SK and I have had this conversation many times, more so since we moved to Delhi, a city of mass transformation in the 2 years that we've lived here. What exactly is India's place in the world? Has it changed at all? Do we go by statistics which tell us that India ranks a dismal '100 and something' on the Human Development Index (and as they hasten to add, its far lower than our neighbours' ranks and so on) or that we have an alarming proportion of the world's poor or that half of our pre-teen school-going kids are unable to read and write or do we go by what we see today vis-a-vis what we saw in the last decade(s)?
Over breakfast one morning of free-range boiled eggs, multigrain bread, gouda cheese courtesy the desi Bhains, parma ham and not-quite freshly brewed, but instant coffee with skimmed milk:) (now isn't that very international?) we debated whether benchmarking is all about positioning at a point in time and concluded that its relative for the most part and not absolute. Take this breakfast menu for instance. I certainly never imagined that I would get ready-to-use milk straight out of a carton in the land of milk and honey. Having grown up watching bags of fresh, pasteurized buffalo milk being boiled every morning, then cooled to just the right temperature, then consumed, then stored (safely out of little kitty's reach), I am amazed that 10 years hence I can buy milk which had already gone through all of these steps. Going by global numbers, India's packaged milk consumption is negligible. But its a quantum leap forward by domestic standards. And oh, gouda from Haryana is dee-lish. Why go to Holland when Haryana gives me the same and equally great desi tadka product (it did have bits of 'roasted cumin' for that smoky effect)?
Lets talk about the penetration levels of e-commerce or the use of credit cards. Technological innovation is one thing, adaptation quite another. Its about convincing the consumer that a switch is indeed worth the investment of time and effort and that it will ultimately impact the bottom line. In some instances, it might also be about cultivating a culture of transparency and efficiency. Some shopwallahs will not take my credit card or might charge me a 3% markup (bank's finance charges, madamjee) if they do. FYI, over 90% of India's retail sector is unorganized: mom-and-pop stores, the neighbourhood kirana shop, you get the picture. Yet, its this vendor who will deliver my week's groceries at my doorstep without ever an argument, in fact, that's the norm. 30 minutes later I am saved. Domino's would be proud! Now can I really expect the delivery boy to have a portable device for swiping my card? I don't even have to tip him for this service (I do though and SK even computes the 10% value of the purchases and diligently doles it out). This is not to say that plastic money is unacceptable elsewhere (restaurants, malls, cinema halls, etc.), it just seems not-quite-as-necessary in some places. I do pay my bills online - that's a major, major timesaver. And extremely convenient. I applied for a new passport and voter ID online and got updates on their delivery status on my mobile phone. Today, I can order an LPG cylinder by calling an automated line and get it within 48 hours. I can transfer money between bank accounts (usually from SK's into mine, how easy was that :-)) in a matter of minutes. In these cases, I avoid the middleman route, which to me is just a horrendous drain on the whole system. Some things take off well because of obvious and positive returns while others are not going to because alternatives are good enough for us until we get to a stage when they're going to be an obstacle rather than a benefit.
But what about advancements in infrastructure? Most will agree that barring new highways and some city streets, most of our roads have seen better days. I was driven on fabulous expressways even in Accra, Ghana. I believe that one of the key reasons for shoddy roads is that we are willing to accept them in any form. At least there is a pathway, we say. Thanks to the Prime Minister's Rural Roads Scheme (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) we have increased our connectivity with thousands of villages and these roads are significant contributors to economic growth. They are not finished products in the developed country sense - with shoulders and dividers and markings and what-have-yous. But for the most part they get us from point A to B. Where there was simply no road, that's a great start. That's the short-term view. What is not so great is that we have the world's highest number of road fatalities every year. If we have to compromise, let it not be on safety. Infrastructure has to be of the highest standards if its going to make a meaningful impact on our lives and become a means for sustainable development in the longer-term. Take the Delhi Metro for example. Having traveled on lots of subways in a lot of cities outside India, its easy to see why DMRC has created an outstanding 'world-class' product. We are aiming sky high and not settling for just any other rail system. We are getting trained on how to queue up and allow passengers to exit first before boarding. When the airport line begins in a few months, it is expected to have check-in portals on board. We're going all out, something we're not used to and something that was considered wasteful not too long ago. A vehicle of change, indeed.
