Jet Airways, the leading private airline in India, is far more luxurious than American ones: brand-new Airbus jets, hot face towels, nimbu pani and watermelon juice, coffee candies, sumptuous red and orange linen napkins bound in velvet rope, a choice of North or South Indian meals (ever had hot idli sambar and utappam on an airplane?), and a never-ending stream of tea and coffee. And all this on short-haul domestic routes rather the overseas ones served by Singapore and Virgin.
The Indian government will now allow Jet and Air Sahara to fly international routes, although it continues to shelter the lucrative Middle Eastern routes from competition. The airlines are presumably on their own for buying landing slots.
Indian airports are also in dire need of investment. On a recent trip, I could get wireless Internet access at the Delhi and Bangalore airports. However, they otherwise still resemble small regional airports in the U.S.: open-air gates, buses instead of jetways and a vanishingly small distance from gate to parking lot. They’re like the old terminal at San Jose before the tech bubble.
But with an astonishing 20% annual growth in air traffic, India just signed off on a plan to upgrade 80 airports throughout the country, including brand-new airports for Bangalore and Hyderabad. They’re partying like it’s 1999.
And in the tech-heavy cities, it pretty much is. Driving through Bangalore, I saw buildings that looked exactly like U.S. tech campuses, though smaller. Intel, Dell, Oracle, Accenture and Macromedia buildings abound; on one corner, with a shock of recognition, I came face-to-face with a company started by a friend. I couldn’t help but feel late to the party. With the number of South Indian programmers already working at Oracle, why not hire ’em straight from the motherland 🙂
At $400 per developer per month, even small companies are now setting up operations in Bangalore. One of my relatives with a hardware business has a modest office in Bangalore which processes inbound orders, has engineers correct the circuit designs, and FTP’s them back to California within 15 minutes.
I found that Bangalore parallels Silicon Valley in many ways. It has a temperate climate, few mosquitoes, calm drivers, low crime, and a cluster of engineering schools churning out 40,000 grads a year. Just as the Berkeley / Stanford / San Jose State triad overpowered MIT and Route 128, Bangalore beat out the other geek culture centers of Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad. I had the best Internet access in Bangalore, a reasonably fast 512 kbps DSL line at home. And strong job growth has created high employee turnover of around 20% a year.
Unfortunately, Bangalore’s social life, too, is lifted from the Valley’s ‘burbs. We swung by a popular club called Spinn, albeit on a Monday night. It was about to close, and by midnight the rest of MG Road was deserted. Early in the week, the best option was to hang out at the slick new Forum mall, which felt exactly like a midsized Valley Fair during an Oracle convention 🙂 From the social standpoint, Pune, a tech center three hours from Bombay, seems much more enticing.
Outside these islands of quality, here’s the everyday Bangalore:
And more MG and Brigade Roads:
I agree with u manish, I think last four years I always flew from bombay to hyderabad by Jetairways and its very nice, good food and hospitality and is very safe. thanks for the lovely bangalore photographs.Now micosoft and intel I think are opening branches in hyderabad too..hyderabad also changed so much last five years,same shopping malls like in US, same IMAX movie theatres with huge chain of restaurants in the ground floor where u can get combinations of burgers with fries or pizza with pepsi..office spaces are like that in US..And they even widened roads and have something similar to highways here though traffic follows no rules in india and is hard to control.Its just hard to drive in india. And a lot of US based companies are outsourcing projects to india and starting companies in india,my brother in law and his friends also do the same and labour is much cheaper there ,so profitable business.. and u are right social life and clubs close early except in bombay where in some streets people party all nite long..but people start life early too in india, by 5.00am u will see a lot of people onthe streets and getting ready for business.. If u are still in india mysore is a lovely city with maharaja palace, brindavan gardens etc., and is a couple of hrs travel from bangalore. Bangalore has a good science museum and IISC campus u can find students eating dosa at 1am in the nite , things might have changed now too..but last time I went to that campus life was very lively even late in the nite. Though Tsunami might have changed the festivities of south india..Hope people in tamilnadu and kerala are doing ok. Have fun in india.
