Several worthwhile articles pertaining to India have appeared in the NYT of late, and I thought that I'd share them with you. Of course, I share them with you because they conform, in writing & pictorially, many of the oobservations that I've made about this great but flawed nation. Nothing like having the big guns behind you!
This photo essay in the NYT tells a lot about India, including the paradoxes that we experience here in Jaipur. Gurgaon, along with Bangalore in the south, are both shining stars in the growing part of the Indian economy. However, as you can see and read here, there are large voids in the provision of basic public services here. This video addresses much the same thing.
Mumbai made the front page of the NYT earlier today (at least the online edition). Mumbai is obviously a great city, but how far can it go? Perhaps it's like the great American cities of the early 20th century, with dominating political machines and tremendous wealth and squalor. But as this article suggests, there are ways to improve things, and perhaps this is a good example.
And finally, to conclude on a second optimistic note, we find that individuals are fighting back against what I and they perceive to be a law abhorant to free speech and the free expression of opinion. Section 66A prohibits use of the internet for "offensive" speech, and based on this provision two girls were detained (and later released) for questioning the deference given in honor of the recently deceased Mumbai political boss Bal Thackeray. India does have a proud legal tradition and a tradition of liberty, so this will be an interesting and important issue to follow.
This photo essay in the NYT tells a lot about India, including the paradoxes that we experience here in Jaipur. Gurgaon, along with Bangalore in the south, are both shining stars in the growing part of the Indian economy. However, as you can see and read here, there are large voids in the provision of basic public services here. This video addresses much the same thing.
This article (with charts) compares India & China, which is a minor industry in some ways. Both of these great Asian nations were dominated by the western powers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and then in the 1940's, one went through independence (India) and one went through revolution (China). Who got the better start? Indian-born Nobel-winning economist Armatya Sen argues that China, because of public health and education projects beginning soon after the revolution, received a significant boost in crawling out of poverty. However, China went through a horrific Great Famine in the 1950's and a society-shattering Cultural Revolution in the 1960's, which together killed millions and wrecked the lives of untold millions more. India, while remaining poorer, was at least a democracy (albeit an imperfect one), and it seems to have avoided the worst of man-made catastrophes like famine. To my eye, having visited China in 2004-2005, and now India, I think that China is far ahead economically. I think that almost any review of economic indicators supports my observations. That being said, both the authoritarian regime in China (is "communist" even remotely relevant to describing the current regime?) and democratic India suffer terribly from corruption. Almost to a person, when asked what problems India faces, the answer from Indians that I've spoken to has been "corruption". For instance, we were at a lovely restaruant in Delhi this weekend, and it had what seemed a very nice bar. When we inquired about drinks, the bartender shook his head "no" and said they that they didn't have a liquor license. He saw our puzzled looks, and said in a low, disgusted voice, "This is India. Corruption." If this was only a matter of our not getting a beer or a glass of wine with dinner, the result is trivial. But this situation isn't just the tip of the iceberg, it's more like a crystal on the tip of the iceberg based on everything that I read and hear. Political movements are beginning to coalease around anti-corruption themes, but how you change such a regime is far from clear. As I've argued before, I believe that the middle class, with its growing prosperity, must conclude that the public sphere must improve and prosper for them to enjoy the full measure of their growing wealth.
Mumbai made the front page of the NYT earlier today (at least the online edition). Mumbai is obviously a great city, but how far can it go? Perhaps it's like the great American cities of the early 20th century, with dominating political machines and tremendous wealth and squalor. But as this article suggests, there are ways to improve things, and perhaps this is a good example.
And finally, to conclude on a second optimistic note, we find that individuals are fighting back against what I and they perceive to be a law abhorant to free speech and the free expression of opinion. Section 66A prohibits use of the internet for "offensive" speech, and based on this provision two girls were detained (and later released) for questioning the deference given in honor of the recently deceased Mumbai political boss Bal Thackeray. India does have a proud legal tradition and a tradition of liberty, so this will be an interesting and important issue to follow.
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