Living in a developing country definitely has its fair share of crap that one has to get used to. Not to say that developed countries are perfect, but I think the nature of the things that one has to put up with is different.
The items in the following list are by no means unique to India, but since this is where I have been living for the past 12 months their context is all Indian. And it does wear you down.
1) The Traffic - allegedly there are some sort of traffic regulations that drivers are meant to follow. Supposedly there is some sort of licensing procedure for prospective drivers. Theoretically in India one drives on the left-side of the lane. IN PRACTICE HOWEVER, none of these things hold true. The roads in India are a chaotic mess of blaring horns (there has to be some sort of genetic disorder which forces Indians to constantly pound on the horn for no good reason, or maybe its some sort of advanced Morse code where drivers have conversations with each other. Who knows, but it is fucking annoying), meandering animals, auto-rickshaws, decrepit careening buses, pedestrians, cars, carts, bicycles, and trucks all vying for the same piece of space at the same time, coming from all directions. Fun! It's like a live version of Frogger.
2) The Rude People - I do understand that rules of etiquette vary country-by-country. However, name one place where it is consider polite to push and shove, and not even attempt to form some sort of orderly system to get serviced or acknowledged. So while I just accept it out of fear of mob rule in my head I scream: "Yes motherfucker I was standing here before you, No you cannot place your order before me, or after me for that matter that lady there is next". "Bitch, you see this group of people here, they ALL arrived before you, go to the end. No one cares that you are late, next time leave earlier". "Yo asshole, I would have moved if you had asked nicely, push me one more time and I'll go ghetto on your ass". Ugh!!
3) The Corruption - This may not be Nigeria (which by all accounts is the most corrupt nation in the world), but the corruption here is pretty ridiculous. I'm not too familiar with the issues at the higher levels, but I have had to deal with police trying to get bribes (and succeeding a couple of times), having to pay an extra Rs.500 to get a package sent to me because "We don't acknowledge a US passport as valid proof of ID." Give me a fucking break!
3) The spitting, pissing, shitting in public - Either Indians are the phlegmiest people in existence or they have way too many upper respiratory problems, compound that with the incessant chewing of betel nut , paan, and/or tobacco, and you have a nicely splotched vista. Most public (and private) spaces have signs forbidding spitting, yet you find tell-tale red splotches everywhere (even the courthouse - I've witnessed one too many lawyers expectorating their juicy remains unto the walls.) We also have the men (and occasional women) who seems to be unable to wait till they got home or to their next place of business to relieve themselves. In case no one has had the distinct pleasure of smelling festering urine cooking in the afternoon heat, well you don't know what you are missing. And lastly, there is poo everywhere! Major urban areas, and particularly Mumbai, has housing shortages. Which creates this whole group of people known as "the pavement dwellers" which the US would classify as homeless. Well being homeless means you have no bathroom and living in an urban area means that there are no fields. And human nature being what it is. Well you get the point.
4) The obsession with skin color (namely fair) - This seems to be a global phenomenon. Most people want to be lighter than the next guy, except if you a re white which then you try to be tan, but not too tan because you don't want to be dark either. India has a whole industry around whitening products, "Fair and Lovely" for women and "Fair and Handsome" for men and two of the major brands. The advertising for these are absurd bordering on the insulting. It grates on my nerves when people say, "you can't be from the Caribbean you are too fair". From skin lightning creams, lotions, soaps, foundations, make-ups, you name it. Anything to achieve that apparently perfect concept of beauty - White!
5) The unprofessionalism of the NGO sector (and at times government) - For the record, I have learned since moving to India that expecting meetings to start and end on time, to have meeting agendas, to expect people to pay attention, turn their mobiles off, stay focused on the issue, keep records, document findings, follow policies and procedures, et al is a western concept and I will have to be patient for people here to adopt these practices. Fucking Bullshit! Sounds business practices are sound business practices. Its not asking too much for people to follow fucking deadlines, especially when money is involved and particularly when I'm paying you. You want to know what's hindering development in India the lack of ownership and accountability that is permeating the system.
Sigh! I guess that's enough for now, I should leave some more to have something to bitch about when I leave India.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I'm thrilled that you didn't get politically correct with this post.Two things you missed
1. "Might is right", not fairness, rules. It actually explains many of the points you make. The lack of justice leads to despair and subversive behaviour
2. The "helpless victim" attitude, while openly disrepecting others and their rights. This attitude explains the lack of accountablity.
The rudeness is fairly new. I'm quite sure the colourful language was imported from America.
The Indian character is described well in the book, "Being Indian" by Pavan K. Varma.
I'm originally from Bombay, but now in North Carolina. Got here from Vikster's blog, very recently
Dear Andy,
Excellent post. It completely resonated with my experience as an Indian born and living in India for three decades. Thanks for telling it like it is.
I think a common thread running through the traffic, rudeness, corruption, excoriations and unprofessionalism is what is known in finance as the "Agency Problem". People are just not collectively aligned to maximising the value of the stakeholders in society - i.e. themselves. They see "giving" to society (be it in terms of manners or hygiene) as a "taking" from themselves. Very few people have the kind of win-win mentality that it takes to be socially conscious.
Once again, thanks for telling it like it is.
So when are you coming back home (where there's a score of other things to bitch about)? I miss you.
I can comment and post again!
So India sounds the same as here.
RP and WR - Thanks for the praise, I thought most Indians would want to bash my head in. I appreciate people who can be objective about their own country.
WR - Aren't you Ameet's freind that I was supposed to meet?
Fabi - Who knows!? When are you going to come visit?
Alan - Yey! Never said the US wasnt fucked up. Like my father says "same shit, different smell."
6. No concept of personal space. Excuse me but is that your nose in my armpit?
7. Feudal mindset. People are so used to being ruled - the kings, then the brahmins, then the Brits and then the Bureaucratic Babus. Everything is someone else's problem and there's no desire to take control and fix things. Although, of late, there's a "we can achieve anything" boldness creeping through the system.
8. Pathetic education (aside from a few elite schools and colleges). Still relics from the British era, schools teach people to be followers rather than leaders. If teachers get paid badly in the US, think about how much worse it is in India.
9. Classist society. Yes - to an extent it's hard to be egalitarian in a poor country with a billion people. However, what's the deal with caste-based violence?
10. English. Although we've embraced it and made it our own, there's no effort to adapt it to Indian use. People are sill struggling with an unnecessarily complicated, elitist flavor of English handed down by the sahibs. Here's something we could learn from the Americans.
Yes I am. I'm doing my full-time MBA in Bombay at the moment. Have my Trimester 1 exams till Oct 01, and then am totally free. Call me
98 20 45 62 18.
Post a Comment