Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Road to salvation

I've been reading Ankit's blog quite a bit recently and there is one post (called 911 vs 100) that really echoes my thoughts. It's the basic, simplest and minutest of differences between a developing nation (India) and a developed nation (USA). Say India is developed, it is not!

Infrastructure is the spine of a country. I had been to India recently and I know where we stand in terms of infrastructure. We will get there though, in a few years. I really don't know about the whole country, but the cities are developing. Rules and regulations are having some meaning. I'm not going to pretend to know too much. All I'm going to do is try and take a closer look at a developing India, through its developing cities.

Water and electricity, 2 of India's biggest problems have been banished from the cities. The BMC has very stringent rules on water these days and new constructions are encouraging rain water harvestation and/or bore wells.

Transportation is taking a new turn this decade. By 2020, the 4-5 metropolitan cities will have an excellent core network including monorails, metro systems. Roads and rails will be well maintained allowing better flow of traffic. Check out the various projects underway in Mumbai at the MMRDA website http://www.mmrdamumbai.org/ Here you can get details on all projects including skywalks, flyovers etc.

Politics, unfortunately, has not even managed to peek its head out the window to see the rising sun. Corruption, corruption and more corruption. I understand it completely, but with limits. If you are not corrupt in India, you will be killed by somebody one day for not being corrupt. But I'm happy to see the average age of the politician reducing. One thing I'm not happy about is the Shiv Sena thinking they have the biggest Maharashtrian brain possible.

We need a better educational system, something without the quota system. A place where students won't be ragged and a place where they won't hang themselves. It is improving, but at a snail's pace. We need more schools, colleges and universities. There are hardly any aviation schools and places to study astronomy, aerospace engineering. Not only that, I've heard that there are only 3 accredited institutes in the whole of India where one can learn marine biology.

Finally, more security. Something like 911. I don't think even 50% of the population knows about the 100 system. On most occasions, they feel that it is best not to dial that number. Myth or joke - India is a country where the pizza arrives faster than the police. I want to see the police deliver the pizza someday.