Sunday, February 19, 2017

The View From Afar - Continued

To be sure, my sample is small, but the opinions are consistent.

I've lived and worked in India a lot.  But not recently.  I know the old India, not the new India.  This trip is a chance to see with new eyes.  Surface impressions can be misleading and accurate.  So today's chaos on the streets in cities are wall-to-wall autos and scooters, not bicycles and bullock carts.  Even so, it is the people, the sheer overpowering numbers of them, that hasn't changed over the years.  New and old, people are the resource and the challenge.

I started in Delhi where the new and old coexist uneasily.  I then revisited Varanasi, where the old still rules.  In Udaipur the colors of Rajasthan haven't changed.  And here in Hyderabad, a main tech center, I can only assume that the future is already here.  After Chennai and Kerala it is back to Delhi and home.

My return to the chaos and dysfunction of good old USA may put a dent in my serenity.  But only for a little while.

Incomplete posting

My last post was incomplete.  I will try to complete the posting soon.

The View From Afar

I'm in Hyderabad.  When I'm asked where I'm from, which is often, what they want to talk about is Trump, Trump, Trump.  There is no escape.  Interestingly, most people are more positive or hopeful than negative.  To be sure, my sample is small 

Thursday, February 09, 2017

Exquisite Interlude

In a 200-year-old palace on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, that most Indian city of them all, listening to tabla and flute conjure up magic of the ages, I am in the presence of the devine.  The meaningless noise that pollutes our world is put in its proper place - the trash can.