India recap and the next adventure

Landed in Singapore this morning after 22 days in India. What a contrast! When exiting my taxi from the airport, the driver kindly informed me that I had given him too much money. I had a stunned look on my face. For the past month it's been a constant battle with drivers/shopkeepers to minimize how badly I was getting ripped off. The concept of a fixed price has become alien to me. But there are some things I miss about India already. First, I miss that there aren't really any rules. You cross the street when you want/dare, you get on the bus whether or not it stops, you sit on the roof if the cabin is full (OK I didn't do this, but locals do). Basically anything goes.

Enter Singapore, where there are more signs saying what is prohibited (with a corresponding fine) than there are English tutor advertisements in Mumbai. I haven't dared cross the street without a signal yet... I'm not sure what the punishment is but it could be anything from 500 dollars to loss of feet. Despite these restrictions, it is exceedingly comfortable here. I'm staying in the residence of my girlfriend Whitney's family friends, the Skillicorns. After a week in Bangalore without reliable power, internet, transport, laundry, it is quite nice. They even have a pool! Thus, I have done two things today that I haven't done since leaving Europe: 1) Drink a beverage with ice 2) Go swimming! I'll never take ice for granted again, that's for sure.

But for all of the challenges in India, it was certainly one of the most exhilarating, eye-opening and influential experiences of my life. I was so fortunate to benefit from the kindness of local hosts in almost every city I visited. In Bangalore, I couchsurfed and my host, Leroy, took me to his weekly soccer match on Sunday. For three hours I played soccer in a vacant lot they had cleared of garbage with men/boys ranging from 10-55 years in age. My lack of cardio activity was on full display! It was probably one of the highlights of my trip though. In between games we'd walk down to the local shops and get a 6 rupee ( 12ish cents) chai tea. After the match, one of the kind local woman brought us all big glasses of buttermilk, which everyone promptly gulped down. I was hesitant at first, traditionally used to Gatorade, but eventually I drank mine down too. We then went back to Leroy's apartment and I had probably the best shower of the trip, which was amazing because it was only with a bucket of warm water. Despite the humble nature of afternoon, I felt like a local and was kindly embraced by the community. One of the local boys even cornered me to question me about dating in America because he had a girlfriend and wanted to travel after finishing high school.

From a research perspective, India was even more fascinating than I had anticipated. I was lucky to see the offshoring phenomenon from just about every perspective: the local start up, the huge multinational, the traditional call center, the high-end financial office (made me wonder why they even hire Princeton grads!). I talked with CEOs and new recruits, economists and NGOs, and just about everyone in between. I got my first motorcycle ride from an American Express call center employee who bragged about the time he talked to Nicole Kidman. One highlight was sitting in the Microsoft office in Bangalore that Tom Friedman refers to in "The World is Flat" when he is on a golf course and says to "aim at Microsoft and IBM." Many of these companies have certainly set their sights this high, and some like Infosys and Wipro have clearly succeeded in becoming major forces in the industry.

While I heard about all the great things that offshoring has done for India, I also realized that it can't be the sole force driving Indian development and lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. The world may be flat for some segments of the Indian population, but until their education system addresses the huge urban/rural achievement discrepancy poverty will remain pervasive. One of my interviewees said, "India is a rich country with a whole lot of poor people." I'm not sure I completely agree with that assessment but it emphasizes the inequality that characterizes modern India. The government's favorite phrase is now "inclusive growth", but that's much easier said than done. One of my interviewees, an economist, scoffed at the trickle-down argument as a solution in itself. I think of it like this... there is the wealth pyramid with a few extremely rich at the top, a growing middle class (but still very small), and then a vast base of poor (the aptly-named "bottom of the pyramid"). The gains of offshoring are like water being poured on the top of the pyramid. But here is the catch; the gains tend to evaporate before they get to the bottom of the pyramid. The burgeoning middle class is hugely significant, but we can't hold up that momentous achievement without simultaneously acknowledging the enormous distance that is yet to be covered.

OK, enough talk about that for the moment. Most of you probably read this to hear about stories of me eating ridiculous things and not ranting about shortcomings in development policy. To satisfy those readers, I'll share one thing I tasted yesterday that I will certainly never try again. Sheep's brain. Yes, brain. What does it taste like? I honestly couldn't tell you, I was so repulsed by the concept of eating brain. The texture was the worst part, kind of rubbery *shudder*. It's not a true adventure unless you eat some weird stuff right? On the bright side, I've learned how to properly eat with my hands so I can impress the staff in Indian restaurants in the U.S. (shhh... the trick is to use the thumb).

It's getting late and I got 30 minutes of sleep on the red-eye from Bangalore. Tomorrow the plan is to confirm a few meetings and then spend the day typing up notes from India.

Day 46/82
Distance from NY-JFK: 9530.67 miles. Can't get much further than that.
Current mood: nostalgic for India's craziness/ relieved by Singapore's predictability
Current music: My friend Ian's home-made mix for his music composition class at Princeton. It's part of a killer playlist he made me.
Only here moment: OK this actually happened in Bangalore, but I was so struck by it that I'll put it here. It's what I've termed "The Amazing Race to School" (accepting other title suggestions). I was up early on my last day in Bangalore and witnessed children of all ages making their way to school. That may not sound exciting, at least in the states this typically involves a lot of big yellow buses, latte-wielding minivan drivers and a few bicycles. In Bangalore, they used EVERY POSSIBLE FORM OF TRANSPORT to get their kids to school. Two little girls in their school uniforms road on the back of their father's scooter, five boys crammed into the back of an autorickshaw, kids sitting on the handlebars of other kid's bicycles, kids in the back of a moving van holding their book bags, even a few on horse-drawn wagons. It was one of the most inspiring scenes I've ever glimpsed. While I'm sure Bangalore is different from rural villages, I couldn't help but smile seeing the enormous value these families placed on educating their children. They may not have potable water or reliable electricity, but they sure as hell don't miss school. Rest of the world... watch out in 20 years.