I think, mostly, I felt puzzled during the trip.
Even though I knew (from watching the news and National Geographic for years) that India was a country with widespread poverty, I did not expect there to be so little respite from it anywhere in the city.
Other than the inside of the hotel that we stayed in, and a couple of restaurants that we went to, Mumbai was completely unlike any developing country that I have been too. If people had not been talking about it so much in the recent years, I would NOT have believed this is one of two of the fastest growing economies in Asia just by visiting the city.
It's not that the business activity isn't there. In fact, one could even say that it is pretty conspicuous - names like Tata, Reliance, HDFC, the same ones that I have dealt with frequently in the last 18 months, are everywhere in billboards. Just talking to the people, you know that there is an enormous amount of activity being carried out here.
BUT, where are the swanky glass buildings that should be rising above the slums? Where are the toll roads leading to the city from the airport? Where is the new airport? Where are the dozens of new apartments and hotels that should be adding glitter to the city?
I have been to a fair number of poor third world countries on business and vacation, so it is not that I am not used to seeing rundown buildings and primitive transport facilities, however in every of those cities, the development is clear and present. There is often massive construction going everywhere and new infrastructure (incongruent as they may be to their surroundings) spreading out from key corners of the cities. I had imagine India to be like China, say 10 years ago I first went there to work. It was nothing like it even then.
In Mumbai, I was hardpressed to find evidence of that development. There was no identifiable financial district. The so-called prestigious office towers were flaking and rusting on the outside, and I can hardly see any new ones being constructed. My boss, whom I was travelling with, commented that the city looked almost exactly like it did 6 years ago when he visited.
On Wednesday morning, my colleagues and I were stunned to find ourselves standing in front of an old complex, with squatters living just outside the driveway that was full of organic and inorganic litter. Stray dogs, many with open wounds and missing limbs hung about outside the compound (docile though they were). We were at Matfatlal Centre, a decrepit office block where my bank, and other many other international financial institutions were located.
Over the next few days, I talked and talked to people. Or rather people talked to me, and I listened to them and learnt more about India than I ever did in my entire life. I realized my knowledge of the place was almost at ground zero, a deeply ironical fact given Singapore is a mulit-racial society and I grew up with Indian classmates and neighbours.
So what do I think of India now? There were things that deeply impressed me - how highly educated and internationally exposed people were, superb service almost everywhere I went. I really enjoyed meeting my colleagues there, who were so wonderfully warm and friendly. But, I have no conclusions, not even a real insight, of the place, to speak of, even after the week's immersion. There is too much that I still need to learn about the place, from its history to the way business is conducted there. I think I will go back there again soon - both to sight-see, as well as to work. And I am telling myself to approach the country more respectfully than I have in the past.
After all, I have merely caught a glimpse of India from inside a Bombay taxi.
Other than the inside of the hotel that we stayed in, and a couple of restaurants that we went to, Mumbai was completely unlike any developing country that I have been too. If people had not been talking about it so much in the recent years, I would NOT have believed this is one of two of the fastest growing economies in Asia just by visiting the city.It's not that the business activity isn't there. In fact, one could even say that it is pretty conspicuous - names like Tata, Reliance, HDFC, the same ones that I have dealt with frequently in the last 18 months, are everywhere in billboards. Just talking to the people, you know that there is an enormous amount of activity being carried out here.
BUT, where are the swanky glass buildings that should be rising above the slums? Where are the toll roads leading to the city from the airport? Where is the new airport? Where are the dozens of new apartments and hotels that should be adding glitter to the city?
I have been to a fair number of poor third world countries on business and vacation, so it is not that I am not used to seeing rundown buildings and primitive transport facilities, however in every of those cities, the development is clear and present. There is often massive construction going everywhere and new infrastructure (incongruent as they may be to their surroundings) spreading out from key corners of the cities. I had imagine India to be like China, say 10 years ago I first went there to work. It was nothing like it even then.
In Mumbai, I was hardpressed to find evidence of that development. There was no identifiable financial district. The so-called prestigious office towers were flaking and rusting on the outside, and I can hardly see any new ones being constructed. My boss, whom I was travelling with, commented that the city looked almost exactly like it did 6 years ago when he visited.
On Wednesday morning, my colleagues and I were stunned to find ourselves standing in front of an old complex, with squatters living just outside the driveway that was full of organic and inorganic litter. Stray dogs, many with open wounds and missing limbs hung about outside the compound (docile though they were). We were at Matfatlal Centre, a decrepit office block where my bank, and other many other international financial institutions were located.Over the next few days, I talked and talked to people. Or rather people talked to me, and I listened to them and learnt more about India than I ever did in my entire life. I realized my knowledge of the place was almost at ground zero, a deeply ironical fact given Singapore is a mulit-racial society and I grew up with Indian classmates and neighbours.
So what do I think of India now? There were things that deeply impressed me - how highly educated and internationally exposed people were, superb service almost everywhere I went. I really enjoyed meeting my colleagues there, who were so wonderfully warm and friendly. But, I have no conclusions, not even a real insight, of the place, to speak of, even after the week's immersion. There is too much that I still need to learn about the place, from its history to the way business is conducted there. I think I will go back there again soon - both to sight-see, as well as to work. And I am telling myself to approach the country more respectfully than I have in the past.After all, I have merely caught a glimpse of India from inside a Bombay taxi.
