The Real India9/26/2007
The Leela Palace, where we’re staying, was built in the year 2000 although it looks like a remnant of the British Raj 200 years ago. It was modeled after a palace in Mysore, another town in South India, and named after the wife of the owner. I start my day with a wake up call, followed by the doorbell, where a young man dressed in a formal outfit greets me at the door. He is standing there with a silver tray of coffee, cookies, cream, and sugar and is literally holding it to the side of his head, just like you’d imagine. During the day I met with an American expatriate, Melissa Pint, who is on a 2-year “tour” in India. She is one of a growing number of Americans who are realizing the benefits of moving to Asia to take part in one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Melissa discussed the initial thrill of moving to what is really a third world country and starting an operation within a company that had previously been outsourcing these functions to Indian firms like Infosys and Wipro. Target is like many multinational corporations that are trying to survive in an economy where conditions affecting the bottom line can change quickly. Therefore, these companies will try to make the most of India’s cheap, highly skilled and educated workforce for things such as software development by having a combination of offshore and outsourcing relationships. Off shoring allows a company to do in-house what they normally rely on others to do. But the combination of the two allows People like Melissa are doing what many of the white-collar immigrants from other countries have been doing for some time. Because Americans in general do not travel outside the country very often (only 18% have a passport) they tend not to have the perspective of those who have experienced other cultures. Another gentleman told me that his 10 and 7-year-old sons were truly global citizens. Because they had followed him from the U.S. to South America and then to India, where he was born, they felt comfortable in all countries. He told me they had more stamps in their passport than he had as a 25 year old man. As a result, they will be more effective working in the future economy, where our interactions with people of other cultures will be much more frequent than what we find in today’s “interconnected world.” When I arrived back at the hotel a doorman named Tharkaniani, who introduced himself as the First Employee, met me at the entrance. He is one of many formally dressed gentlemen that hustle about the entrance area, which contains a large fountain circled by the driveway. Tharkaniani stands out with his lamb chop sideburns and distinct uniform. When I asked him to clarify what the first employee’s job description was, he told me he was actually the first person hired at the Leela Palace. We laughed and discussed India for a bit. He told me to take his picture, which I was actually trying to figure out a way to get permission to do, since his uniform was the best one of the lot. I told him that I wanted to get outside of the bubble of luxury that I had been living in, since I was either in one of the nicest hotels in the world, or in a corporate office park. In between was another India, which I saw only Seventy percent of India’s 1.2 billion people reside in the rural areas. Farming is done much like it was hundreds of years ago, by hand or with crude equipment. Cattle still pull the plow. When one of the Leela Palace's drivers was bringing me back to the hotel one day, we struck up a conversation and he agreed to show me what I think of as "The Real India." He grew up very close by and we decided to take a tour of Bangalore, including his neighborhood. Within minutes of leaving Leela, I was facing a market where dozens of people were selling food, mainly vegetables, fruit, flowers, fish, and some homemade items, in little stalls they rent. Surrounding the market were the scenes I had become familiar with in my research but made a much greater impact in person. The rancid smell of rotting produce and garbage, that the wandering cows were eating, mixed with the fragrant jasmine that a kindly woman was selling. I walked through a long corridor crammed with these stalls and would have been nervous except for my companion who described each item and situation in his gentle voice. In the United States, an area looking like this would be associated with crime. In India, poverty is common but crime is not. Rajan explained this by pointing out that in Hinduism, which 80% of Indians practice, the concept of “Karma”, or one’s duties and actions, plays a role in the low crime statistics. Many Hindus believe that one is born into a certain “caste”, or social class, and there are firm guidelines that provide structure for the way in which a person of a particular caste should live. The only way to change one’s caste is by being reincarnated into a different position in life. Those born into a lower caste, according Rajan, accept their fate and pursue good karma in order to gain a higher position in the next life. Untouchables, now called Dalits, are the ones that most people outside of India are most familiar with and have the unfortunate distinction of being the