So I'm not going to worry too much about grades and ranks right now. I'd rather focus on a more stable path which will serve us well in the years to come.
At the stroke of the midnight hour
26 March 2010
17 March 2010
MP stands for Massive Potential
A few weeks ago, I was in rural Madhya Pradesh (MP) on a field visit to assess implementation progress of a project that we have rolled out recently in some parts of this state. Some impressions:
The project works primarily with women (always a good idea!) to help generate livelihood programmes using microfinance. The women I met were cautiously optimistic about their own future and concerned about the sustainability of such efforts. Microfinance is a brilliant concept: empowering women by making them responsible for their own money, breaking the vicious cycle of non-standardized moneylenders and so on. In recent times however, another trap has emerged...that of using microfinance groups to pay off loans taken from..microfinance groups. Women have to choose to use such lending on 'expenses' or 'investments' e.g. buying a child's school textbooks for the year (education impacts) or switching to a better quality fuel for cooking (health impacts). Not easy choices, especially when there are multiple stake-holders (family members, village elders).
After observing women's self-help groups (SHGs) in action, I can't help but admire all the networking that goes on and the social mobilization which as emerged as a result of the interactions. Kitty parties these are not (although, to be fair, I've never attended one!). These women discuss critical issues with peers: continuing to send a (girl) child to school, age of marriage, vaccinations, prevalent social customs, engagement in local politics (panchayats), etc. Of course, not all SHGs are at the same level of functioning. e.g. I met a group of remote tribal women who did not even know that they could have this option of debating their issues at a common forum and for them an indicator of change was the fact that they congregated weekly. Another group gathered but the ghunghat came in the way of them making any meaningful conversation! So an indicator of change in their case was that they could talk to each other and to observers and partners like us by raising their ghunghats slowly (not quite entirely headgear-less, but hey, a little bit goes a long way :)) Their must-have accessory? A mobile phone. An elderly lady of a self-help group proudly showed me her phone and asked me "punch in your number so I can call you if necessary". What an idea sirjee!
Agriculture and allied services are the main economic activity in the region. Driving through the state, I noticed a woman sitting outside her home working laboriously in the afternoon heat. She rolled tendu leaves into bidis for a living. She worked from 8.00 AM - 6.00 PM every day, 7 days a week. Her daily income? Rs. 40 for 1000 (yes, that's One Thousand) bidis rolled out. Just under a dollar a day for 10 hours of work. But she didn't know she could get more, perhaps a lot more. Her motivation for all this tedious work was that her daughter should not have to do the same thing and give up on school. She wanted to give her the chance to dream of an alternative and have the opportunity to pursue that alternative. Perhaps the next time we light up, we could spare a thought to such countless men and women whose own dreams have gone up in smoke (or who probably never allowed themselves to dream).
As a teenager, I remember reading in my economics books: Indian agriculture is a gamble against the monsoon. And sadly enough, I have to understand it even now (15 years later) since not much has changed in this sector. Nearly 70% of of our farmlands are rain-fed even today, in spite of advanced irrigation systems and dams. The sector has been besieged for decades by the same problems: disguised unemployment, small size of farms, landless labourers, lack of good quality and adequate agro inputs (such as water, seeds, fertilizers, cattle) and lack of access to finance and technology. Everywhere I went, I listened to the devastation caused by the worst drought in recent times. We're told India is self-sufficient in the production of food grains and yet in villages and cities across the country, we hear of people dying from hunger and starvation. Worse even are statistics that tell us that we end up wasting around a third of all foodgrains produced due to poor storage facilities. And then we met a gentleman who single-handedly raised his family annual income by using vermicompost (that he made himself) on his fields and by developing a drip irrigation system from very rudimentary material that had been gathering dust in his shed. So there's hope. But what is needed is a transformation on a much larger scale.
Finally, tourism. MP is stunning! I was fortunate to get a few hours in Khajuraho and visited the temples. Exquisite craftsmanship. Not too far away is Panna National Park with its varied flora and fauna. And a couple of waterfalls. I highly recommend a trip. Its one of India's best kept secrets.
The project works primarily with women (always a good idea!) to help generate livelihood programmes using microfinance. The women I met were cautiously optimistic about their own future and concerned about the sustainability of such efforts. Microfinance is a brilliant concept: empowering women by making them responsible for their own money, breaking the vicious cycle of non-standardized moneylenders and so on. In recent times however, another trap has emerged...that of using microfinance groups to pay off loans taken from..microfinance groups. Women have to choose to use such lending on 'expenses' or 'investments' e.g. buying a child's school textbooks for the year (education impacts) or switching to a better quality fuel for cooking (health impacts). Not easy choices, especially when there are multiple stake-holders (family members, village elders).
