Aboard Air India AI 916

23 September 2009,
Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport
Mumbai,India
12.10 a.m
I am inside the Air India flight onward to Frankfurt, seat no.18A.
Air India has luckily started boarding on time; I think they should take off t the right time too! That would be a pleasant surprise.
I visited India for two and a half weeks and had a short and power packed journey. I am struggling to think of something to write about this trip, where I witnessed my country from a western perspective. And honestly it was not impressive...Not that it impressed me even from a Indian perspective.
I am sure that most of us know the appalling surface level issues in India, dirty roads, stench, crowds, filth, poor infrastructure, the list is endless. Right now I would like to think beyond these surface level issues.
First and foremost on my visit to Mumbai, I was amazed by the boom of the services market in this country. Services Galore, Banks, Insurance, Gym’s, Beauty Spa’s, Ayurvedic massages, Shopping Malls, Dealer Networks, Mobile telephony, Game parlours, Restaurant, Fast food parlours and the list is endless....What gets my attention is the affordability factor that comes in, how does the average urban Indian afford these services. Where are they employed, how do they afford it. This question gets me thinking – what concerns me most right now is that this service boom is servicing itself. Services boom consuming in turn more of services...
Whatever happened to the Industries that create Value in the economy? What’s happening to our industries/ small scale industries/artisans? Are they able to fairly compete nationally or internationally?
What upsets me is the second hand treatment given to agriculture and manufacturing, the valuable sectors of the economy. Every budget I hear our finance minister forgoing farm loans and giving low interest rate loans for farmers, but does this stance really give any boost to the sector. I was reading about a group of Agriculture Professors in Tamil Nadu who have come together and urging farmers to invest in better technology (drip irrigation, crop supplements) in Farming, thus improving yield by 100-200% in some instances. Now those farmers have got their return on investment and they have set up a shop sourcing directly from manufacturers and selling high quality products to the farming brethren.
The issue of Farmers in India is complex but can be solved through Technology, Logistics and pricing. Pricing mechanisms that ensure the Farmers get his efforts worth and leaving middlemen with lesser. All this is not unknown, what we lack is political will and efficiency from the Indian Babus.

Although the Service sector growth stands out in revenues and employment, it does not score high marks in its real essence the intangible factor of quality, customer service. The service levels and quality are so poor in spite of investment in technology and processes. Compare it to the west there are fewer staff but well versed about their offerings. In India we have 4 to 5 times more staffing and staff with less knowledge on their product and offerings. And this stands out wherever you go – to avail services in India is availing shoddy experience without any fixed commitments from the service provider.
Why cannot India maintain quality??? What does it take to maintain quality in a mass market like India? Does quality have a high cost in India? Can people afford better quality today? Can we deliver High Quality with Low prices? I am of the opinion that India for one can deliver good quality products for very competitive prices; the trick is in harnessing the right resources.
Well I was swimming in Mumbai in a pool of a renowned sports association; and after getting used to the public pools in Europe. This was a rude ugly shock; maybe rude could be an understatement. All it takes to run a good swimming pool is a clean pool with good storage and changing facilities. All of which were amiss although the club charges Lakhs of rupees for membership. But hey there were 5 life guard’s in and around the pool, all it takes is to get these people to clean the pool walls and make it squeaky clean for more people to enjoy the facilities. We have resources, but not adequate will.
The socio economic factors of India have also influenced our cultural disposition. Poverty, hunger, filth, crowds, unhygienic conditions have driven the Indian masses to culturally ally with these situations. And our country has altered our socio cultural conditioning to accept without questioning.
The flight is already delayed by 40 minutes, and there has been no announcement yet! Sab kuch chalta hain yahan.
Implementation in India is a challenge for various reasons, lack of information flow, beauracracy, babudom and uneducated vote banks. And a weak will of the Indian Diaspora to change or be an agent of change. We the people of this country need to change, to see any development in India. Politicians are made by the process of democratically elected candidates by the people, of the people for the people. Why can’t we then raise awareness among the masses to seek the right questions, to seek a better living and look forward to a brighter future?
India is a mammoth project that needs to be undertaken only by the brave. For we have a system that fails to deliver- and has failed time and again. To revamp this system is not practical, however to make it efficient may not be. One of the ways Efficiency can be added by getting the parallel system of administration into main stream administration. The parallel administration is efficient and knows the right buttons to press in the myriad beauracracy. It took me 3 days and 400 rupees to get a driving license through an agent who works outside of the Indian administration, whereas it would have taken me three weeks and twenty rupees to get the same license from the proper channel.
How do I exploit this efficiency that already exists – within the system and by the system? How do we make the system more responsive to change? The Giant Indian beauracracy has been known to move at a Snail’s pace whereas we see the Chinese Dragons have adapted their beauracracy to move swiftly.
To compete today, we need qualities of a global player, and have to bring us up to the international playing field. But even today our outlook remains backward; caste based politics, division of vote banks based by religion, impending development based on meaningless disputes. The issues are endless and depressing.
Where do I begin to make a difference for my country? How do I contribute?
You are the universe and everything around you is an extension thereof. As Gandhi puts it ‘Whatever you do might seem insignificant, but it’s important that you do it’

P.N – Pardon the Grammar, I was never good at it!