Buying retail in India--Part II

A few months ago, i wrote about my problem buying retail in India, where it is hard to return defective items.  I am now happy to report that one store, Diana Stores in Defence Colony, New Delhi, does provide an exchange.  When my Belkin DC to AC car inverter died, they were happy to take it back.  Reason?  The manufacturer, Belkin itself stands behind their product and will take it back from the distributor.

However, while it is great that Diana Stores and Belkin stood behind their product, it was also insightful to interview some of the managers at Belkin about the business process and rationale behind their move.  Speaking off the record, they told me that any product brought into India is manufactured in China, shipped all the way to the United States (yes!) then brought back to Chennai via the Middle East and then finally distributed to other points around the country.

Why not bring products directly from China to India?  The official answer, which i also hear from other manufacturers, is that the Indian market demand is largely unrecorded so sales and product placements are mostly a result of careful guesswork.  Hence, product moves to the US first and then is sent to "ancillary" centers like India. 

Once the product arrives at Chennai port, there are still the uncertainties of roads and slow trucks to deal with.

Yet, after all this, the price was about Rs 1500 in the market, which is about $ 35 and similar to the street price in the US.  Hearing this story, my sympathy has moved entirely to the side of the manufacturer!  The costs and challenges are mind-boggling and i don't grudge them a penny of the money they earn.

We are all sick of spam--here's one neat idea!

Politics can controversial and the BJP, the right-wing Hindu-centric political party in India, is no exception  However, the Telecom Cell of that party has come up with a neat idea involving the SMS spam that we get in our inboxes.  (India being as technologically advanced as it is, is more mobile-enabled that most other countries around the world.  Email spam is less of a pestilence that mobile spam through SMS texts).

For every unsolicited SMS a user receives, they should be paid ` 5!

It is as brilliant as it is easy.  My school friend, Siddhant Garg explained how, for a sender of spam, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is ` 122.  If so, ` 5 is a small fee to pay.  This will come back to the user in the form of a credit in their bill and will accrue as soon as they get their unsolicited SMS.  No credit--no delivery of the message.  

Very interesting idea and something relatively easy to implement, anywhere in the world!

Infrastructure vs Infrastructure III

My previous post on infrastructure is getting quite a few responses--mostly in my personal email--but also in the comments section.  I want to draw your attention to one particular comment from Mr Pramod Ahuja of Princeton, NJ:

"Keep in mind the scale of the problem and the time it needs--the process starts with each one of us--not others or the government--if we keep our house clean and then expand the circle--starting perhaps with a foot or two each month around our building--and if every private building did that, millions of sq ft would get improved each year.

"Private citizens need to take the lead here--govt will follow--not the other way around--same goes for every field -educational Institutions, village uplifts, hygiene and sanitation--you name it. What did you do today to help or did you just ask your servant to sweep it for the dirt to return tomorrow? Why not cement it or start building more permanent good quality finished surfaces for waking if not for cycling?"

Interesting thought.  Mr Ahuja asks why we do not better maintain what we already have and then essentially agrees that we should improve the quality of our construction. 

The fact that we are talking about a solution is good--great, in fact.  I, for one, am sick of reading about yet another dump in Gurgaon or yet another traffic snafu in Bangalore.  Bring on some suggested solutions, for a change!

Will keeping the neighborhood clean help, however, when the construction itself is poor?  It seems to be that ultimately,  Mr Ahuja and i are in agreement that it is the construction--and, presumably, other infrastructure--that should be improved.  Where we disagree is that i do not believe that merely keeping what we have in good order will organically improve our infrastructure.  Fact:  Indian roads are woefully inadequate for the task of supporting an economy growing at 9%.  Fact:  Indian buildings are woefully lacking in some of the basic sealant technology that would otherwise obviate the need to clean and mop homes five times a day.  Fact:  such poor road or building construction is only possible because of the pervasive corruption.  In the US and other countries, neither the roads nor the buildings would obtain a basic Certificate of Occupation.

