Also in the news: 'India Today' - "how to get 'brighter' skin in 10 minutes". Single quotes around 'brighter' added for effect. Picture, naturally, is of a woman.
The elections are nearly over; it looks like Modi is going to win. I can hear a BJP spokesperson loudly proclaiming that the party won't promote religious fanaticism, and will represent all Indians. I wont pretend to know the history of Indian politics, but I can see enough to know I don't like it. Narendra Modi is championing 'economic development', combined through his party alliances with Hindu nationalism. He champions his apparent success in Gujurat, not in reducing poverty [1,2,3], but in encouraging business. Who doesn't want to be rich, and have a higher GDP, even if this is not equally distributed. When people talk about economic growth they picture themselves richer, but the results don't always follow the imagination. In the West economic growth in the last 40 years has disproportionately benefited those earning above the median wage, there is a very important graph to see on this if you haven't seen it before [4,5]. The incumbent Congress, with a reputation destroyed by a history of corruption scandals, and Indian racism, didn't really stand a chance. (Some of the corruption is so notorious it has even become modern art, I remember one multimedia piece in the National Gallery of Modern Art (Delhi) based on the Radia tapes of the India 2G spectrum scandal). It's populist schemes aimed at the rural poor were in the end dogged by corruption, even if with good intent. But many Indian's will gladly tell you the big secret why Congress is so terrible is that Sonia Gandhi was not even Indian, she was born Italian! Apparently European girls are only the most precious objects when they are young and pretty (see 6).
Rahul Gandhi has clearly failed to sell the same policies which won the last election. Many of the schemes initiated or continued under Congress could be dismissed as influence buying, but they had real results. One, which is on display frequently in Meghalaya is MGNREGS. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which allocates 100 days of paid work every year to one person in each household in rural areas. To find something to do in the jungle this scheme seems to be primarily involved with constructing community halls (which are too small), and concrete steps between the villages. While the original stone steps through the forest were beautiful and romantic, sadly I understand they were nearly unwalkable in the rainy season and the welfare of the local people is at stake. The other visible schemes are heavily subsidised rice, rural health and empowerment schemes.
Modi recently gave a speech in Varanasi. This was a wave to Hindus, it couldn't be more so, landing at a Hindu university, surrounded by Hindu figures, in a city holy to the Hindus. Among his promises of restoring the city to greatness (a bit too dramatic), and including a hedge of promising to help the cities Muslim weavers, was to increase tourism (through some unclear effect). While I can't argue that cleaning the Ganga is a great goal, what infrastructure benefits tourism? I haven't been to Varanasi, but I have heard that what it is, reportedly crowded, chaotic and dirty, contributes to the effect. Still, people have to live in this place, I don't condemn people to live in a museum, but myself I get a very hollow effect. I will make you rich, and you, and you are not forgotten either. Glory to the Hindu, cough I mean, Indian state.
I hear some business owners in Tapovan (Rishikesh) talking about Modi. Maybe they can get richer now the economy is the prime focus. These are the same people breaking the law by charging over MRP (Maximum Retail Price) (it seems that this scam is particularly concentrated on Rishikesh), perhaps instead they will be the ones squeezed. Perhaps instead of fighting high level corruption (AAP fought entirely on this stand) advancement means more inspectors to enforce the Indian act on Standards and Measures which mandates an MRP. Again the superficial denial is present, who is being kidded by a scratched off MRP, at a roadside cafe on the way back to Delhi. Denial is painful. Who asks, am I part of what destroys the country. India is Great. How do I get into your country?
Notes:
Some stories on poverty reduction, taking their numbers from other sources. It's worth noting that 'poverty' as it is defined in India is far worse than poverty, it is abject poverty. The poverty line is set so low that it could be misleading to use this as a measure of progress. The goal should be more than a plate of rice and the 0.1GBP to pay for a consultation at a government hospital.
1 http://www.indiaspend.com/states/west/deciphering-the-gujarat-growth-paradigm
2 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Faster-growth-not-leading-to-fast-poverty-reduction-Study/articleshow/16961096.cms
3 http://www.theweekendleader.com/Headlines/2103/tamil-nadu-has-outperformed-gujarat:-study.html
The wiki is worth reading for this image which perfectly illustrates the concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Productivity_and_Real_Median_Family_Income_Growth_1947-2009.png
The full article on wikipedia for the United States.
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
A more complicated report which tracks the correlation between GDP and wage growth over multiple countries, principally related to the UK.
5 http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Painful_Separation_1.pdf
6 This frustrated outburst is triggered by the standards of beauty held by too many people in India. White girls are admired for the superficial fact that they are white, and to many people considered beautiful. "You're so beautiful", or something similar, I've overheard before now. I had an awkward responding conversation with a man on a train, I think I understand it as follows. You see my wife, what colour is my wife. See she is dark. In Europe, the women are white, yes... at first this might seem a trivial comment, but his skin matches that of his wife, why does he ask about his wife?
