Benchmarking

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.