The article was good to read and does indeed represent the feelings of most of the people who return to India. However, what i have felt is that the developments one see in India are not the result of any planned policies and vision from any one. The economic liberalisation which we saw in early nineties did not come out long term visions and was more a reaction to the exterme debt situation india found itself in. The government had to go for broke and decided to open up. Even now, we as a country dont seem to have a vision on where we need to be, except of course what our articulate former president brought out some time back.

Despite of all this, we still see development, yes. And i believe we owe a lot of it to the enterprenuerial spirit of average indian citizens, who have gone ahead and exploited the opportunities availabe in the global market, be it exporting talent , outsourcing of manufacturing/services etc. These things did not happen due to a co-ordinated approach from the government, it was largeley the act of private enterprises who were finally allowed to participate in the global market. And a side result of this has been that the entreprenurial ones have got rich leading to some in-evitable income differences. The ones who dont have access to eductaion have been left behind, and here i agree to your comment “And that’s the beauty of this whole thing – the economic progressives need nothing more than the passage of time in order to win”, which in effect is similar to the trickle down effect.

The point im trying to make is, when u get down to the street, u will see the co-ordinated approach from the goverment is still missing. There is no nation wide focus on security, public transport, health and hygene, infrastructure etc etc.

Part of the problem may lie in the way our governance is structured. We have a central government (that too a coalition, comprising of elements who are looking out to get political mileage out of every decision that the government has to make), we have state governemts (who eat up a lof of the central gverment funds and do not seem to be accountable as to how these funds are used), and then we have muncipalities and panchayats who are involved in execution. Often we find that there is a disconnect between the parties ruling at the centre and state and the panchayats, leading to a situation of not having a vision at all, and even if we have one, it ususally ends us as a conflicting one. The fact that 40% of the country does not even vote (who should we vote for? its a choice between devil and deep sea) and that the ones who do vote seem to be making a choice out of factors which are beyond development agenda does not help either. The states who have had enterprenuerial CM’s at the helm have managed to attract investments and jobs (and maybe in the process have helped themselves to some money), but again forgot to plan for infrastructure and other basic facilities, which are now under tremendous stress owing to the development.

This could be the reasons why one party countries like China and Vietnam seems to be good at, they decide on what the future should look like and take an iron hand approach to execution, which works fine, provided that the vision is not detrimental to basic tenants of humanity.

Sorry for long comment,but i feel that india is more on a random path of development, rather than a chosen and planned course. Our socities and our governments needs to speed up the “passage of time” which will allow the development to be more broad based and structural, resulting in some more ‘visible’ changes like improved safety/secutirty/law and order, hygiene, infrastructure, public health, education etc.

What you are describing isn’t, of course, unique to India, is it? Mumbai, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Cairo, Nairobi…. All over the so-called developing world, the wages of neoliberal globalization have had a similar impact.

The contradictions are structural ones and not accidental. When I was in Gurgaon recently, I was struck by the image of workers erecting an ultra-modern mega-mall by hauling cement on their heads up wooden scaffolds, in the same way that they had been doing before liberalization began.

I too have lived in the U.S. for about the same length of time (I came here in 1992), and I too am going through the same push-and-pull of wanting to return, but knowing that the idea of returning is likely much more appealing than the actual experience would be. (That is, of course, compounded for me, as I am a professor of English literature, which essentially means that I would be returning to a job that these days pays for little more than bus fare.)

I can imagine that the transition isn’t easy. That said, I must say I envy those of you who are able to return. Take heart: I doubt it will be long before you are eating chat at Chowpatty Beach like in the old days and not getting sick! :)

“In a lot of the writings I read about India, there is a constant thread of presenting this as a struggle between rich and poor, left and right, public and private, market fundamentalists and socialists, etc. It’s not. It is an epic struggle between those who benefit from progress and those who benefit from the status quo – and there are characters of both stripes in every quadrant of society irrespective of income, job, or political affiliation. And that’s the beauty of this whole thing – the economic progressives need nothing more than the passage of time in order to win. Because amidst the oppressive tyranny of mediocrity and despair, the blind are the first to see that things have to change.”

First of all it is a very abrupt ending to your otherwise exciting post. Your idea of an “epic struggle” between those who benefit from progress and those who benefit from the status quo is a novel suggestion, however it is not clarified satisfactorily. Are you implying that the maid of a rich businessman wants “progress” (whatever that may be in your definition) because her status quo is unsatisfactory.

The last line makes no sense to me whatsoever please clarify that.

2) Better still, send us a guest post or two that are “analytical, policy-oriented”. Please email me at prashant-at-stringinfo.com. We’re always looking for new contributors.

After all, a primary catalyist behind IEB was the abysmal quality of most op-eds/ magazines in India w.r.t economic issues. We took matters in our own hands, and decided to write what we liked to read.

The lesser said about Manhattan traffic, the better. It is worser than Chennai/Mumbai roads. It has taken me many hours to get from one end to the other end dodging all those jaywalkers, angry taximen and all kind of crazy people. If you are not on Metro, you are screwed. The power lines and steam pipes are screwed (the other day the water was guzzing upto the height of Chrystler building, during a leak)

Still, the mayhem and Chaos of overall India is unbeatable. But slowly, India is rising up and US is falling down to catch up with it. So, not a bad decision overall.

Recently one of my friend was doing summer internship in IITB. He told me a strange and funny incident. His friend came to the airport to see off his brother. On his way back to the hostel, he was stuck in traffic jam at 11 p.m. in night. And during jam he got phone call from his brother that he has reached Delhi. So this is the pathetic story of Mumbai traffic. I don’t know much about NY traffic but hope condition will be better there.

If you are emotionally attached to the India then no problem but when it comes to money, its still NY. I agree with your comment “India’s boom, the West’s stagnation” but this stagnated limit there is much more than booming economy here. I do not mean to disparage your move but after spending nearly 15 yrs in US you will have to metamorphize yourself here. Besides all those things I think there is always a mysterious impetus taking people back to India. Wishing you the best in India. :)

I agree with you that the few recent articles have been a departure from the analysis we’ve come to appreciate here on IEB. I see it as a nice change though.

What isn’t being discussed is the flood of medical professionals who returned some years ago. Those guys are doing great. Similar trend in manufacturing jobs in the auto industry. Found an old article which is interesting reading:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050918/asp/look/story_5232790.asp

This isn’t a trickle folks, its a flood.

Nandan – discussing initial impressions are great but that is exactly what belongs to a personal post. Nothing wrong that you posted here but it just seems a bit out of place.

Your labeling as Economy 4.0 also is super vague. You are an individual and your observation should not be generalized as any sort of version – for you individually? Sure why not! Hence I felt strongly that there is absolutely no point in your post. What you have mentioned is your individual opinion which is very much on the level of any mainstream media journalism.