The elections are nearly over; it looks like Modi is going to win. I can hear a BJP spokesperson loudly proclaiming that the party won't promote religious fanaticism, and will represent all Indians. I wont pretend to know the history of Indian politics, but I can see enough to know I don't like it. Narendra Modi is championing 'economic development', combined through his party alliances with Hindu nationalism. He champions his apparent success in Gujurat, not in reducing poverty [1,2,3], but in encouraging business. Who doesn't want to be rich, and have a higher GDP, even if this is not equally distributed. When people talk about economic growth they picture themselves richer, but the results don't always follow the imagination. In the West economic growth in the last 40 years has disproportionately benefited those earning above the median wage, there is a very important graph to see on this if you haven't seen it before [4,5]. The incumbent Congress, with a reputation destroyed by a history of corruption scandals, and Indian racism, didn't really stand a chance. (Some of the corruption is so notorious it has even become modern art, I remember one multimedia piece in the National Gallery of Modern Art (Delhi) based on the Radia tapes of the India 2G spectrum scandal). It's populist schemes aimed at the rural poor were in the end dogged by corruption, even if with good intent. But many Indian's will gladly tell you the big secret why Congress is so terrible is that Sonia Gandhi was not even Indian, she was born Italian! Apparently European girls are only the most precious objects when they are young and pretty (see 6).
Rahul Gandhi has clearly failed to sell the same policies which won the last election. Many of the schemes initiated or continued under Congress could be dismissed as influence buying, but they had real results. One, which is on display frequently in Meghalaya is MGNREGS. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which allocates 100 days of paid work every year to one person in each household in rural areas. To find something to do in the jungle this scheme seems to be primarily involved with constructing community halls (which are too small), and concrete steps between the villages. While the original stone steps through the forest were beautiful and romantic, sadly I understand they were nearly unwalkable in the rainy season and the welfare of the local people is at stake. The other visible schemes are heavily subsidised rice, rural health and empowerment schemes.
Modi recently gave a speech in Varanasi. This was a wave to Hindus, it couldn't be more so, landing at a Hindu university, surrounded by Hindu figures, in a city holy to the Hindus. Among his promises of restoring the city to greatness (a bit too dramatic), and including a hedge of promising to help the cities Muslim weavers, was to increase tourism (through some unclear effect). While I can't argue that cleaning the Ganga is a great goal, what infrastructure benefits tourism? I haven't been to Varanasi, but I have heard that what it is, reportedly crowded, chaotic and dirty, contributes to the effect. Still, people have to live in this place, I don't condemn people to live in a museum, but myself I get a very hollow effect. I will make you rich, and you, and you are not forgotten either. Glory to the Hindu, cough I mean, Indian state.
I hear some business owners in Tapovan (Rishikesh) talking about Modi. Maybe they can get richer now the economy is the prime focus. These are the same people breaking the law by charging over MRP (Maximum Retail Price) (it seems that this scam is particularly concentrated on Rishikesh), perhaps instead they will be the ones squeezed. Perhaps instead of fighting high level corruption (AAP fought entirely on this stand) advancement means more inspectors to enforce the Indian act on Standards and Measures which mandates an MRP. Again the superficial denial is present, who is being kidded by a scratched off MRP, at a roadside cafe on the way back to Delhi. Denial is painful. Who asks, am I part of what destroys the country. India is Great. How do I get into your country?
Notes:
Some stories on poverty reduction, taking their numbers from other sources. It's worth noting that 'poverty' as it is defined in India is far worse than poverty, it is abject poverty. The poverty line is set so low that it could be misleading to use this as a measure of progress. The goal should be more than a plate of rice and the 0.1GBP to pay for a consultation at a government hospital.
1 http://www.indiaspend.com/states/west/deciphering-the-gujarat-growth-paradigm
2 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Faster-growth-not-leading-to-fast-poverty-reduction-Study/articleshow/16961096.cms
3 http://www.theweekendleader.com/Headlines/2103/tamil-nadu-has-outperformed-gujarat:-study.html
The wiki is worth reading for this image which perfectly illustrates the concept:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Productivity_and_Real_Median_Family_Income_Growth_1947-2009.png
The full article on wikipedia for the United States.
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_inequality_in_the_United_States
A more complicated report which tracks the correlation between GDP and wage growth over multiple countries, principally related to the UK.
5 http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/media/media/downloads/Painful_Separation_1.pdf
6 This frustrated outburst is triggered by the standards of beauty held by too many people in India. White girls are admired for the superficial fact that they are white, and to many people considered beautiful. "You're so beautiful", or something similar, I've overheard before now. I had an awkward responding conversation with a man on a train, I think I understand it as follows. You see my wife, what colour is my wife. See she is dark. In Europe, the women are white, yes... at first this might seem a trivial comment, but his skin matches that of his wife, why does he ask about his wife?
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