Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

It’s back to India after two years and I am glad to be in amche Pune. Things have changed a lot. Swanky malls and multiplexes have sprung up. New high rises in place of rustic bungalows. We have KFC, Subway and all the multinational brands. It takes me a while to locate my bank’s ATM, which has shifted during the time. So has our Cyber Cafe. Many old shops have shut down, and new ones have come up.. Pune is changing fast..
The superstores are full of all the goods which we thought as novelties in Singapore. LCD Tvs, computers, Mobile phones. The models are a bit behind the developed world, but they are good nevertheless.. for those who can afford them. I am getting really excited about being back in India.
I need a new cell phone connection. Calling rates are among the cheapest here and now you can get the 3G services as well, of course for a price, and the same goes for Broadband. Just two years ago, reliable Broadband was just beyond the reach of the common man. But there are options available today. India is changing fast. I select my mobile plan and the shopkeeper tells me it will be activated “tomorrow”. I believe him. I am back from Singapore, staying there for two years. Well two years is not that long considering that I have stayed in India for almost 34 years before that. But one gets spoilt easily. In Singapore tomorrow means tomorrow and if it’s a week they tell you upfront. What he actually meant was that the phone will be activated in a couple of days. I should have known.
There is some construction work going on, and the main road is dug up. They are laying out new sewage lines. Our suburb is growing so fast that it is no wonder they require to upgrade the infrastructure. That’s good news. The bad news is that there is dust everywhere, the traffic is in chaos and more importantly we do not know when it will be finished. Add to that the existing potholes and I feel I am racing my bike on a dirt track. Getting used to Travelling in Air Conditioned Buses and Metro trains and reaching in time was a different story altogether. Everything moved on so smoothly even during crowded hours. Disciplined, efficient, dependable. When can we have that? India is changing, albeit gradually, and we are all optimistic.
There are new buses on Pune’s road. Plus the BRT. Its another thing that I don’t know where it goes. We rarely take public transport in Pune. People use two wheelers and now increasingly, cars. All the latest vehicles models are there. So what if the roads cannot keep up and are choked in the evening. Or that, on a working day, it will be eight before a person reaches home negotiating the traffic. But it’s a passing phase. There are roads, highways and elevated railways in the pipeline. It’s just a matter of time before all falls in place.
We are slowly settling down. The new “basic necessities” of life are back – Mobile, cable TV and internet! Reconnecting with friends and relatives. It’s cold in Pune. The temperature has fallen to less than 10 degrees Celsius. Back in Singapore, the weather was as predictable as its MRT, always warm. Enjoying again sleeping till 8 o’clock in warm sweaters and blankets..wow! But forget the cold weather. India is the hottest place for investors today, with growth rates reaching 10% p.a. We are growing at an amazing pace. India will be the next superpower along with China towards the end of the century. China is already far ahead, and it has the advantage of a centralised vision and the will and the machinery to implement it. They have already hosted the Olympics. We scraped through with the CWG games. But we can surely host the Olympics one day! That day is not close.. but I am optimistic still it will come.
Well known economist Keynes once said that, in the long run, we are all dead! Where will India be in the long run? Well we can’t be sure yet. No doubt we are growing at a fast rate now. But even at this rate of growth of around 10%, it will still take almost 8-10 years for our incomes to double. And as the growth can never be equally spread out, it will be almost 25 years before the common man in India reaches any acceptable standard of living. Many of us will be retiring by that time .. so is there anything in store for you and me in India’s growth story.. definitely .. but only in the long run.. by that time we will be on the way to heaven..!
On second thoughts, how about back toSingapore again? 