India 2005 versus India 1995
Michael Higgins compares the India he saw in 2005 to the India of his previous visit, back in 1995
In 1995, there were signs that India was at the cusp of some development. My wife went on and on about all of the changes she saw. Now in 2005, I could see some changes first hand. While some things have changed, the change is really pretty subtle to me. Most of Chennai looked much like it did in 1995. But there were a few obvious changes.
[..]I was expecting to see a lot more cars in Chennai. What I saw was a lot more motorcycles. Now at first glance, this might seem to be retrogression since motorcycles would seem to be an inferior good in the West. But a motorcycle is definitely a step up for someone who previously had to walk or ride a bicycle. It is obvious that the motorcycle is a good that is now affordable to the majority of Indians. Even in small villages, I saw lots of people with motorbikes.
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Update: Rafat Ali had this to say, about his trip back to India
As always, I’m amazed every time I go to India now: some things are changing so fast, yet a lot of things haven’t changed at all in the last 25 years. So is the contradiction called India.
[..]
Technology is such a leveler here, and is bringing so many economic changes that it is a shame that we in U.S. can only boast about how iPod changed our lives.
Ask the farmers of India who are using simple voice technology (well, cellphones) to cut out the middleman (and yes, it is always a man here) out of the agricultural selling and procurement process. People are getting informed, and for once, can take informed decisions about their livelihood. This is the real revolution here, not just the metro-big-cities based outsourcing that we all hear and read about in the media in U.S. and Europe.
The time to invest in India, if you are interested, is now…