I am not sure what the best solution or solutions are here but here goes:

1.    With roads, drive less and plan your driving to minimize it as much as possible.  Gurgaon-based Alchemist Technologies provides safe roads in remote border areas but are apparently not good enough (or are they too good?) to get a contract to fix the local roads.

2.    VOTE VOTE VOTE--your vote counts, not just in the state elections but also the local elections.  We need to change our mindset, in fact, and recognize that local elections are, in fact, more important than state or national elections.  Not only that, our vote actually means more because fewer people turn up at the polls.

3.     Do as much of our construction as possible.  This seems to be easier said than done, however.  In the US, we have light construction material readily available from national chains like Lowe's and Home Depot.  In India, i cannot even drive a nail into the wall because of the heavy cement.  Is there a better way?  Any more people want to shed light into how we can be self-sufficient in construction?

The significance of Indian festivals

This is an exciting time in Delhi--the weather is cold, outside and inside the home.  People are already looking forward to the spring/summer with several religious and secular festivals.  In the last few days alone, we have experienced three harvest festivals drawn from the varied corners of India:  Lohri, on Jan 13, Makar Sankranti on Jan 14 and Pongal, on Jan 15.  The list of festivals around India (and throughout South East Asia) is very long and the Khuado Pawi is celebrated in Mizoram, and Songkarn or Maha Songkarn is celebrated in Thailand and Cambodia.  The interesting thing is that the harvest festivals are based on the solar calendar while most other Hindu dates are lunar.  The Islamic Eid Al-Adha is based on the lunar calendar, as a result of which it does not fall around the same time as the other festivals.  In 2010, it was in early November.  Eid Al-Adha, of course, is also considered a harvest festival although it primarily celebrates the grace of God in releasing Abraham from him promise to sacrifice his son, as soon as Abraham proved that he was capable of passing the test.  It is a truly significant festival for all since the birth and crucifixion of Jesus was directly linked to Abraham's ability to pass the test and demonstrate that God never asks us to make a sacrifice that He would not make Himself (since Jesus Himself was the son of God).

Festivals are wonderful, however, only when people can financially afford to participate in them.  Many in India cannot do so, due to caste and gender barriers in the past and due to financial barriers today.  As we enjoy the festivals, it is important that we also share them with those who may not be able to do so on their own.  For example, harvest festivals are wonderful, except for the farmers who grow the food but commit suicides when they cannot pay back their debts.  Fortunately, we have many ways and many methods to share the bounty more easily today.  Some of these methods are discussed below, even as we enjoy the festive season.  By enjoying festivals and sharing the bounty, we increase the joys for all.

The beauty of the Indian festivals, is how all of them end up as community events, spanning religions and regions.  In our apartment complex, Mr Anurag Singh and several other residents organized a bonfire for all residents where the personal and physical warmth was quite a thrill to experience!

As a child brought up in Delhi--and until i started researching this blog--i was unaware that Lohri originated in Punjab and Kashmir.  Like most festivals in India, it also has roots in celebrating the victory of God over the forces of evil.  Lohri, the sister of Holika, survived with Prahlad when she accompanied the devotee of Vishnu into a fire.  Additionally, Lohri celebrates Dulla Bhatti a Muslim Rajput convert who rescued Hindu girls who were being transported as slaves during Mughal rule.  Coming back with fresh eyes, I see that this mongrel Indian culture spread over 5,000 years has its benefits!

Another event held during this time was a Bharatnatyam celebration of Tamil Nadu's Pongal by the celebrated guru, Jamuna Krishnan, in Delhi.

Again, although the tradition is from Tamil Nadu, several of the musical scores were set in Hindi.  The message, as always, is to thank God through the medium of dance for His benevolence.  The beauty of some of the devotional songs is how they refer to representations of God in ways that never make sense in a temporal sense.  In the Bharatnatyam dances, God is praised as shining like a thousand suns.  This makes little sense until we start to meditate deeply--as anyone can do.  As my own guru, Paramhansa Yogananda and several other Masters have shown, seeing different bright lights in meditation is not particularly rare, especially for those who practice Kriya Yoga.

