As received from a friend of mine
A very dear friend of mine -- an Indian who has virtually never lived in India, being from Nairobi -- who has settled in USA quizzed me about what the foreign press has been gleefully reporting about India. This is what I wrote to him . . . . . . -- -- --- ------- 36 years is a lifetime, in a lot of cases -- more so for a rapidly expanding AND developing metropolis! I suspect anyone who has not been in Delhi for, say, 12 years now will be quite confused and nonplused on a visit today. Add another quarter century for yourself and you know exactly what it is all about. I have noticed, over about four visits to a small town in Wales in the last 15 odd years that the main difference that has been visible over these years is that more and more businesses and shops etc are CLOSING every time I went back! Whereas, if you recollect, say, two shops in the neighbourhood of where you had stayed, there would today be about 200 of them! In 1974, one could see EXACTLY three makes of cars on the road and the fuel was about Rs 2 a liter. Just about EVERY international make of cars can be seen on the roads today and petrol is almost Rs 52 per liter!! Things have changed -- and are continuing to change! The Delhi Metro, is miles better than what you see in New York or London or Paris (I have traveled by them all!)!! But then, if you remember that the population of New Delhi/ National Capital Region is about 30 times that of London etc, you will understand that there will be that many more people wanting to board the 4 coaches of each train! As of now, the frequency of the trains is about an average of 5 minutes on each line. Very soon, some of the trunk routes are going to get 6-coach trains and frequency decreased to less than 3 minutes. These changes would have been incorporated by November end. So, if you meet an Aussie from Sydney, which virtually does NOT have a metro, what is he going to see other than the now-classic "teeming hordes of the unwashed"? Also, there are some simple ways of doing things: go to a new place, accept what is available -- and relax and enjoy. Or, head for the nearest gutters and trawl them for anything and everything unsavoury! I leave it to you to guess which method the western (and that includes Ozzies!) "civilsed" media has preferred to choose now -- and has chosen ever since I can remember! To an average journalist, writing about how things are normal or nice is not paying copy -- so they readily sell their souls for the man-bite-dog story! And promptly, they are felicitated for superb reporting and that pushes India into the more acceptable role! It is NO ONE'S case that India is a highly sanitised, clinically correct country. Anyone who pretends that is a bloody fool! I came to India in 1954 and have lived here for the last 56 years. Sure, there are a lot of things that are bad and a lot of things that do not work and a lot of things that I want changed. But then, tell me: do you have a situation obtainable in New York/ Michigan/ Chicago/ Detroit/ Paris/ London/ Manchester (or, for that matter, Brisbane or Sydney -- the less we talk of Melbourne the better!!) where the locals won't ever make these statements about their living conditions? The two classic mistakes that visitors to India always make are: insist on comparing every goddamn thing in India with what we have "back home" -- knowing full well that comparisons are ALWAYS odious! And, secondly, (this is especially applicable to people of Indian origin returning for a visit to the "village" country he/she left in 1952 or some such) the urge to tell you how India is just not worth living in and THAT is why he/she prefers to live, wherever!! That, i suppose, may assuage their guilt for having left parents/ siblings/ someone here when they went! Thirty years ago, these PIO would come laden (usually with factory seconds, excuse me!) with clothes or goodies or chocolates -- and be fawned upon by all. That is no more the status, even in the smaller cities of India. Almost surely it would still be so in the villages, I suppose. And this, my friend rankles! Hey! Don't get me started!! In any case, what do I know!! And, of course: sorry for blasting off into the ether! -- With best wishes S Chander
