Submitted by: David McKinnon

I am sure the recent terrorist attacks in India have been on all of our minds.  As the departure date comes closer it?s only natural for us to think about if and how the Indian government will react.  As I read the following article in the Far Eastern Economic Review I tried to relate the attacks in India with the 9/11 attacks in the United States.  How did we react?  With hindsight being 20/20 we are able to analyze how we responded and use it as a reference point with India.

The article talks about the Bharatiya Janata Party pushing for a return of POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Activities Act), an anti-terrorism legislation.  You can read about POTA here.

In the article, the author gives her reasons why she is against such legislation.

What do you guys think?

Submitted by: David Caldwell

It seems as if a firestorm of coverage has erupted from India in the past few days: headlines like “Indian Official: Terrorists Wanted to Kill 5,000” and “India Ends Mumbai Rampage After 60 hours, 195 Dead” seem to bring the visceral carnage straight into our living rooms and onto our coffee tables from 13 time zones away. Since the development and distribution of modern satellite and fiber-optic communications matured in the 90’s, information has been pouring back and forth in ever increasing volumes over our tiny blue planet as quickly as relativistic speed limits have allowed. With this ever increasing capacity, we’ve begun to push entire industries abroad to take advantage of lower costs and greater production capabilities. Indeed, even our military has started pushing GPS and communications technologies into the forefront of its offensive and defensive capabilities - replacing battalions of troops and stockpiles of nuclear warheads as its primary deterrent.

On the flip side of this coin has been the quick and cheap dissemination of communications tools to more unscrupulous characters. It came as a shock to Indian commandos that the terrorists involved in this week’s attack were found to be using “Blackberries to Monitor the World’s Response to Their Actions“. According to CNN, “the gunmen were as brazen as they were well trained, using sophisticated weapons, GPS technology and mobile and satellite phones to communicate….they were constantly in touch with a foreign country.” It goes without saying then that access to cheap, ubiquitous communications technology can come as mixed blessing.

Update: Apparently Twitter has gained some popularity in India, and it was used extensively by the people present at the event: Mumbai: Twitter’s Moment

Submitted By: Andrea Muntzel

Thanksgiving came around with an event that none of us could possibly give thanks for? a terrorist attack in Mumbai. I’m sure I wasn’t alone in fending off worried family members’ and friends’ comments about the dangers of India. I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one that felt fearful and concerned for our upcoming trip to the city.

In the days that followed the attacks, a deluge of articles, videos, and interviews filled the newspapers and news channels. If you haven’t heard much about the attack itself, I suggest reading this Wall Street Journal article, entitled India Security Faulted as Survivors Tell of Terror (also see the interactive graphic). Since this article was written, there has been a back-and-forth between Pakistan and India, talks about the effects this attack will have on the economy, and a theory that links China to the grenades used in the attacks (a completely different blog post in itself). Writing this post, I am overwhelmed by the opportunity to spark insightful discussions on a number of diverse topics relating to India’s horrific attack. I will write about my own perceptions and experiences; feel free to write about yours.

On Thanksgiving morning, after learning about these acts of terrorism, my first reaction (surprise) was not very surprising. After reading Zakaria’s The Post-American World, I have felt very confident about going to India. A country that can relate to the United States and that has strong ties to the United States would surely be a safe place for Americans, right? I’m not sure. After my family finished our Thanksgiving meal, I found myself in an unusual position: arguing in favor of India. Talking politics at the dinner table is a social faux pas that I try to avoid. This time, however, I was in the heat after sparking the debate with my response to my aunt’s question, “You aren’t going to Mumbai when you go to India, are you?!” As I gently explained my knowledge obtained through Zakaria, I realized that a lot of the distrust my family had for India was rooted in ignorance and fear; my uncle’s line of work has seen a lot of jobs going overseas to India, and my aunt thinks that Indians don’t like Americans. After researching the subject, I also discovered how limited the information I had about India was. I was unaware that India has been the target of 12 terrorist attacks since 2005 (see WSJ article, Murder in Mumbai). The fact that the country is pro-American does not mean that it is America, complete with the largest defense budget in the world. In fact, this attack has revealed huge weaknesses in India’s infrastructure and government.

These comments have brought up several points relating to the attacks in Mumbai. First, of course, is whether India is a safe place for us to visit this summer. I find myself conflicted in this issue. I initially thought that chances are there wouldn’t be two terrorist attacks in the same place within such a tight time period. After learning about India’s history, however, I admit to being a little more nervous. Being American in a city that has been the target of terrorism towards Americans is a little disconcerting.