It is these traditions, if interpreted in their true spiritual context, that truly demonstrate the "ultimate verities" of life that Yogananda has spoken of in his book, Autobiography of a Yogi.  For one, we need to spend more time to spare a thought for the farmers that make the harvest possible.  Beyond the spiritual beauty is the challenge of sharing this bounty in a temporal sense with those who do not have the means to enjoy these traditions.  To do so, check out GiveIndia and RangDe to see how they are helping change the lives of the farmers and others who make the successful harvest festivals possible at all levels.

Infrastructure versus Infrastructure--Part II

It is well known throughout the world that India's infrastructure sector is a potential goldmine for investment. However, very little is getting done. This, even though we have a vibrant democracy with a free and vocal press. The Hindustan Times, a leading newspaper, for example, launched a "Collapsing Gurgaon" series. However, our civil servants and politicians obviously don't need to read the Hindustan Times--and the 2.25 million people who do obviously don't matter as voters.

What are the solutions? Why is it that the road inside a private colony like DLF or Unitec is clean while the road outside gets washed away after every little rainfall?

The solutions are probably several but do come down to votes. There are many more people living in Indian slums than there are living in the high-rise apartments. Hence, although the middle-class may have some wealth to complain about garbage, the poorer ones need to worry about food, clothing and shelter and when everyone has one vote, that is where the politicians go.

There is also no clear accountability for the roads when the potholes develop. I don't want to get sued but when one vendor builds a private road and it is fine for years but the next vendor builds the government-funded outside roads and that breaks down after one rain, who benefits? You do the math.

Ultimately, everything comes back to doing the right thing. There is no sense of social justice in India because we are used to a caste system and a sense of disparity that would be unacceptable in most other parts of the world. Those who complain about garbage in their backyard forget that many others live amongst that garbage. Unless the slums get better infrastructure as well, including functioning schools, hygiene, security and clear avenue for productive employment, the major voting bloc will will always lie there. When a politician can get 100 votes by installing one toilet, why would he bother to build roads that are more expensive and laborious?

Think about it: as we sow, so do we reap. If we can spend a few hours a week, educating our servants and empowering them, we will eventually improve our own lives. A few will leave employment, armed with the greater knowledge but the majority will stay because they know that they can benefit even more. That is where the votes are and that is the community that will get the minimal service required to retain the votes. Until then, the middle class can charter 20 air-conditioned buses to Chandigarh in Haryana or the Vidhan Soudha in Bangalore and will continue to get polite nothings.

So let us fight for more, for sure. But let us fight for the larger community and town rather than the smallest development, for that is the only way that the politicians will listen.

Alternately (but impracticably) clean up your own backyard, the way DLF and Unitec do it. However, the scale of this problem is too large for anyone except the government (or accountable sub-contracted vendor) to handle on an ongoing basis, in my humble opinion.

Buying retail in India

This may be normal for many who have been living in India for several years. However, i was surprised a few days ago when we purchased a heater for Rs 6000 that did not work. When we took it back to the store, the owner pointed out a clause that clearly said, "No Returns, No Exchange", which i had missed. Legally, he is right. Morally, i am. So now i have a heater that does not work and i am out the money.

So i have concluded that to purchase in the future, we must use a resource like EBay, Naaptol, Indiatimes, FutureBazaar, HomeShop18, which gives the seller an incentive to be ethical. Chalk it up to lessons learned. Fair Warning--i have tried EBay and the customer support worked well. I have no personal experience with the other sites.

Any other options to pursue that don't cause more trouble than they are worth? Suggestions welcome!

Religion and Spirituality in India

I was in Defence Colony yesterday, an area of Delhi, where i was looking for some electronic equipment. There was the usual Hindi film music playing in the background. The catchy song was about "sexy Sheena". It was somewhat embarrassing--how do people play such songs in public family areas?? (Quite easily, i see).

