My recent trip to India
So I am back from a month long trip to to India. What a blast! Each time I visit India, there is a slew of change that greets me, right from the time I land at the airport. This time around, I was visiting after only a couple of years, and yet, I couldn't believe how much had changed in that relatively short duration of time.
The landscape - new buildings coming up next to where my parents live in Pune, the traffic going from bad to worse (both in Mumbai where my in-laws are) and in Pune, new coffee houses everywhere (a change I do welcome!), new swanky cars (I barely saw any Ambassadors or Fiats on the road other than the taxi cabs that are still reminiscent of the not so distant past), . We even had a chance to visit a brand new mall that opened in Pune. Of course, everyone now has a cellphone, including my little cousin sisters, one who is in junior college and one in high school.
The other very interesting trend I noticed was the kind of career opportunities that are now available to kids growing up. Language translations, transcription, media, journalism, finance... there's demand for all kinds of work. Growing up, if you were not an engineer or a doctor at least, it was a struggle to land a job that could earn enough money to live a decent life.
Pay scales in India are phenomenal!!! I couldn't believe how much some of my buddies were making in India. The middle class is becoming quite wealthy and people are spending money like there's no tomorrow, some loading up on as much debt as they can. Hmmm, I wonder where I have seen this before?? ;)
There are those that are argue that the rapid liberalization of the economy and opening up of the marketplace is good for the country and then those that say that recent policies are increasing the gap between the rich and the poor, that only a fraction of the country's population is benefiting from the change. I believe both are right and its only a matter of time before the wealth percolates down to the lower rungs of the economic ladder. I think this is the price that the country is paying for the transformation. I think its all good! I like change. India has gone through much tougher times in the past, and I believe it has the capacity to assimilate this change too.
Anyways, what has all this got to do with architecture, nothing! Just felt like sharing my experience with fellow netizens out there.
Peace out!
The landscape - new buildings coming up next to where my parents live in Pune, the traffic going from bad to worse (both in Mumbai where my in-laws are) and in Pune, new coffee houses everywhere (a change I do welcome!), new swanky cars (I barely saw any Ambassadors or Fiats on the road other than the taxi cabs that are still reminiscent of the not so distant past), . We even had a chance to visit a brand new mall that opened in Pune. Of course, everyone now has a cellphone, including my little cousin sisters, one who is in junior college and one in high school.
The other very interesting trend I noticed was the kind of career opportunities that are now available to kids growing up. Language translations, transcription, media, journalism, finance... there's demand for all kinds of work. Growing up, if you were not an engineer or a doctor at least, it was a struggle to land a job that could earn enough money to live a decent life.
Pay scales in India are phenomenal!!! I couldn't believe how much some of my buddies were making in India. The middle class is becoming quite wealthy and people are spending money like there's no tomorrow, some loading up on as much debt as they can. Hmmm, I wonder where I have seen this before?? ;)
There are those that are argue that the rapid liberalization of the economy and opening up of the marketplace is good for the country and then those that say that recent policies are increasing the gap between the rich and the poor, that only a fraction of the country's population is benefiting from the change. I believe both are right and its only a matter of time before the wealth percolates down to the lower rungs of the economic ladder. I think this is the price that the country is paying for the transformation. I think its all good! I like change. India has gone through much tougher times in the past, and I believe it has the capacity to assimilate this change too.
Anyways, what has all this got to do with architecture, nothing! Just felt like sharing my experience with fellow netizens out there.
Peace out!
Labels: Impressions
posted by Ashish Shrowty @ 12:18 PM
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