Great post and pictures.
Hey, how about outside those fancy building? Still 3rd world right. Have you people in India stand in a line (Never!). How about cleanliness, is it ‘just like’ silicon valley?
Guess what India is the only country where kissing in public is scandalous, but pissing in public is alright!
Thanks
Chris
Chris,
It’s rare that I ever resort to petty name-calling. You, however, have inspired a litany of names to run through my head. Your comments are ignorant and ill-informed, not to mention grammatically incorrect. Though you complain about the “backwardness” of a country, you have similarly set yourself back ten giant steps with your unsubstantial commentary.
Whoever you are, that was one hell of a rollicking post! (thumbs up)
Amelie-Freak:
Grammatically wrong, I accept! But ignorant and ill-informed?! I implore thee, please do explain!
My whole point is that if we start facing reality (and be self-critical) we do have a good chance of becoming a great country.
Thanks
Chris
To Chris,
Well its again that 3rd world sticker isn’t it…Have u ever gone to one of those by By Lanes in Market Street in SFO and saw those homeless , addicts lying around in equally filthy atmosphere….if you want to do a self criticism pls do it equally….
Look at the postive things…There will be poverty , there will be stuff you dont like happening but to look beyond those and have a positive feeling is what makes somebody different…
Well I have moved from the States after spending almost 5 years to Bangalore..It has been 2 year for me and I never had to stand in a queue…I actually did have to stand in a queue while I was in the US though !!
subendu:
So you are telling me that both the countries are the same?!
I was in India (circa 2002). So you don’t have to give me details.
And by-the-way, I was not complainig about standing in a line, it’s the way people stand in the line – For example, when I’m in a line invariably someone cuts in or just plain goes to the front of the row.
Poverty and all aside, there has to be a social change (desperately).
I noticed that there is no nationalist feeling amongst Indians. True, when a foreigner says something you guys are all up in arms, but walk on the streets, do people treat their country with respect. (spiting, peeing etc etc)
I can list a whole lot of things. Treatment of women in general – grabbing them in buses etc etc I’ve seen it all. (Please don’t talk about how the prime minister was a lady…that is irrelevant)
Anyway ponder this! I don’t mean to mean! Just helping clear the cloud!
Chris
And by-the-way, I was not complainig about standing in a line, it’s the way people stand in the line – For example, when I’m in a line invariably someone cuts in or just plain goes to the front of the row.
That is not an example of being third-world. That is a cultural difference. There are plenty of things that the average American does that a person of Indian culture would consider rude.
I noticed that there is no nationalist feeling amongst Indians. True, when a foreigner says something you guys are all up in arms, but walk on the streets, do people treat their country with respect. (spiting, peeing etc etc)
Peeing on the streets is not a sign of disrespect to one’s country. It’s usually a sign that they have no indoor plumbing and are homeless. There are many impoverished people in India- is that inconvenient for you to view? I’ve seen plenty of homeless folks in the US take a piss in public (and many more frat boys for that matter).
I guess I just don’t get what it is you’re getting at?? Are you saying that progress means becoming completely Westernized in every way? Surely, there must be some middle ground. Are you saying that progress means masking any issues (like poverty) from the general public?
brimful:
First of, I think that this is a good discourse. I’m glad we are not flamming each other. That is a sign of sure improvement! Godspead!
However, In India I is was in a wealthy nieghborhood. Everyday we would at least 20 people peeing outside the place I stayed. Now, they were not homeless guys, they were ‘regular’ guys.
My point is that cleanliness is not being ‘westernized’. If you look back at history when the first europians (who came to india) took one bath a year (that’s why they wore wigs – hair smelled), indians were already showering everyday (shampoo is an indian word). Cleanliness is about respecting your nieghbor.