What was surprising: at the payment counter were pictures of Jesus Christ and Guru Nanak.

It seems that in India we have a strong inclination towards religion even if we are not always able to adhere to the spiritual principles behind them. In the US, outside of politics, the outward environment can be studiously a-religious--to the extent that whether you wish someone "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" can cause a controversy. Yet, the homes are generally quite spiritual. As the great Indian-American teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda taught, perhaps some day, when we can get rid of the distractions of caste and communal disharmony, we can all come together and realize that the underlying principles of the major religions are identical, even if the forms continue to be different.

Infrastructure versus Infrastructure

This has now happened a couple of time so i think i need to mention it: i am sitting in my relatively decrepit digs in India. It does not matter whether it is a 4 star hotel or a settled home or any other place--the poor construction, dust and grime seems to make everything decrepit very quickly. I just had a fight with some insects and won the battle (but not the war, for sure). I go back to my connected notebook and link with multiple client sites in the US. As the cliche goes, it is just as if i was right there in NY, NJ, Arizona or other places.

I call a colleague and surprise, surprise: i am working, 10,000 miles away but they are down, 100 yards from the data center! They sit in fancy offices, temperature-controlled and picture perfect . . . but their network is down and no work gets done.

India is growing very quickly in terms of having a robust technological infrastructure even while the physical infrastructure decays. The US and Europe have great roads and buildings (from past decades of investment) but their technological setup is either too unreliable or too expensive or both.

What does this mean? Developed nations need to invest more in their technology and education, possibly with assistance from Indian talent. Developing nations like India have to strengthen their laws and improve their quality of construction--with American help. This cross-pollination of skills and exchange of knowledge will allow all countries to progress in the coming years.

So i wrong earlier--connecting from India is NOT like being right there. If i were right there, my network would be a NOT-work. However, i would also be warm and comfortable, not worrying about why the heater is too cold or the refrigerator is too hot.

Wikileaks and Hiatus

Travelling back to the US for a few weeks. i am following the wikileaks scandal with interest. Contrary to what the news outlets say, i see little of interest in the first tranche of 233 documents: beyond what Ahmedinajad thinks of Berlusconi and the US thinks of Pakistan (we already knew they needed Pakistan but did not trust it), i see little worthy of more than a big YAAAAWN! There were some revelations that Yemen's leaders were letting the US conduct bombings while stating in public that only Yemenis were conducting the raids but nothing significant to affect the big picture.

Now, if we found out that the US is planning to change its Middle East policy or that India will agree to give up nuclear weapons for a seat on the UN Security Council, THAT would be of interest!

Trust Gadhafi to take the first step, however: after the US Ambassador made some remarks about his "voluptuous" nurse, he has been asked to return home.

Our stuff has arrived at home!

Okay, folks, our stuff has arrived at home, intact and is currently being unpacked. I owe an apology to all the officials involved for talking about bribes, i guess. NO BRIBE was given by me knowingly throughout this process!! Many thanks to my attorney friend Mohit Mathur who advised me on how the process worked so i went in forewarned and forearmed about the legal side!

On the operational side, i was lucky that i happened to have the major receipts on hand with me. No one told me to bring them on the day i was supposed to "just inspect" the goods. So i would say that at least some of the bureaucracy or perceived corruption in India is due to the inefficiency and lack of clear information on what documents are needed at each step. Beyond that, the goods sat at the warehouse for about four days in the open (with nothing missing) which should not have happened either. We should have just been able to go home with the goods as soon as we paid the customs duty.

Our goods have not been delivered yet

Our goods arrived in Delhi Nov 3 (minus one TV set, apparently)

Six days later, they are yet to get home. latest excuse: because of the missing TV set, more paperwork delays are needed. (Presumably, we need to make the pilferage even easier).

Not sure what is going on! Stay tuned on the latest saga of what happens when you dont bribe :)

Obama's trip not so bad after all

Okay, i messed up.

