My colleague from Europe traveled to India recently, and stayed in the city of Bengaluru for a week. This was his first time traveling to our country. He usually travels within Europe and to US.
Upon returning, I asked him about his experience, and what was the most surprising thing about the city, and India in general.
Cows
First thing he was shocked to see was cows on the road. He is still perplexed about their condition and trying to process things he saw. “What do they eat?”, “who owns them?”,”who takes care of them?”… etc were his questions to me.
He contrasted this with the condition of cows in Europe, and how there are rules and regulations to manage and pet them.
Trash
The second thing he said that stood out was trash on the streets. He said that he noticed trash wherever he traveled in the city. He asked if someone actually picks up the garbage.
Noise
His third point was, “Why is the city so noisy and why are people constantly trying to honk?” He said it troubled him a lot and I nodded.
The noise level in our cities is dangerously high – in contrast to European cities where it is quiet even in the city centers.
Food
The thing he enjoyed the most was the food and the unlimited variety is came with. He was especially impressed with the range of breakfast. But, like most foreigners, he got sick with stomach upset in first few days. So he could not try more.
Having discussed these, I asked if he had got a chance to go out of the city and explore other destinations. He said few of his other colleagues went to Mysuru but came back exhausted. He was pleased that he did not join them. He had already seen enough.
I spoke to him for 30 min and at no point did he mention he was awestruck by the new T2 airport terminal, nor the wide lane highways connecting to it….nor the tall swanky buildings or the flyovers. In fact, he never stepped out of the hotel.
As for me, I was taken aback as well. He ticked all the stereotypes that are associated with our country: Bad roads, Garbage, Poor water quality, Traffic and Chaos on our roads etc. The only redeeming quality seemed to be our food.
Before ending our conversation he asked, “Why are NRIs returning to India? Isn’t life much better here in the west?” I wish I had more strong reasons to rebut, but all I could reply was “Its because of the family”.
This post is just a reminder on how far we are lagging in fixing basics. Our politicians need to understand that improving quality of life is essential not only for the residents but tourists as well. Unless that is done, it is hard to attract investment.
If you are a policy maker, please spend more on basics first. Your new airport terminal, your new fancy bridge, tunnels – all can wait.
They have very little impact on the day to day life.
