Day: October 15, 2006

Indian Infrastructure

My last India trip has not just re-awakened my interest in returning, but has strengthened my resolve to do so. What was re-affirmed was the Indian can-do spirit. Whether it was the Sakinaka crossing at Mumbai, the well-paved roads at Bangalore or the chaos management at Pune. And for all those who continue to complain, two points might help.

First point is regarding the human tendency to complain about their current lot in life. It is a truism that the more there is, the more we complain. The English love to complain about NHS, their railways, their rising crime rate, the Labour Party, the Conservatives, the pollution, their weather forecasters, the Banks, the superstore chains, etc. The Japanese complain about their poor quality goods. The Americans complain about everything & everyone. (The only people who do not complain are the Singaporeans, but then they could get shot if they did!) This is a very positive thing in general, since all the development in the world comes from the dissatisfied soul.

However, what has always irked me about the Indian expats is their tendency to complain about the various arenas of indian life that not only affect them directly, but moreover they have done nothing to alleviate! They will complain about corruption, poor infrastructure, the lack of forex repatriability, the unemployment, the fact that the largest job creators are call centers, anything & everything. I find it funny that most of them are really complaining about India no longer being the place they dreamed it would be!

The second point is to do with the fact that we might not be the best there is, and not even the best that we can be, but we’re trying. To take one example of the “poor” Indian infrastructure, if you’ve flown in to the Mumbai airport in the last few months, you could not have been more surprised at the speed, efficiency & courtesy displayed. I arrived at midnight, and took all of 35 mins from plane to street in Mumbai. The 18 immigration counters were all manned by men in uniform who almost uniformly smiled (this was Dussehra night, so one imagines it can’t have been fun manning the booths; try flying in to Heathrow on Christmas Eve!).

To add to the story, on my return to Heathrow, it took me 75 mins! (No issues with the immigration. The bags took an hour!)