Anyway, If we are copying western lifestyle (since late 1800s – roads, shirst/trouser, MTV, err…Democracy, Constitution, hmm… do you want me to continue) aren’t we westernized already.
Anyway I’m plan to give all my money away for that ‘cultural change’. Any ideas?
My comments are for the most part unrelated to the post.
I think I agree with Chris on a number of issues. And I am not putting the blame on India being third world or some such sentiment. Just pointing out a few gray areas where I think India needs change.
Here is another example – you go to a government office for any work. 9 times out of 10 the people there are discourteous, unprofessional and plain lazy. On top of that they would definitely expect a bribe to do the job the government is paying them to do. To top it all, people have now come to terms with it. Rather than have to go thru the hassle of resisting it, they just bribe their way thru the problem and mollycoddle these people rather than reproach them. The country and the people even accept politicians who have been proven guilty of taking bribes and committing various other felonies. Those noble souls who were martyred for the cause of Indian freedom must be rolling in their graves as they see the country held hostage by the worst kind of vermin it ever produced.
I guess the ordinary man just sees this as being beyond his ken. But even day-to-day life is quite a nightmare – while living in Mumbai, if I travelled by cab/rickshaw I had to worry whether the cab guy is not taking a circuitous route to charge more. Heaven knows if his meter is rigged or whether he is showing me a genuine tariff card. If you went to the grocer you had to be alert as to whether his weights weren’t rigged, whether he wasn’t putting back the stuff you had already purchased, whether he was weighing the stuff correctly or whether the bottom row of fruits in the box were as fresh as the ones on top. And I haven’t even started with the conning, plain old lying and other “niceties”. I am sure even you guys have encountered it. I feel there is a lot of need/room for widespread social change. And I am not yet talking about women’s emancipation and the rest but just the moral fiber that is part of our culture/people/identity.
IMHO Indians (especially in India) do lack the feeling of oneness that fellow-countrymen should have. I read this article somewhere (which unfortunately I can’t find anymore) of a Sikh gentleman who had to bear the brunt of some brash youth in Delhi. It was in the aftermath of the Indian nuclear tests and these guys yelled something at him that sounded like a threat and ended it up with, “We have the bomb, now!”. That sort of hatred spewed at a fellow-countryman who had served the nation as an armyman for the better part of his life? And of course the age old lines of caste and religion that still serve to cut up the country into murderous factions are still very much around.
Not to mention the rampant pollution and the way the environment is being screwed over each passing day.
Of course there is the exception to everything I just pointed out and you may just find that oddly honest civil servant or that dependable cab driver. But I don’t think that is good enough. More than an exception, that ought to be the norm.
This is in response to Chris Prabhu’s vitriolic attacks on people highlighting good side of India. Well I do not expect anything else from Chris. Because it is clear to me that him or his forefathers have sold their soul for ‘western’ religion and now he has sold his body for ‘western’ passport.
So obviuosly it hurts him if some one praises India, because doing so would put his decisions of ‘adopting’ new religion and new country. Chris, we have people like you from India, that’s why India doesn’t need enemies. Et tu brutus?
Hi all It is for the first time that i am writing .I will accept the fact that we(indians) belongs to developing country but is developing at enormous rate .So that is all about accepting the fact. But Mr chris ,dn’t tell us that we do not feel for our country.Mr chris ,it’s very easy to complain.What do you think? Some of the social changes occur with the economical change only.I think you will agree to this point. I don’t say whatever you are written is completely wrong but ofcourse the numbers given by you is not believable(at least for me ). We indians are coming up.One thing i can promise you plz come to India around 2020 and you will see changes . But plz dnt heart anybody’s patriotic feelings. I think you will respond. Take care everybody.
hello people its my first time on this site ,and i would like to say that we r no more a 3rd world country coz we stand for the quality of the work unlike the so called america were people work for money and only money and sex and at the end of the day they care only for the fotos of their pets but not their family,so mr cris who is better
unlike the so called america were people work for money and only money and sex and at the end of the day they care only for the fotos of their pets but not their family
Swathi, by the ignorance exemplified in your comment I think you’ve seen too many Bollywood movies vilifying Americans and NRIs. I hope you realize they are fiction. Now excuse me while I go have sex and take a picture of my pet canary.
