A View From Above
As we take off from Bangalore, again on Jet Airways (an airline that has actually figured out how to serve a good meal on an airplane), I peer out the window and watch the city turn into something different. From up here it looks really nice… and clean. There are green spaces, impressive buildings, sparkling neighborhoods, and blue rivers. From up here you can’t see the broken sidewalks, the haze of tuk-tuk exhaust, or the trash and sewage that characterize the view at ground level. From here I get a sense of what Bangalore can be one day. I also get a sense of just how huge a task India faces in upgrading and improving its infrastructure. There are so many roads and buildings down there. How do you take an old city of this size and transform it over night? You can’t.  New airports, new subways, new roads and highways, new pipes and plants…there are a lot of big projects and a lot money is being spent, but looking down at this huge city it is clear just how far India has to go before it feels, well, up to par. The pockets of modern and updated Bangalore we saw are the first steps, the first signs that change is happening, however, stray far from the oasis that is Infosys and the trash, broken concrete, and sewage return. The great positive is that India has serious talent. There are leading edge things happening here, not just in IT, but in education, medicine, engineering, biosciences, and just about every area you can think of. Thousands have left their US jobs and returned home to get in on India’s future.  They’re bringing the methods and practices of the best companies and institutions in the world with them and they are starting world-class companies that are competing globally. India is an amazing place with a lot going on. I have to sometimes remind myself that even Atlanta has some pretty beat up streets and ugly neighborhoods. I have to remind myself that just as San Francisco and Topeka are different, so is Chennai and Bangalore. I have to remember my drives through remote areas of the US and just how meager and run-down the towns there were. Even in the US it can be hard for prosperity to trickle down to the bottom. All these comparative thoughts help me keep a perspective on India. It is not all about poverty, it is not all about outsourcing, it is not all about elephants, silk, religions, gleaming IT businesses, or cows. India has everything, just as we do, but the challenges it faces are clear. The plane is coming in for final over Mumbai and again I look out of the window. The size is stunning. Even at the edge of my visibility, many miles away, skyscrapers line the horizon. This is a city bigger than New York and it looks beautiful. As the plane approaches the runway, the fine detail starts to again come into focus. Acres and acres of shanty town are nestled between the buildings and structures below, the meager abodes surround the airport, just over the fences. The new India is still very young and it has a long way to go indeed. |
To our readers:
We appreciate your comments, so please leave substantive comments related to entrepreneurship or the blog entry to which you are commenting. We love to receive personal comments by email!
For many entries we have provided our geographical coordinates. Cut and paste these into the Google Earth search field and hit enter to see exactly where we are!
External Links:
|