Obama's trip was not as bad as we feared. Quite good, actually. Let me do a full mea culpa by reviewing what i had said earlier:

Obama brings:
1. Support for technology transfers
2. Support for a seat for India on the Security Council
3. Plenty of support to Pakistan, with practically no strings attached

Obama seeks:
1. More Indian investment
2. More Indian economic support

So this seems like more of a win-win situation to me. The question is: can India and the US get their tango down on time? China is like a speeding bullet train and is expected to now catch up with the US in PPP economic terms in--get this--TWO YEARS!! Who'd have thought of it?

Obama comes looking for jobs, i leave, following mine

Obama just dropped by Mumbai today. As luck would have it, i get to leave on a business trip back to the US--talk about an unexpected bonus!

For someone who has not been able to create jobs in the US, it is not clear what his agenda in India is. let's do a quick count:

Obama brings:
1. No support for technology transfers
2. No support for a seat for India on the Security Council
3. Plenty of support to Pakistan, with practically no strings attached

Obama seeks:
1. More Indian investment
2. More Indian economic support

Now that's a good way to make friends and influence people. Way to go, Barack!

Check out similar thoughts, from an American point of view on my US-centric blog at http://bipartico.blogspot.com/

India's power situation is many million times better than it was

After 23 years, one thing that is a pleasant surprise is how well the power/generator backup system works. Although only a tiny minority of people have this facility, i am sure, it is still a huge leap forward from where the country was when i left. Every one of my small appliances work and work well, except for a UPS. An expert friend Prasanto Kumar Roy from CyberMedia tells me that i am not getting the right "step-down transformer". i respond to his Greek in broken Spanish and he embarrasses me again by responding fluently. When i get back, i need to Google "step down transformer".

In general, the change in the power situation is significant because there is at least a path for everyone to (theoretically) have access to uninterrupted power. We are a long way off from making power more inexpensive. However, using generators is a retail solution where the government infrastructure fails (yet again). But more on that in future blogs . . .

Nov 3: Our goods arrive in Delhi

Our goods arrived in Delhi today. There was a fear that the shipper would want me to pay more money ahead of time so i spoke to my friend the attorney, who assured me that according to the contract, i only have to pay on delivery.

My next resolution was to make sure i had all the proper invoices for my possessions so there would be no reason to pay a bribe. When the customs officials stated that my goods were incorrectly priced, i provided them with the receipts. No bribes paid. I had the pay the duty in cash and got no receipt but did get an endorsement in my passport. I wonder what that means?

The goods are now in the warehouse. The customs duty was paid in cash. Will everything arrive safely home? Stay tuned . . .

Sept 25: Our goods are announced

Corruption and dishonesty is not exclusive to India, apparently. Today, we have been called by the Indian agent of our US shipper and told to pay the remaining 20% owed to them. Didnt the contract say we pay on delivery? Apparently that is irrelevant.

After a lot of haggling, we agreed to pay about 60% of the amount due. My concern is: if we pay the full amount, what guarantee is there that the goods will arrive at all?

Flashback: August 25. 2010: I pay my first bribe

I paid my first bribe within 4 hours of landing in India. We had a dog that had been brought from the US and the message was that without a $ 4000 bribe ($ 100) he would stay and starve. At 2 am, i don't think i had a choice: i paid the bribe, got jerked around to pay another Rs 600 as the "official" duty and got our dog out.

We were told to come back the next day and get some official paperwork, which we never did. I am ashamed of myself but given the vulnerability and the fact that a living thing was starving, i doubt that i would do anything different under the same circumstances.

When our goods come, i have resolved not to bribe. Let's see what happens . . .

This is a blog about my experiences in India

This is a blog about my experiences in India after spending 23 years in the US. A lot is wonderful, a lot is exciting but a lot of the day to day life is depressingly unchanged. Yet, the general direction is certainly fast forward and, unlike the much shorter lived Prague Spring, India certainly seems to be aggressively pursuing its "capitalism with a human face" and thriving.

The title is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, "The Story of My Experiments with Truth".