After observing women's self-help groups (SHGs) in action, I can't help but admire all the networking that goes on and the social mobilization which as emerged as a result of the interactions. Kitty parties these are not (although, to be fair, I've never attended one!). These women discuss critical issues with peers: continuing to send a (girl) child to school, age of marriage, vaccinations, prevalent social customs, engagement in local politics (panchayats), etc. Of course, not all SHGs are at the same level of functioning. e.g. I met a group of remote tribal women who did not even know that they could have this option of debating their issues at a common forum and for them an indicator of change was the fact that they congregated weekly. Another group gathered but the ghunghat came in the way of them making any meaningful conversation! So an indicator of change in their case was that they could talk to each other and to observers and partners like us by raising their ghunghats slowly (not quite entirely headgear-less, but hey, a little bit goes a long way :)) Their must-have accessory? A mobile phone. An elderly lady of a self-help group proudly showed me her phone and asked me "punch in your number so I can call you if necessary". What an idea sirjee!
Agriculture and allied services are the main economic activity in the region. Driving through the state, I noticed a woman sitting outside her home working laboriously in the afternoon heat. She rolled tendu leaves into bidis for a living. She worked from 8.00 AM - 6.00 PM every day, 7 days a week. Her daily income? Rs. 40 for 1000 (yes, that's One Thousand) bidis rolled out. Just under a dollar a day for 10 hours of work. But she didn't know she could get more, perhaps a lot more. Her motivation for all this tedious work was that her daughter should not have to do the same thing and give up on school. She wanted to give her the chance to dream of an alternative and have the opportunity to pursue that alternative. Perhaps the next time we light up, we could spare a thought to such countless men and women whose own dreams have gone up in smoke (or who probably never allowed themselves to dream).
As a teenager, I remember reading in my economics books: Indian agriculture is a gamble against the monsoon. And sadly enough, I have to understand it even now (15 years later) since not much has changed in this sector. Nearly 70% of of our farmlands are rain-fed even today, in spite of advanced irrigation systems and dams. The sector has been besieged for decades by the same problems: disguised unemployment, small size of farms, landless labourers, lack of good quality and adequate agro inputs (such as water, seeds, fertilizers, cattle) and lack of access to finance and technology. Everywhere I went, I listened to the devastation caused by the worst drought in recent times. We're told India is self-sufficient in the production of food grains and yet in villages and cities across the country, we hear of people dying from hunger and starvation. Worse even are statistics that tell us that we end up wasting around a third of all foodgrains produced due to poor storage facilities. And then we met a gentleman who single-handedly raised his family annual income by using vermicompost (that he made himself) on his fields and by developing a drip irrigation system from very rudimentary material that had been gathering dust in his shed. So there's hope. But what is needed is a transformation on a much larger scale.
Finally, tourism. MP is stunning! I was fortunate to get a few hours in Khajuraho and visited the temples. Exquisite craftsmanship. Not too far away is Panna National Park with its varied flora and fauna. And a couple of waterfalls. I highly recommend a trip. Its one of India's best kept secrets.
12 March 2010
iDesh
So why did I return to India? I've been asked many, many times. By many different people. And in a country without many personal boundaries, by people I'd just met, didn't wish to ever meet again and so on. There is no 'one' answer. I just did. I always knew that I would. Its (m)iDesh.
Incredible India
I start my journey today. A journey of information through discovery and learning. I've always been struck by the 'Incredible India' campaign, more so when I saw promotions in far-away lands. India is incredible - its also a land of intellect, immense wealth and imagination contrasted with ignorance, illiteracy (and poverty) and injustice.
So this blog on India will cover many aspects of my life: economics, travel, culture, people, animals and oh, food. Its my attempt to understand my country a little better in the hope that I can make a difference. Knowledge is power and this, after all, is the information age.
Thanks for stopping by!
So this blog on India will cover many aspects of my life: economics, travel, culture, people, animals and oh, food. Its my attempt to understand my country a little better in the hope that I can make a difference. Knowledge is power and this, after all, is the information age.
Thanks for stopping by!
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