Sharma Family Journal

ತುಂಬಾ ಸಂತೋಷ ಆಯ್ತು ಓದಿ. ಪ್ರೊ. ಜಿವಿ ಅವರ ಪ್ರಿಸಮ್ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್-ಕನ್ನಡ ನಿಘಂಟು

The headline in today’s economic times screams - some IIT guy got a $100k offer and quotes another guy as saying “IIMs are for second rate IITians”. I can’t seem to find a better example of the vulgarity I was alluding to in my earlier posts and the extent to which Indian media stoops to cater to the starry eyed kids who want a decent life and ready to pay Rs 10 to read this kind of crap.

Somewhere down on line 43 you’ll find that the average salary is only around Rs 600k ($13k). I tend to think that the guys who are trained in computer science are doing a big disservice to their profession and education by throwing away their skills and doing unrelated work for some oil drilling company or a stock broker.

Economic realities of today’s India can’t be ignored and one can’t be a hermit and work on a theoretical computer science problem at Rs 4000 per month. But a better compromise is possible and I think the media needs to highlight better role models - people who take good care of themselves, create job opportunities for others as well and do something for the advancement of technology.

I’m sure most reasonable people will see that it’s the advancement of technology that holds the key to true economic success - not low cost IT outsourcing or financial engineering.

In India, there are only two market segments: there is the “normal” segment, which is cheap and what most people use. And then there is “value based pricing” i.e. if you want something slightly better than normal, you pay a big premium (such as $500 a night hotel).

I’m sure there are people smart enough to recognize this big void in the middle. One exception to this are the “A1 plazas” (Reliance gas stations with paid toilets and Rs 100 lunch) I found along many highways in northern India.

A few observations from a visiting NRI:

• Indian TV: There is a lot of content that’s interesting, which I miss in the US. But on the negative side:

  Repetition: many many channels just sound like 24×7 headline news channels. They pick up on one or two “larger than life” stories (eg: Sanjay Dutt’s verdict) and keep repeating the thing over and over again. Even panel discussions (MBA salaries) get repeated.

• Vulgarity: No, its not just the Kingfisher ads in airports or not just about general skin show, but everything from religion in politics (the winning party goes to a temple and claims the triumph of good over evil) to how people flaunt their money, muscle or whatever it is they have to show.
• Inefficiency: While there are things which are extremely cheap and efficient, in general the level of inefficiency in everything (primarily a result of overpopulation and the resulting competition) is apalling. Nowhere does it hurt as badly as the traffic and road conditions. And the showers that don’t work, 220V outlets that give you mild shocks and the amount of time people spend protecting their valuable real estate from squatters (instead of building sidewalks).
• God: This is the other side of the coin - you have channel V on one side repeating the hip thrusting remix item number and next to that is Astha and several other religiously oriented channels. It’s amazing how much time and energy is spent on spirituality in every walk of life.