The second issue is India’s slow reaction to the attacks. In light of this subject, I thought it was only fitting to include Fareed Zakaria’s discussion of this incident from a Newsweek article entitled This Fire Needs to be Put Out. In the article, Zakaria discusses India’s weaknesses in an honest and insightful way. He talks again about the need for reform at the governmental level while also touching on political, social, and foreign issues. A correlation must be made between the fact that India is a democracy yet is “plagued by weak coalition governments, patronage and corruption, with little emphasis on professionalism and competence.”

Overall, it will be interesting to see how India reacts over the next couple of weeks. Zakaria predicts that these attacks will have the same uniting result that 9/11 had on Americans. He writes: “while Indians have many troubles, they have one great counterterrorism policy - resilience. The Mumbai stock exchange reopened last Friday and closed higher. The country will persevere, the city will bounce back, and all those who have reasons to go there should not be deterred.”

Hopefully, neither shall we.

Last year we visited an Indian hospital that engaged in medical tourism. Fascinating place and visit.

Today’s Wall Street Journal [subscription required] had a great article on this very subject (Paying Workers To Go Abroad For Health Care).

Short summary:

In an effort to control rising costs, a small but growing number of insurers and employers are giving people the option of seeking treatment in countries like India.

I predict said trend will continue and more and more firms will do this.

Check out the article.

Have any of you worked for or do any of you work for firms that have plugged into medical tourism to help cut costs? If so, what has been your experience?

If not, if/when that day comes, won’t this trip help you make a better/more informed decision re: the viability of going this route for you individually and/or for you as a manager of your firm trying to educate your employees on this option?

I have not written nearly enough about India on this blog, not because I am not interested and fascinated by the place, but because I just don’t know India; I only know a bit about China.

This short 60 Minutes segment, Out of India, is a required assignment for you to watch.

You will enjoy this video and will learn a lot. This segment also builds nicely on Mr. Asnani’s excellent talk with you a few weeks ago about his ecountant business, and, the call center in India we will also visit.

See also this related Wall Street Journal article that just came out, In India Parents Become Part of the Picture for Outsourcing Firms. Fascinating employee recruitment development, retention and HR issues are highlighted in this article as it applies to the outsourcing industry in India and the above video.

The world today is an amazing place. I can’t think of a better or more exciting time to be alive and in business.

Students, your thoughts?

Submitted By: Tai Massion

Dharavi is allegedly the biggest slum in Asia . It is located in the city of Mumbai, India . With a population of 1 million housed (if you could call it that) in low-rise wood, metal and cardboard dwellings, within one square mile, it is cramped to say the least (and you thought Isla Vista was bad- try taking out all the parks/roads in IV and plugging in 1 million people — are you getting a visual?).

A family interviewed for an article in the December 22 issue of the Economist said he and his extended family (mother, father, brothers, brother’s wives, kids, etc.), 12 people in all, live in a 90 square-foot room (half the size of a parking spot) which is very typical of Dharavi. This level of poverty many of us will never be able to comprehend unless seen by our own eyes, and even then it may be hard to believe. But Dharavi is thriving.

Dharavi’s formation began in 1943 as migrants came into the city from farmlands during the large famine at that time. Waves such as this continued over the years when there were droughts and natural disasters. Migrants claimed a patch of Dharavi by squatted on it and constructing a shanty-type shelter. Today there are more permanent dwellings and many one room factories. Shanties are even sold, and the prices are gong up, but no titles exist. A small hutment will go for about 500,000 rupees ($12,700 dollars). The city has put in some wells, one water pump per 100 people and 16 public latreens — one per 300 people, (but that costs $0.75 for a monthly family pass). On many levels the shanty-town is working. There is a sense of ownership, community, culture and business.

This article synopsis: Asia’s Largest Slum Is An Economic Powerhouse tells of how residents are industrious and fierce entrepreneurs:

“Dharavi…may be one of the world’s bigger slums, but it is arguably its most prosperous, a thriving and productive business centre propelled by tens of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs. Estimates vary considerably, but the collective economic output of Dharavi is as impressive as it is improbable: at least $800-million a year, and perhaps well over $1-billion.