Yes, and from watching this cinema verite, I’ve learned that all desi women look like Aishwarya, all black, white and Chinese men are henchmen for Mogambo and all Japanese folks are silly snapshot-taking tourists. Now I’m going forth to join the global economy. If my heart gets broken, I’m blaming the movies.
Brilliant, Manish!
🙂
for all the peop[le who want to compare namma bangalore to silicon valley, u r outdaated
bangalore is, silicon valley was
Guys and Girls,
From your heated comments I am glad that the patriotic spirit of India is alive and kicking in the harts and minds of the younger generation.
Personally, I do not believe that Bangalore or Madras would be another Silicon Valley, if anything at all the common man is being capitalized by the big businesses in India.
Indian business has learnt form the British on how to capitalize on the misfortunes of the ordinary man/woman in the street for their own selfish motives, with no integrity in their business or towards their employees. In this India, is bordering towards a human rights issue.
The only positive that I find in all this is that IT has kept the nation well motivated, which has to be a positive thing
Guys and Girls,
From your heated comments I am glad that the patriotic spirit of India is alive and kicking in the harts and minds of the younger generation.
Personally, I do not believe that Bangalore or Madras would be another Silicon Valley, if anything at all the common man is being capitalized by the big businesses in India.
Indian business has learnt form the British on how to capitalize on the misfortunes of the ordinary man/woman in the street for their own selfish motives, with no integrity in their business or towards their employees. In this India, is bordering towards a human rights issue.
The only positive that I find in all this is that IT has kept the nation well motivated, which has to be a positive thing
looks like chris exchanged the divine part of his name with something that sounds like squirrel-food. 😀
As a New Zealander that has Indian Origins that has worked and lived in India, and also worked and lived with Indians in several situations and locations (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philipines, Bangalore, New Delhi, Gurgaon)I can relate to many of the issues raised by Chris Prabhu and also those mentioned by those that were refuted his posts so passionately.
I consider myself a proud New Zealander (as well as proud of my Indian background and Indians generally) and certainly do find myself getting feeling defensive about comments/impressions that others have about the more negative aspects of my country and origins, but when I flick off the chip that has lodged itself on my shoulder more often than not their comments are intelligent observations that I myself have made of other countries I have been to and I can see that there is significant truth in what they have said.
Whereas, it could have been put more diplomatically, I agree in principle with Chris’s main points (or at least what I perceive were his main points) and I also agree with alot of what many others have said in response to his comments.
Newflash: Being proud of India and achievements by Indians (Modern industries/technology parks, long and distinguished history, strong community bonds, top class education etc…), and still accepting that India has serious ongoing social issues; third world levels of poverty, corruption and a growing gap between the have’s and the have nots that has many poorer Indians being exploited by local businesses/fellow Indians and not just foreign Multinationals – is not a case of having to choose sides on a battlefield as these two points are not mutally exclusive.
All countries have negative aspects to them and it is not being disloyal, unpatriotic or even unkind to acknowledge the bad alongside the good.
My experiences of India (first in 1999, my most recent experiences being in the last year or so) have very clearly shown two very different India’s – one is high tech, affluent and has most, if not all, modern conveniences that any first world country can offer, and the other India is definitely way down the other end of he spectrum with people living hand to mouth and not sharing in the India’s successes, vast wealth and resources. Instead they are largely treated as second class citizens and whereas the middle/upper class levels of wealth are steadily increasing I do not see any of this flowing down to the less fortunate within India. Millions of families living in unhygenic conditions and suffering from malnutrition is something no country can be proud of, and to deny that this is a reality in India is a clear a case of ignorance that I can think of.
