you will get THE STICKER SHOCK of your life when you get back.

Stuff has become frightfully expensive…some examples include petrol, wine, fine dining, movie tickets etc etc.

Basically, everything is available here but at a price. You can almost duplicate your US lifestyle but the cost will be directly similar to what it was in the US. The only difference will be a drop in your salary (And this is if you were living in NYC or SFO. If you are living in Dallas or somewhere in the midwest in a $800/2BR apartment, the fun will be even more)

Well, that’s the bad part.

Now to the good parts even though they may seem a bit vague

Its home and I feel more ‘alive’ here.
The food somehow tastes better.
There is a notional sense of freedom (like zipping on the expressway at midnight without worrying about a cop car on your back)

While we were waiting, another regular looking gentleman in a plain white shirt and black trousers entered the room. He was introduced to us briefly but I didnt quite catch his name and designation.

Soon after, we went out for a smoke break while my friend hung around to talk to him.

10 minutes later, my friend comes back beaming. It seems he had succeeded in getting electricity to a remote village in one of the larger states in India.

Turns out, the non descript gentleman was a Member of Parliament and the village in question fell under his constituency. My friend had visited this village sometime back on some work and had been very warmly welcomed by the local residents. On finding out that the village did not have any electricity, he had it in the back of his head that he would do something, someday to ensure that the village got electricity.

Who knew that a chance encounter could trigger such a change and it really opened my eyes to the power of politics and the potential it has to change our world. (Of course I still need to wait  to see if the said gentleman keeps his promise)

I also realized that ‘politics’ is not all that bad. While there maybe a few rotten apples from the old guard, there is a fresh new breed of politicians on the ground who are working to bring about incremental change. They are young, smart, well educated and are slowly but surely changing the face of politics while doing good work.

Now if only they did a better job of communicating their achievements to a wider audience, it might encourage more people to join politics along with promising hope for a better future for India.

I sure am excited to be back

Its been interesting however and here are some observations over the last 10 days:

1.) The heat is not as bad as i thought it would be. I guess if you come with an expectation of stepping into a burning oven but are greeted by stray showers and a pleasant breeze, 105 F doesnt feel that bad.
2.) Traffic is still a bitch and everyone is in a mad rush to get somewhere. While there is chaos in Gurgaon, its an absolute pleasure to drive in Delhi (thanks to the infrastructure buildup on account of the CWG games)
3.) The larger the car, the larger the chance that its driver will violate traffic rules (read, drive on the other side of the road, cut you off, no blinkers, and attempt to get into any space they can find to get ahead. )
4.) Most SUV’s seem to be owned by politicians or their ilk
5.) Stuff has become incredibly expensive. (e.g. a coconut on the roadside costs Rs 25, a plate of momos at Galleria market – Rs 70, etc etc)
6.) Craigslist does not work here for finding an apartment. There are 3 major real estate portals and almost all have the same format and listings by the same agents…almost none of the owners post on their own and nobody posts any pictures of the apartments. You have to go through a bevy of agents to find an apartment.
7.) The definition of a ‘good’ apartment varies from agent to agent and the decent ones are ridiculously priced( e.g Rs 35,000 for a 2 BHK in Richmond Park)
8.) The ‘good’ apartment complexes have ‘clubs’ – where there is a pool but it is usually non functional and a gym which is a small room with a few treadmills and some exercise equipment – And this is for a complex which has a couple of hundred apartments.
9.) 3G speeds on my phone remind me of the dial up era ( and i thought ATT was slow in NYC )
10.) The malls are a circus on the weekends and all the eateries seem to be doing brisk business
11.) Its easy to get used to a morning routine of chai and newspapers (the physical kind. Yes, newspapers are still alive and kicking and doing really well unlike the NYTimes)
12.) The amount of dust is unbelievable on account of the constant construction going on everywhere.
13.) FM radio stations are dime a dozen and they all seem to go on a commercial break at the same time (which can be quite irritating)
14.) The food somehow tastes better…e.g. the papayas are amazing here
15.) There are a large number of BMW’s and Audi’s on the road…and mercs seem to have become common place.

Now that i think about it, living in America can really spoil you.

Despite all this, i seem to be strangely at peace with myself. While it can get frustrating at times, it definitely does feel more alive here to be out and about. Lets hope this optimism continues

P.S: Regarding the title of this post, its because that genuinely seems to be the case. The ‘rich’ have the power to influence and improve the overall external conditions but they seem to be perfectly content living inside their gated colonies and air conditioned cars while the roads crumble, trash lies everywhere and the common man carries on.

Today, that promise has come true 2.5 times . Today is the day I complete 5 years at Cognizant.

It was on the 17th of April 2006 that I joined Cognizant at Bangalore…and its been a fun ride to the US so far…the pace of work and growth has been so rapid that five years seem to have gone by in the proverbial blink of an eye.

