4 Weeks Down... 6 Weeks to Go!

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks! I vacillate between thinking that it has been 4 months and thinking that it has been 4 days since I left the U.S. Thinking back to my time in Prague, it seems like an eternity, but then I still remember packing my bag in Connecticut like it was yesterday. Funny how our perception of time is distorted.

Still in Mumbai, although I've taken to calling in Bombay, which you may say is perpetuating the terrible legacy of colonialism, but I would respond and say that all the Indians still call it Bombay. Plus, if not for colonialism, the entire outsourcing business would not exist here and would not be making its incredible contribution to Indian economic growth. Now, I am hardly endorsing colonialism (not touching that with a 30 foot pole), but if I've learned anything in my six days of research here, it is that the legacy of the British education, legal and commerce system made the outsourcing business feasible. It is the single biggest reason, bar none, that India has this industry and China does not. That said, one could easily conjure up a counterfactual where India was never under the yoke of colonialism and, thus, not so far behind in the race of economic development. But I don't like complex counterfactuals... especially not this late at night.

Another interesting fact that I learned today... Y2K may be the single most important event in the growth of Indian outsourcing. I hadn't heard this before but it makes perfect sense: American companies were overwhelmed by the amount of basic recoding needed to make their systems Y2K compliant, so they sent much of the work here to India. After the Indian companies proved themselves competent, the relationship flourished as companies realized they could send LOTS of stuff over here to be done. All because someone was too lazy to use 4 digits...

Let's see... other things that I've been pondering lately (sorry, I didn't do much today besides sit in a taxi and conference rooms, so this is a rambling post). This weekend I was down by the Taj Hotel, which you may remember was a target in the Mumbai terrorist attacks of last year. I was walking around when all of a sudden a crowd began to amass and 40-50 police / fire brigades showed up and surrounded the building. My first reaction... run (yes Mom and Dad, you trained me well), but when I didn't see anyone else in much of a hurry, I decided to ask a local. After trying three locals who were just touts looking to take me on a tour/sell me chai/sell me postcards, I found someone who said that the President of India was coming to the hotel and that there had been a short circuit in the kitchen, causing a small fire. He said this was all a big overreaction, but my paranoid "pretend I'm from New Zealand" side was kicking in so I decided to check out another part of town. As I was walking, the streets became empty (which NEVER happens), and a police officer yelled at me when I tried to cross the road. This was because 8 minutes later, a motorcade with no less than 40 cars went through, including the Indian President, in what appeared to be an armored bus. So, I've "seen" the Indian President, though the windows were tinted. Pretty intense though... so intense that I felt I deserved a treat and camped out at a pastry/dessert shop for the next hour.

Later that day, after going through a surprisingly awesome museum, I ended up at Leopolds, a bar famous for being the 3rd target of the Mumbai terrorist attack. Little naive me had no idea about this until the friendly bartender informed me and insisted on showing me the bullet holes. After a slight dip in attendance, the bar seemed to have rebounded and was packed with patrons mourning the passing of the King of Pop (the moonwalk really did transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries). I met two students who insisted that I visit their palatial estates in Jaipur, and while tempted, informed them that I was only in North India for 6 days. Saddened, they compromised by saying that my visit to the Taj was an acceptable glance at North India.

Sunday I rested a lot and then took a driving tour with the Misras. I reached an important self-realization on that tour: I'm a sucker for urban green spaces and good signage. A city can have all the history in the world, but those two things really can make or break a visit.

I'll upload some pictures when I have wifi on my own laptop. For now, my poetic descriptions will have to suffice.

Last full day in Mumbai tomorrow, complete with two different sets of interviews. Will try and post again before I head to Delhi.