For me, success for India to be truly proud of will be when a more even distribution of wealth is to be seen across all sections of Indian society. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t expect India to eliminate the rich/poor divide – no country in the world has succesfully acheived this – but if India is truly going to be considered as a first world country then it has to get to the point where there is capacious bridge that joins the world of the haves and the have-nots so that those with the motivation, ability and determination can follow a clear path from their villages to a good education and ultimately a well paid job. At the moment if this path even exists it is fraught with too many barriers and dead-ends and few if any ever make it to the bridge let alone cross and make it to the side of the “haves”.
To achieve this goal is not to conform to “western standards”, it is basic humanity.
Hi all,
Can we all try and do something about it rather than just talk? How many of you have thought about solutions or ways you can tackle the issues or make the country a better place to live in?
If you cant do anything about it then you’d rather not crib ‘coz that’s the easiest thing to do! Try standing for an election, win it and then make a difference. If you dont wanna do that then be a part of an NGO or a social organisation and make a difference!
Let there be light!!
I like this discussion here..one question though how many of the affluent in India vote ? how many of the IT sector employees vote ? the..how sir will they be heard..if itz only the villages that decide the Govt.bangalore infrastructure means nothing for osmeone ekking out a day to day existence.
This discussion is pointless…..everyone wants to complain about what a terrible place India is….I’m proud to be an indian…….poverty, et al…..Yes men pee in public….but now we have painted many of the walls with pics of Ganesha, Shiva etc and Infosys has built many “sulabh shauchalayas” public toilets…..yes men grab women in buses…i have seen women beating up men for doing that…..we make more money to be able to buy two/four wheelers…..we are poor…..but our Family is more important than anything else…..like money, having a sexy body, fitting into a clique, dieting etc….We did not beg US for work….it made economic sense to outsource…..on this side of the globe we speak better english than any other ASEAN nation…so go figure….we have made a start…..i think that is more important than harping about what is wrong…
Hello, will u pls let me know from where in bangalore i can get hair wigging..??
Cheers, Arun_dit
Hi, Sreejith from Bangalore here. I have been in Bangalore for over 6 years and have flown to and from Bangalore frequently. I have had both good and bad experiences. First time, I was flying with my wife to Mumbai from Bangalore and I had been on the Air Sahara, the tickets cost us Rs.6000 one way. The flight was delayed by an hour and at the time of boarding the flight a polite air hostess handed us two coupons to be filled in and returned to the Air Sahara Desk at Mumbai. She had an apologetic smile for the delay in the flight. As promised, we filled the coupons and handed it over to the desk. After 45 days since we took that trip, I got two cheques of Rs. 1500 each as refund. Great, I thought. So I decided to take the Air Sahara flight from Delhi to Bangalore. This was during the time Air Sahara was about to be taken over by Jet. I was surprised to see the flight delayed and to top it all, the Air Sahara staff (was now wearing Jet airways uniforms at the airport) showing poor customer service. They never smiled and was with a “take-it-or-leave-it” attitude. I was left wondering if this was Air Sahara or Jet Airways.
Have you seen this cool Banagalore website? Getting driving directions in an Indian city??
http://www.iciti.in
Hi Vikram, We have developed iciti, I am sorry for responding late and also would like to invite you to participate and promote the site.Infact we are giving away widgets free to sites who can put the same into the websites. Samples in Goldfinch Hotels, http://www.Bizprout.com, http://www.lvds.in and many sites have incorporated the links.
This is an excellent post. I respect Jet Airways very much. They are truly a world class airline. I am also happy India is making so much socio economic progress.
I feel the best way to deal with Chris is by ignoring his provocations.
India sucks dude. Whatever you guys say, it is third world and third rate people only live there. Just don’t try to promote your land just because you were born in it. Accept reality. India is nowhere near UK, USA or Australia. India is like Somalia and Timbuktu. Full of smelly shitty people with shitty attitudes. That is the truth.