Last Day In Bangalore9/27/2007
Bangalore has changed from a once quiet town to a bustling, crowded city with a diverse population of international travelers and domestic migrants. India is one of the most diverse countries on the planet and internal migration has brought this country's rich blend of ethnic, religious and cultural diversity to the city in search of the "Indian Dream." Another fitting analogy would be to compare India's IT Revolution to the California Gold Rush of 1849. America's "Gold Fever" was a catalyst for the American economy, although only a tiny fraction of the population actually got rich from striking gold. However, the investment in ancillary industries that supported this endeavor generated great wealth for the country as a whole and spread that wealth throughout a larger share of the population. In short, the Gold Rush itself did not make a lot of people rich. It was the fallout that helped a larger share of Americans to prosper. For example, the miners demanded rugged clothing and Levi Strauss filled that need. Railroads were built to bring Back in Bangalore on my last day, Leela Palace sent a driver to pick me up at the office park where I was teaching. Samuel, the driver, was pleasant and, like many Indians, constantly ended his sentences with "sir." Samuel had been living in Bangalore for 20 years, having moved from Kerala, a state on the southwestern tip of Peninsular India. He came here to complete his studies and ended up working for a chemical company. He then started a business with his father, selling crafts around the country. They apparently never stayed more than 60-70 days in any one place. He told me things didn't work out and he ended up working at the Leela. I asked why it didn't work and he told me it was because of the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Northern India starting in the late 1990's and coming to a head in 2002, when a conflict caused rioting and many deaths. Although India is an extremely tolerant country, the actions of a small percentage can wreak havoc on the life of the rest. Samuel said his new job caused him no stress. When asked what he thought of the changes in Bangalore, Samuel reiterated what Rajan, another driver, had told me. They both were quick to point out that the changes were positive overall, that people had jobs, and life in the city had improved. This perspective is important to hear since many Westerners, and Indians, see the disparity of income and lifestyle and blame globalization. As Edward Luce, author of "In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India," points out, India is a one-percent society. If one takes a longer view of the indicators that measure development in a society, India has improved by It is important for the world to realize that Great Britain and the United States took over 100 years to develop. Each country went through similar growing pains, using cheap labor, stealing intellectual property, and polluting the air with coal fired factories. This doesn't excuse the acts of individuals or companies that take advantage of the poor migrant labor, or bribe corrupt officials to avoid environmental regulations, but it provides perspective. India and China are working on these issues and their success will take time. As I leave Bangalore, having seen the variety of people and spoken to many of them, I think there is a lot of work to be done but they are moving in the right direction.
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I leave tomorrow morning for New Delhi, after spending a week in what is known as the Silicon Valley of India. Silicon Valley lies in the southern portion of San Francisco and is known for its technology companies, such as Google, Apple and eBay. Bangalore shares many of the same characteristics, including excellent universities, creative and educated talent and innovative technology companies such as Infosys, Wipro, both Indian, plus a variety of multinationals, including Microsoft and Dell.
other goods, such as pick axes, shovels, food and whiskey, to the miners. This created the infrastructure needed to connect the two coastlines and allow access to the interior, where farmers could get their goods to market efficiently. Banks, general stores and other services were also needed to support the variety of businesses that were started during this time, providing jobs to a larger number of people. The same thing is happening in India, China and other emerging nations such as Vietnam, Brazil and the Czech Republic. 
approximately 1% each year since the economic reforms of 1991 that were started by Manmohan Singh, then finance minister and currently Prime Minister of India. When comparing statistics from 1991 to 2001, life expectancy rose from 58 to 65, literacy rate improved from 52% to 65% and the poverty rate declined by one percent per year. Although these indicators are poor by western standards, and less than the 2% that China is seeing, it is steady progress.