Its time now for another change. Leaving Cognizant and moving back to India at the end of this month to start out on my own. Lets hope though, this time around it lasts a bit longer than 2 months.

Incase you are curious, here is what I am thinking of next.

One thing which has changed drastically is the Delhi airport.

To cut a long story short, it rocks.

Right from ample counters at immigration, to spacious baggage handling facilities, organized taxi and car lanes and clean restrooms, the whole place has a very ‘international’ feel with a very positive vibe.

And something else that caught my attention was the demeanor of the housekeeping staff. It was heartening to see smart young women go about doing their stuff and that too in supervisory roles.

While it’s def better planned and executed compared to the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports, there are a couple of shortcoming’s.

The entire gate area is covered in a gold/brown colored carpet with some random patterns. while it maybe easy to clean, its def an eyesore.

Auto rickshaws are not allowed at the airport. Not really sure why but it could have something to do with “security”.

And I guess there is a price to be paid for all the development which makes the food slightly expensive.

Yes, the tiny muffins that you see below cost Rs 100 each.

Even though I saw it very late at night and midday (and hence missed the peak morning hour chaos) I am pretty sure it works pretty well all day.

Overall, a pleasant surprise and kudos the the GMR group for doing a great job.

Now while B&W photography is considered “classic, timeless, arty, etc etc”, i just love the amount of colour all around us, hence this attempt to capture the ‘colour’

Take a look at some more on Flickr here.

To see a slideshow, click the image below.

Right from cruising at 100 kmph on the NH 8 to waiting for 10 minutes in the ‘tag’ lane at the Gurgaon toll bridge, to battling errant drivers on Delhi’s inner ring road, and smoothly gliding past the tolls at the DND tolls, I had this constant question on my mind, “What’s the rush, people ?”

The answer was quite blatantly on display, pretty much every where.

India is on a roll. India is the next economic super power. Lifestyles are changing (and upwardly so). Women’s empowerment is on a high (as evidenced by higher divorce rates and nasty female drivers on the road – Earlier, it was only the ‘macho men’ who would cut you off ), etc etc

There seems to be an optimism in the air. The Great Recession has taken down America and Europe while India has  remained largely unaffected and is steadily growing and ‘developing’. Just the perfect place to be, don’t you think ?

We still have a long way to go. The roads are in a mess, the air quality in Gurgaon sucks, people are generally rude everywhere and everybody is intent on building their own sheltered cocoon – the rest of the world be damned.

While ruminating on the state of things with a friend, she was of the view that things wont improve unless the government improves things.

Take for example, the toll gate at the entrance of NH 8 in Gurgaon. Its horrible at any point of the day and during peak hours is a downright nightmare. While there are special ‘tagged’ lanes for folks with pre paid smart cards the lanes are usually jammed with ‘cash payers’ defeating the purpose of having a faster lane. While the govt could have put in place a system of checks and fines, ultimately, it is us, the people who dont respect the system and then later cry that it doesnt work.

Something needs to change. A change in the fundamental mindset which includes basic civic sense, respect for your fellow man and a sense of ownership in our country. Most of us are hardened ‘cynics’ and believe that its somebody else’s problem(usually the government) to fix it.

So how do we bring about that change to create an empowered India. The answer  to some extent may very well lie in this movie, ‘Stand and Deliver’.

Its about taking a small group and bringing about incremental change, one day at a time, and preferably with children.

The adults of our country are already in a mess. The only hope left is with our children, and if we dont teach them what is right from wrong, or more importantly, how to figure out what is the right thing to do…well i guess life will go on as usual.

As MG said, be the change you want to see in the world. Or atleast give it a try.

I was vaguely aware of the RTI Act and how it had been enacted to bring about transparency and efficiency within our government machinery, etc etc..

Its been almost 5 years since the act has been in force so I thought it would be a breeze for me to file an application…online !!

But no, our great government, with all its great intentions has still not developed a system where you can file an application online.You gotta do it the old fashioned way…’write down the application on a piece of paper and send it off to the Post office along with a fee of Rs 10′.

Can you imagine how many people do NOT file an application because of the ‘physical hassle’…

How difficult is it to have a system which could allow you to file an application online ?

But wait, maybe its by design and in order to discourage ‘frivolous’ applications (It will be easier to file online so more ppl will file applications which means more work for our babus)… Who knows ?

While the Act is great in spirit, it needs to be accessible much more easily (i.e for starters, the ability to file an application online)

Any takers for building such a system ? More importantly, if a private entrepreneur were to attempt building something, would the government allow it to flourish or throw a wrench in the works ??

Guess the only way to find out is to try and build something like that

Here is a good place to find what has been happening wrt to the Act since 2005. Somebody call Vishal has been religiously updating the blog

And its not all bad too.. Here is a list of some of the success stories…

Happy Independence Day

P.S: The fuzzy pic ofcourse does not do justice to the actual vista…wish i had a better camera..