This is the unspoken side of the Indian economy, the impoverished counterpoint to the gleaming call centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad that have transfixed Western investors and come to symbolize the country’s gradual emergence as a potential global power. It is also a rebuke to the typical prejudices that dog slum-dwellers: that they somehow inhabit a world of despair, that they have no other community than that of shared poverty and frustration. These people may be lacking, but they are also industrious and enterprising — and, for the most part, fiercely attached to the slum.

Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai, India, may appear at first to be a squalid concentration of misery. It is also the prosperous home of some 5,000 single-room factories and tens of thousands of entrepreneurs.”

To make this situation more interesting, the state desperately wants to redevelop the land into high-rise apartments. It has offered to give the residents a new apartment for free, but many are opposed. The biggest reason is that the one-room factories are free from taxes and regulations. City officials do not set foot in Dharavi. If it were redeveloped business owners would be forced to rent commercial-spaces at high prices. Many small entrepreneurs would be finished. Redevelopment work was scheduled to start this year, but has been stopped due to bad press and local protests.

What should be done? Does Dharavi have a good thing going here? Or does the state need to be more forceful in stepping in and knocking out the shanty-town to make way for high-rises? What potential problems do you see? Keep in mind the UN expects the population of Mumbai to double in size over the next 10 years, also keep in mind the many cases of Chinese city-planning corruption we have read about.

Submitted By: Simeon Trieu

Eric Bellman, “Moving Up in Mumbai: Humble Jobs at the Mall Are Lifting Legions of Indians Out of Poverty”, Wall Street Journal, Nov. 17. 2007, at A1.

Although India is often seen as the world’s IT and services resource, the fact is that much of India’s population still lives in poverty.

According to a study from Deloitte Research (commented on in the article: China or India?…And Follow Up Questions?), only roughly 7% of India’s population aged 18 to 23 is enrolled in higher education. In addition, 75% of India’s children leave school before finishing 8th grade (Kalish 6-7).

In the article, Mr. Shaikh comments that “once you start looking for money, you stop thinking about education.” While the poverty figures may not decrease, even after India obtains a large share of the world services market, there is still hope for many uneducated people living in poor conditions, at least in Mumbai.

At a retail store, Pantaloon, three men from poor families applied and got jobs to work as retail associates. Some of these men make less than $50 a month to sustain them and their families. Often times, it is not enough, and the families end up hungry. So, why work at Pantaloon? Their wages are roughly $1600 a year plus the prospect of regular raises and promotions, all of this being double the average salary in India. Since the Indian population is largely uneducated, there are plenty of wealth creating opportunities for both foreign investment and local Indian labor. Much of the new wealth resulting from IT and services goes largely to college educated computer programmers, consultants and call-center workers. All this totals up to a whopping 0.2% of India’s 1.1 billion population, which leaves the rest with the same conditions before all this began… or does it?

What does the new wealth given to India’s college educated change in India? It creates a middle class with needs for consumption. This is exactly what provides the poor city dwellers in their 20s and 30s with: jobs to service the middle class. In other words, India’s growth is being led by a sharp rise in domestic consumption. It is predicted by the Images Group, a research and consulting group in India, that the retail sector alone will create 2.5 million new jobs within the country. This is good news to the poor living there! Although, this mostly affects the city areas that are more metropolitan, where brand name goods and services will attract the new free-spending consumers.

In addition to providing opportunities for new wealth for the impoverished people, it also offers them a chance to learn new skills such as developing rapport, confidence, fashion-sense and even better hygiene. Through talking to people much richer than themselves, especially with the hierarchical levels of respect built into Indian society, the associates learn better communication skills while developing confidence in themselves.

And lastly, one reason this particular article touched me was that it offered the people hope, something they are in short supply on. Mr. Gundeti’s father is very cautious about what to expect in life. “Every time we have a little hope, something bad happens.” But with these new positions teaching their children how to properly communicate and work a steady job, they can improve both personally, as well as financially. One particular sales associate even said, “I try to teach my friends to end their vulgar language and behavior. They don’t change, so I don’t spend time with them anymore.” The workplace develops into a community of sales associates that spend time with each other, even outside of work. The jobs given to the poor have an even greater effect than just the money: they find hope and confidence in their futures. It’s very easy to look at this issue analytically and forget that we’re dealing with people. As an MBA student, it is my dream to have this kind of lasting, uplifting effect on people in any business I do. While the jobs are very humble and often derided by many Americans, those same humble jobs are producing the positive changes that India desperately needs.