Travels - India (Sept 2007)

I found out I was traveling to India with mixed feelings. On one hand, it was planned for a very busy time of year and the trip itself was inconvenient.  On the other hand, I had heard a great deal about it and wanted to see for myself why so many people were split into "I love it" and "I can't stand it" camps.

Once it became apparent that I was going to have to go, the first thing I learned is that traveling to India from Korea is a royal pain. Only a few direct flights exist between Seoul and Mumbai (formerly Bombay) or Delhi. Unfortunately for me, I needed to leave on a day with out a direct flight. So the route there was Seoul to Bangkok, Thailand (6 hours), a 4 hour layover, and then Bangkok to Mumbai (7 hours). Unfortunately, I needed to go to Vadodora (formerly Baroda) for my business and not Mumbai. This meant that after arriving in Mumbai we had to clear customs and make our way to a hotel and then after a brief night (only a 10 hour layover), we boarded another flight for a 2 hour jaunt to Vadodora. A very long day.

Once in India, the first thing that struck me was the age and condition of everything. Everything in India looks battered and abused - including the airport itself, which while fairly clean looks like it spent the last decade in a sand blaster. Mostly this is from the second thing that strikes you upon arrival - the poverty. The majority of Indian's make barely $3000 per year (75%).  45% make less than $2000. A rich person is anyone making over $6000 per year. There simply isn't much money to be spent on spiffing up infrastructure - painting buildings, or landscaping. What money there is, is spent keeping things working and feeding people.

The poverty is more overwhelming in India than in most places I have seen in China. At night you rarely are on a section of road which doesn't have blue tarps spread to form impromptu tents for people to live under. In many ways, these are the lucky ones. Very large numbers of people sleep on the streets with no shelter.

The third thing you will notice about India is the chaos of the place which will be forced upon you abruptly. Once outside the airport there is a milling throng of people. Hard to tell what everyone is there for really.  Some just mill about seemingly randomly. Others hold signs for the people they are picking up or pedal goods. Stray dogs wander freely and are only slightly less numerous than the people it seems. Also mixed in - cows. Not in large numbers but many of them; at least not at the airport.

Cows are sacred in India and roam everywhere. You will find them in front of the entrance to your hotel, Wandering down the middle of a main street at rush hour. In front of stores. In alleys eating food people have left out for them. You will occasionally see people blessing the cows or trying to usher them about with small sticks they tap them with. Mostly the cows just wander though. At times there are large numbers but usually, like at the airport just a few stattered about.

I didn't have much time in India for sight-seeing. We had several business dinners and used the evenings to visit some car dealers. The car dealers were very interesting. For one thing they are very clean and rather opulent. A person able to buy a car in India is committing about 6 years of wealthy person's income to the purchase so the dealer definitely dotes upon them. Traditionally garbed security guards in the parking area keep out the homeless and steer the cows to different locations. Nice waiting rooms await owners who need service work done. The sales floor is typically cavernous and gleams.

One aspect of doing business in India that I didn't expect to find was a sense of pride in helping people. We visited 2 dealers on our visit and both were extremely proud of how many people they put to work and the fact that they experience very little turnover. In a place with such poverty and which is so obviously trying to improve itself, it felt very good to realize that in addition to adding profit to our company, we are giving a large number of people a leg up from a difficult position.  each plant or dealership we open puts people to work and puts food on their table. A nice feeling and stark contrast to places our industry has matured and is shrinking.  (This will suffice as my deep thought for the day also).

The two times I did have chance to wander about I went shopping. The first occasion was immediately on arrival in Vadodara. A friend of mine from work and I walked the main street in front of the hotel dodging cows (and their leavings), dogs, beggars, cars and motorcycles. We found a few good buys in the market (actually buy local standards we got had) but there was little to look at outside of shopping.

On the second occasion, my friend and employee in India, Sandeep, took us to the downtown area and we were able to see (briefly) a large statue of Murti in a small lake, the old city wall of Baroda and Nyay Mandir which is the temple of justice and current home of the areas district court. Very interesting sites as was the local market we visited and at which Sandeep helped us to negotiate a good bargain on a few souvenirs.

As with all the places I have visited, the people I met and worked with all were fantastic hosts and treated us well. I found that the food in India was extremely good and I think I left several pounds heavier than when I arrived. Indian food is incredibly rich and the are always a multitude of sauces for dipping which range from sweet to very spicy. We have even taken to several of the dishes enough (chicken tika masala, butter chicken, Nan bread) that we now order this at take-out restaurants in Korea (Indian food is becoming popular here).

While I found India interesting and count many people there now among my friends, I can't say I'm eager to return. I admit to liking a more orderly life and I'll also admit that I found it difficult to constantly be bombarded with so much poverty everywhere you looked. I won't dread going back - too many good people and positive things happening. But I'm not chomping at the bit to go again either. I think the once a year trip I currently have planned will be quite enough for my taste.

Naya Mandir in Vadodara- Temple of Justice (now the District Court House)

Baroda city gate and the bustle of the market

A cow wanders the market in the midst of the traffic

Typical city street condition.

Service bay at a GM dealer in Pune - one of the cleanest and best organized I have seen anywhere.

Local taxi in Vadodara