rantlust

Posted by anupcs on March 01st 2006 in Developing Nations, India, Politics
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Newsweek has a cover story on India due to Dubya’s visit. The main article is written by Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International. I found the following snippets interesting (in no particular order):

• India ranks 124 out of 177 in the Human Development Index, by which the UN gauges countries by income, health, poverty, literacy, etc. This is behind countries such as Sri Lanka, Syria, Vietnam, and (you must be kidding me!) Dominican Republic.
• Female literacy is at 54%.
• Praise for Jawaharlal Nehru: “Men like Nehru may not have understood economics, but they deeply understood political freedom.”
• Praise for Manmohan Singh: “His breadth, depth and decency are unmatched by any Indian prime minister since Nehru.”

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Posted by dharpe guje on February 28th 2006 in Developing Nations, Humor, India, Rants
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So as part of hanging out in India a few weeks back, I indulged in something that I had not done in a long time, no I didn’t pull (pun intended) a George Michael, travelling in a public bus. Travelling by city buses is a typical and widely used form of transportation in all major Indian states. Usually the state governments manage the service and barring a few exceptions, most end up running into huge losses, thanks to gross mismanagement and corruption. But the service itself is a primary means of transportation for a significant number of intra and inter state travellers.

Growing up I travelled exclusively on these city buses, which is a typical means of travel for most Indian lower and middle class families. It’s major advantages were that it was cheap and generally a reliable means of transportation over other options that were non-existent. I travelled about 10 kilometers to get to my school (for about 4 years) and likewise about 20 kilometers to the college (for about 4 years). The distance of 10 kilometers was typically covered in about 50 minutes to an hour and the distance of 20 kilometers was covered anywhere between 90 minutes and 2 hours. So in short a lot of growing up happened on buses.
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Posted by dharpe guje on February 27th 2006 in Developing Nations, India
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As history goes, forget it and you are condemned to repeat it. The recent trends in globalization and flattening of the world are ridden with unmistakable signs of temporary amnesia or a case of not adequately learning from the past. I think, a nation will be condemned to repeat mistakes if it doesn’t take the necessary steps to understand what it is transitioning into.

The price of progress for up and coming nations will be steep if they choose to ignore the macro economic factors that govern such economies. A country like India which has a history of using agricultural reforms to sustain its economy over the past several 100 years and in a organized manner in the past 50 years will need to figure out a way to seamlessly transition its vast population into the future where the ground rules are significantly different. This process will be both tricky and painful. (Read more…)

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Posted by papi on February 20th 2006 in Africa, Animals, Developing Nations, Humor, India, Outdoors
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One of the highlights of my recent travels in India was a reunion with old school friends, some of whom have been part of my life considerably further back than I can even remember. My school batch was, and still remains, a tight-knit bunch, and it’s always a pleasure for me to meet the gang and catch up with the latest going on in everyone’s lives. Almost all have achieved some degree of success in their chosen professions, but some professions are more exciting to talk about than others. Take my friend, Dr. Bobby Rajan, for instance. He’s a veterinarian, but no ordinary one, as he informed us with a straight face, while we sipped our rum-and-cokes contentedly. In addition to the skills possessed by the garden variety vet, he’s also a qualified musth-shooter. At this point, I’m sure you, gentle reader, must be clutching at your armrest, breathlessly wondering what this mysterious substance is. Well, clutch no more, and read on…
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Posted by papi on January 29th 2006 in Art, Business, Developing Nations, India, Rants, Sports
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Sticky Wicket: If there were any lingering doubts about who really controls international cricket, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently laid those to rest with an awe-inspiring bout of financial muscle flexing. The BCCI, which is the 800 pound gorilla in world cricket, unilaterally decided to withdraw from some ICC (International Cricket Council - cricket’s international governing body) tournaments, increase the number of tours with the stronger cricketing nations, and has dumped the weaker ones. Weaker teams like Bangladesh now find themselves come full circle. After attaining full test status with the backing of the BCCI, they now find the same organization unwilling to organize matches with them. Some are lauding the birth of a new world order, while others are worried about the impact such hard-sell financial strategies will have on the cricketing world. Time will tell.
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Posted by anupcs on January 26th 2006 in Developing Nations, India, Politics, Rants
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Today is a proud day for Indians as we celebrate our 57th Republic day. We should not, however, be proud of the choice for chief guest at the festivities: Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah. Saudi Arabia has one of the most dismal human rights record of any country in the world. Their shabby treatment of women, lack of basic freedom of expression, discrimination against religious minorities, routine torture of (often political) prisoners, are reason enough to avoid encouraging the beast. Unfortunately they have one thing that India needs a lot of: Oil.

As India and China edge towards the top of the oil consumption heap, the Saudis have suddenly realized that they need to get cozy with these previously ignored countries. As an Indian official states in an article in the International Herald Tribune: “The important thing is that monogamy is not enough for the Saudis anymore. They’ve decided to take a couple of other wives.” The first wife of course being the US. India and China won’t meddle in Saudi affairs unlike the US. India doesn’t have a great human rights record either but at least we have free elections and is the world’s largest democracy. (Read more…)

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Posted by papi on January 21st 2006 in Business, Developing Nations, India, Random, Travel
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Hospital Hard Sell: While in Thailand, saw a lot of people carrying plastic bags with the slogan “Hospital Piyavate – we really care.” First time I’ve seen hospital services being sold like a mass market commodity. Sign of the times, perhaps?

Random Friendly Dudes: In Bangkok, was accosted many times by Random Friendly Dudes, who would give me unsolicited advice on things to do, places to visit, great deals on merchandise and so on. Most of the advice turned out to be pretty sound, but couldn’t help the sneaking feeling that it was staged. Maybe it’s just me; after all, Thai hospitality is legendary. But when three or four people point to the same points on the map (in fact, they would ask who had marked the map already), it makes me a tad suspicious. No complaints though. They weren’t trying to sell anything, the advice was mostly sound, and I even made a couple of friends.
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Posted by anupcs on January 03rd 2006 in Developing Nations, Food & Wine, Travel
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Previously on Rantlust, there was a connection made between Ireland and Jamaica in the form of new Rastafari convert Sinead O’Connor. There is another in the form of our favorite stout beer Guinness. The good ale is locally brewed and is stronger (6.5%) than the international version. I am quite sure that Guinness doesn’t brew their beer anywhere else in the world outside Ireland.

Guinness competes with the sweeter local stout known as Dragon Stout. The latter is not commonly found in tourist hotspots but I found it at a nearby watering hole called–appropriately–”Dragon Restaurant & Lounge.”
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