211–220 of 325 posts
I once took my client who was visiting from US to a city tour of New Delhi. It was routine India Gate, Red Fort, Jantar Mantar stuff. She seemed unimpressed. But we happened to pass through a slum area and her eyes just lit up. She was shocked and amazed, but happy that her trip was now complete. It was disgusting.
(Had never heard of Jantar Mantar before - only been to a few southern parts of India - thanks. Will put it on my To Do list!)
Rich. No other adjectives can convincingly describe the plethora that is India. It is an experience that will kill you, and leave you discovering life – discovering you. Take your senses on a ride with its varied geographies that will raise you - with the tranquility to numb your thoughts - above the highest Himalayas and send you dipping to the complex of seas - angry some and transparent the others – not before it…
The mistake the author made is that he lived in India for three weeks. Had he stayed for six months or a year, he'd have been able to figure out what makes India tick - India is the very embodiment of clever innovation to survive - it will ask you very tough questions and it will compel you to innovate, often rapidly, just in order to survive - not even succeed. This, in India, is known as "jugaad". He missed the "ju…
> He missed the "jugaad" all around him - people, in their struggle for survival, do all sorts of things. What a colossal waste of human resources. Imagine if all those poor people were instead lifted up to the middle class so that they wouldn't have to focus on surviving each day, and could put that "jugaad" to something actually useful - research, science, arts, creating things and doing work that benefits others a…
I'm searching for the tl;dr?
To be honest, if you care to read more than that, you might get more insight from reading some of the longer HN comments instead (from those who live in India, but recognise these problems).
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Don't be defensive. I am not picking any particular place. What I am trying to say is there are places everywhere which violate the perception of a particular nation. The OP had some wrong perceptions about places like Agra or Gaya. And, I am not talking trash. My sister lives in Troy. When she was new to Detroit, she chose a wrong route while driving to downtown Detroit. While passing through a certain area ( don't…
"Also, just to point out, don't base your comparisons on a blog post." As opposed to what you are basing you opinions on; "My sister lives in Troy. When she was new to Detroit, she choose a wrong route while driving to downtown Detroit. While passing through a certain area (don't remember the name, will call her and ask) some gangsters tried to stop her car and rob her. Luckily she escaped." Down vote me all you've w…
An uninformed tourist will be shocked if he/she visit such places just like India.
b) I didn't down vote any of your post. Hence, these replies.
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how does that justify having the poor out in the open begging for a living? What would you do? You can't magically produce houses, schools, hospitals and other basic infrastructure to service several hundred million people. Forget that, I doubt you could engineer an efficient distribution system that just provides these people with nutritious food. Keep in mind these people are distributed across a fairly large count…
Efficient food distribution is an interesting topic with respect to India - Mumbai has an industry based around moving food from affluent workers' homes to their place of lunch and back again, moving 200k meals a day. Even more interesting is that the workforce is largely illiterate, yet the failure rate for delivery and return is amazingly low. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala
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In what way is regulatory capture corruption? What is the alternative? I'm reluctant to consider it corruption in the same sentence as bribery, despite that it is an inherent conflict of interest.
Regulatory Capture is, according to Wikipedia, a clear aspect of corruption, see "corruption" wiki template: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Corruption Not sure how else to remedy your confusion here.
A major complaint that a lot people have is that oh, when you leave your S&P job thats paying 60k a year for an IB job that pays 300k a year, you're a symptom of corruption. But hell, what if your experience working for S&P necessarily means your qualified to do derivatives trading?
If you're getting job offers that are conditional on you making certain regulator decisions, thats bribery. Eventually wanting to get into the business side of things because they pay more isn't the same thing.
Before coming to India, please have an exact idea of the particular person / people (guru, gurus, enlightened people, etc;) you are going to meet, what you seek from them, etc; Please spend time researching the person you want to meet on the Internet, YouTube, etc; Please try to have Indian friends, or just register with someone who will check up on you regularly (ideally a local, or at least by phone) who can help as an emergency contact in case of any disaster (malaria, hypnotised by the scammer-guru, etc;).
It is a sad fact that this country has some gems of philosophers, but is equally filled with scammers and worse.
Lastly, a personal opinion : just read Jiddu Krishnamurthi and think for yourself, you don't need a harrowing India trip! :-)
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In what way is regulatory capture corruption? What is the alternative? I'm reluctant to consider it corruption in the same sentence as bribery, despite that it is an inherent conflict of interest.
Regulatory agencies are supposed to, by charter, look to the public interest in overseeing companies. If they are captured by the companies they regulate, and serve the companies' interests rather than the public's, by definition their mission has been corrupted. Your question is highly disingenuous.
Regardless, moving between industry and regulatory bodies isn't necessarily done in a corrupt manner. If you're the president of a state energy board, you don't need to break any rules to get a higher paying job in industry. you're already, perhaps necessarily, more qualified than almost any other candidates. This is not inherently corrupt, this is what OP was referring to (or, this is a common meme which is associated with what he described).