Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How India Became America

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 97 posts

Re: How India Became America

#41

Post by suprgeek »

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best.

- India's population id 4X that of America

- More than half the population is below the poverty line

- India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_perception_of_corrupti...

- The level of very basic Infrastructure (Roads, Water, Electricity, Sanitation) is non-existent in Villages, poor in most cities and tolerable in the so-called "Metros" (top 8 cities) - 6 hours of power cuts are common in summer in the Metros

- There is more stress on "Exam taking" than on "learning". Sports is limited to Cricket - a nation of a billion people boasts of 1 -2 Gold medals in the Olympics. Mediocrity in everything.

- Indians by and large "play it safe" in everything. The level of innovation is very low (witness the number of international awards won by Indians IN india -Nobel Prize, Fields medal etc is next to zero). A very twisted shortcut based method of "Jugaad" is praised so he who discovers the best method of beating the system is rewarded.

I despair for my country. We are headed in the wrong direction and keep accelerating.

Re: How India Became America

#42

Post by hashfold »

suprgeek wrote: post #41

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best. - India's population id 4X that of America - More than half the population is below the poverty line - India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of…

true!

Re: How India Became America

#43

Post by hashfold »

unhappyhippie wrote: post #6

As an Indian who has spent all but two years of his life in India, when I read stories like this I think of two possibilities: 1. Propaganda by affluent and successful Indians claiming the country is as successful as they are. 2. Westerners overstating Indian progress to feel more comfortable that there is a friendly and reliable challenger to China from the developing world. I don't know, I may be wrong on both coun…

"we are a dirt poor country"...man only u r dirt cheap one... how could one say so confidently to whole nation,...any nation? rethinking needed here...

Re: How India Became America

#44

Post by com »

w1ntermute wrote: post #9
edderly wrote: post #3

Before the elites in India consider themselves comparable to America, I would hope they address the swingeing poverty and piss poor literacy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_r...

I think this is one way in which India is decidedly unAmerican (sorry for borrowing an O'Reillyism). Whereas you or I would gape in horror at the kind of poverty that permeates modern India, most "elite" Indians are quite desensitized to the situation. After all, you don't have much of a choice when you see that sort of thing on a daily basis. Also, people in India are more likely to take a relative view of things, g…

I think your comment about elite desensitisation is fascinating: I gape in horror (I'm a north-western european these days) when I'm in San Francisco and people casually walk around people sleeping on the sidewalk near their front doors.

Re: How India Became America

#45

Post by nodemaker »

suprgeek wrote: post #41

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best. - India's population id 4X that of America - More than half the population is below the poverty line - India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of…

>number of international awards won by Indians IN india -Nobel Prize, Fields medal etc is next to zero)

Well at least its not zero.Rabindra Nath Tagore got it for his brilliant work - Geetanjali, Amartya Sen got it for his work on poverty and famines, C.V Raman got it for discovering what is now called the Raman Effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_laureates_of_India

Also there have been notable achievements that perhaps have not been acknowledged with an award.For example J.C.Bose was the first to use a semiconductor junction to detect radio waves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagadish_Chandra_Bose

Re: How India Became America

#47

Post by justincormack »

nodemaker wrote: post #45
suprgeek wrote: post #41

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best. - India's population id 4X that of America - More than half the population is below the poverty line - India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of…

>number of international awards won by Indians IN india -Nobel Prize, Fields medal etc is next to zero) Well at least its not zero.Rabindra Nath Tagore got it for his brilliant work - Geetanjali, Amartya Sen got it for his work on poverty and famines, C.V Raman got it for discovering what is now called the Raman Effect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_laureates_of_India Also there have been notable achievements th…

Sen is not "an Indian in India" he was at Harvard and Cambridge.

Re: How India Became America

#48

Post by nodemaker »

paraschopra wrote: post #19

Author has a very laser-focused view of India. The country is much more diverse that this article supposes. There is still extreme poverty, religious bigotry, no-holds barred traffic lawlessness, corruption, discreet money and hundreds of other very-Indian issues. Americanization of India is limited to metros and big cities, and there too you see a mind-boggling mix of poverty and abundance.

I think you are missing the author's point.

Yes there is still poverty,religious stupidity,corruption etc etc.

But at least the minds of the bravest and the brightest are now filled with thoughts about entrepreneurship,technology and change.(which the author claims are american values)

Think about what the predominant themes on Indian minds were a few decades earlier.

Re: How India Became America

#49

Post by wisty »

suprgeek wrote: post #41

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best. - India's population id 4X that of America - More than half the population is below the poverty line - India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of…

> Indians by and large "play it safe" in everything

If you're an Indian businessperson, you have two options - copy the US and make a good ROI, or risk everything on creating a new product for a potentially better ROI. The choice is obvious - it's far cheaper (and more beneficial) to play catch-up than innovate.

The question is - why is India still playing catch-up?

I don't know that much about India. I'm guessing that corruption is one part. I've heard Indian culture can be anti-business. Perhaps politics are more sectarian than policy-based - they don't vote for a party because it has good policies (or seems to have good policies), but because they identify with the candidates (same religion, caste, region, family, whatever). Democracy doesn't seem to work when elections are fought on sectarian lines.

Re: How India Became America

#50

Post by mds101 »

wisty wrote: post #49
suprgeek wrote: post #41

(Speaking as person who has spent 10+ years in each country) India is no where close to America. There are so many enormous fundamental differences that anyone making such a comparison needs to be looked at as naive at best. - India's population id 4X that of America - More than half the population is below the poverty line - India is amongst the most corrupt nations in the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of…

> Indians by and large "play it safe" in everything If you're an Indian businessperson, you have two options - copy the US and make a good ROI, or risk everything on creating a new product for a potentially better ROI. The choice is obvious - it's far cheaper (and more beneficial) to play catch-up than innovate. The question is - why is India still playing catch-up? I don't know that much about India. I'm guessing th…

I believe you misinterpreted his words. Being an 'Indian businessperson' itself is not done much because of the 'play it safe' attitude. Yes, Indians are that risk-averse.
Post reply on HN