lowest category of caste. Actually, Dalits are so low they are not even considered a caste and therefore are outsiders. This has led to discrimination and violence towards them throughout India’s history. Incidentally, the principle author of the constitution, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, was an untouchable. This is an example of the contrasts found in India. A current debate over quotas for Dalits and “Backward Castes”, where up to 25% of positions in government and higher education are assigned, is a current example of the way in which India is trying to overcome a blemish on their history. This debate is now entering the ranks of business, where the controversy is over whether the economy that benefited from a reduction of government control beginning in the 1990’s can continue to thrive if businesses are to carry the burden of pulling these groups up from poverty. Adjacent to the market that Rajan and I visited were dilapidated housing made of broken bricks and steel sheets for roofing, with more blocks of concrete holding them down. The homeowners were cooking their meal by a small fire as their children milled about. This scene is hard to describe and, since I didn't feel comfortable taking their picture, did not capture the image. Either way, seeing it in a photograph wouldn't come close to capturing the essence of their plight. Rajan and I walked around discussing each scene. I was really taken back but to him, and everyone else, it was normal. India has every type of situation you could possibly imagine, all within a few miles, hundred yards, or even feet of each other. Just like the traffic, where it seemingly appears to have no order, there actually is a system in place. I finally learned from Rajan that the horns are signals: one beep indicates your presence, 2-3 beeps means you're coming upon someone quickly so they should not cut you off. Just like anything else, once I had a context, the system appeared before my eyes and seemed much more orderly. We visited Rajan's home, which he seemed very proud of, despite the fact that it was probably the poorest neighborhood I'd ever seen, except for the "homes" described earlier. Again, with Rajan I felt comfortable. We drove through the narrow streets, which ended near an all-dirt soccer (football) field enclosed by a fence with a polluted drainage ditch running along side it.
These people lived in what appeared to be abject poverty to me but were very happy, friendly and seemed perfectly normal once I looked past the scenery. This is a great lesson for anyone. I believe that most people in the world are very similar, but we are shaped by our geography. Our differences can be managed once we realize this and reach out to one another with genuine curiosity and sincerity in building relationships. Our geography, or situation, can also cause us to change. Thus, the rising middle classes of India, China, Vietnam, Hungary and Russia all seem to share the same characteristics of American professionals, with regard to our value of material goods, attitude towards consumption, rapid pace of life, as well as the realization of our similarities. I asked Rajan about his feelings on globalization. He said the businesses that come to India and stay at his hotel are good for the people. He is sad to see Bangalore change from the one-time sleepy town called the "Garden City" but he sees the benefits for people like him that now are making money and not relying on the government. He has an 8-year-old son and when I asked what his name was, he smiled and said I'd laugh when he told me. He finally explained that he and his wife named him Clinton, after our president. He wanted to give him a name of an important and good person. He thinks Clinton has been a good president, who visited India twice and gave a lot of money to the poor. No matter what you think of our past president, this gave me hope. |
I have been spending time at Target Corporation, teaching seminars and speaking to various individuals to gain insight on how globalization is affecting them. It is enlightening to talk to people who are at the forefront of this phenomenon. Most of my experiences the past couple of days exemplify the reality in India. The disparity between those who are a part of India’s rise as an information technology hub and the rest of the population is striking. 
them to cut costs quickly without affecting their own employee base, since they can easily reduce the amount of contracted labor if needed.
from the inside of a car that passed by the cows, dirt, informal markets and poverty.
Although caste discrimination was outlawed in the constitution, caste still plays a role in society. This occurs more in the rural areas of traditional India than in the urban centers. 
Approximately forty kids and young men were kicking old soccer balls around while others played cricket. I took a lot of pictures and video. Kids started gathering and when I showed them their photos, they giggled. They were very impressed with the video! Rajan and I agreed it was probably not a good idea to show them so we took off before we were mobbed. Most had never seen a camera with a clear LCD panel that immediately displayed their images.