Laxmi, the godess of wealth is in a funk. Serious funk. The stock market is down by 30%, more when measured in dollar terms. Industrial production has shrunk to less than 6% from over 12% last year. Inflation is over 11% this month, and thats wholesale not even consumer inflation.
I asked my sis-in-law and my parents' driver how inflation has affected them. According to my sis-in-law, her food/grocery/essentials budget has increased by over 20% over last year. About 15% for the driver (his family doesnt eat meat/eggs).
Not good news for the PM. I bought a 300 ml pop and it costed me 20 Rupees . . .what? I used to pay 5 just 6 years ago. That's a 4 fold increase in 6 years. High growth-loose money supply is at work here.
At the local brokerage office I only saw a bank of red signs on Friday . . . everything was down. Worse, at the real estate office of a realty firm that I went to drop off my cousin's cheque, the experience was mixed. As soon as I opened the door, I knew the AC had conked out. Sweet aromatic smell of Indian sweat (I guess its all that turmeric at work), stale pakoras, overworked xerox machine assaulted my senses.
While I waited for my turn, I chatted with an elderly Sikh gentlem and he said his sons had egged him into investing in 2 plots of land. Yes, he thought it was a great investment - and it is - per sq. yard sale price has increased from 9,000 yo 16,000 in less than a year. But me thinks this is another bubble. The appreciation is too quick.
Hope Dr. M (the PM) the best. He has to call elections at the federal level within 12-16 months and should the real-estate and stock market decline and stagnate he might be voted out of office. Mix in political re-alignment to get the US-Indian Nuclear Accord approved by Parliament and the political couldron is bobbling over right now. Plenty of rumours in the capital right now and political parties seem to be girding for an early election. Bahut Bahut interesting . . .
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Delhi Metro
The city is plastered with blue metal barriers with "Delhi Metro" written in red on them. There are crews working furiously, sweating, and with a singular focusses look about them. Some really tall cranes, 20 by 30 feet digging away or installing the shell along the route - I couldnt see over the barriers, they are too high.
Anyway, I've ridden the metro twice and it's been a great experience. Firstly, it covers a huge distance, linking far flung areas in west/north delhi to central Delhi. The stations are clean, airy, and efficient.
One has the option of buying a monthly pass or a token. The cost is minimal, 2.75 Rupees for a 1 stop journey, and 11 from north to central Delhi in 14 minutes. The tokens are plastic with chips embedded in them. You wave the chip in front of an automated barrier that lets you in. No TTC grandpa's collecting coins at the turnstiles.
At Rajiv Chowk station, there is a bank of boxes where you can drop-off cheque payments for credit card bills (one for each issuing bank), utilities, and cell companies. Convenience for customers. The plaforms and escalators are wide and clean. There are electronic signboard that tell you which station the next train will be going to, and also shows how many minutes to the next train.
There is no pushing/shoving to enter the train and people are permitted to get off the train before other passengers board the train. During peak hours, there is a "cop" who with a whistle controls the crowd. No signs of bombay train mayhem . . . good sign!
The trains themselves are clean, cool with great air-conditioning, and spacious. To offselt costs, the steel handles passengers hold onto have been hawked off to companies so they can plaster them with their ads, good strategy.
But best is that you get cell phone reception . . .imagine, you can continue chatting and try sharing your life's details with another 30 people . . . try because everyone else is doing the same. Cell phones are so ubiqious now . . . everyone, even cleaner of public lavatories have them!!
One thing did remind me of TTC though . . .an annoncement . . "Please sand back behind the yellow line for your safetly" lol . . . .
Anyway, I've ridden the metro twice and it's been a great experience. Firstly, it covers a huge distance, linking far flung areas in west/north delhi to central Delhi. The stations are clean, airy, and efficient.
One has the option of buying a monthly pass or a token. The cost is minimal, 2.75 Rupees for a 1 stop journey, and 11 from north to central Delhi in 14 minutes. The tokens are plastic with chips embedded in them. You wave the chip in front of an automated barrier that lets you in. No TTC grandpa's collecting coins at the turnstiles.
At Rajiv Chowk station, there is a bank of boxes where you can drop-off cheque payments for credit card bills (one for each issuing bank), utilities, and cell companies. Convenience for customers. The plaforms and escalators are wide and clean. There are electronic signboard that tell you which station the next train will be going to, and also shows how many minutes to the next train.
There is no pushing/shoving to enter the train and people are permitted to get off the train before other passengers board the train. During peak hours, there is a "cop" who with a whistle controls the crowd. No signs of bombay train mayhem . . . good sign!
The trains themselves are clean, cool with great air-conditioning, and spacious. To offselt costs, the steel handles passengers hold onto have been hawked off to companies so they can plaster them with their ads, good strategy.
But best is that you get cell phone reception . . .imagine, you can continue chatting and try sharing your life's details with another 30 people . . . try because everyone else is doing the same. Cell phones are so ubiqious now . . . everyone, even cleaner of public lavatories have them!!
One thing did remind me of TTC though . . .an annoncement . . "Please sand back behind the yellow line for your safetly" lol . . . .
Delhi "Yatayat" (Transport)
I've been lucky in having my parents' driver driving me around. It's nice to observe Delhi traffic from inside of a cooler car than an auto-rickshaw. The first thing that struck me is that there is a heirarchy when it comes to road traffic.
Lowest are pedestrians comprising of ppl with limited amount of cash. Not too many of those. Then, those riding theri bycicles inspite of the risk of weaving around traffic at their life's peril. Then, those who travel by buses . . .but unlike earlier, they dont seem to be running to catch the bus. Buses are now stopping, fully, pickng up passengers and then driving away.
On top of those are those who can afford 3 wheelers (auto-rickshaws). Many more people seem to be using them, and the lower middle class who couldnt afford them earlier seem to be travelling by them. 2 days ago, I saw a young couple, 23-26 yrs canoodling. It was sweet!
On top of those, of course are those who have cars, but can be graded by with/without drivers, old/new cars, fancy/middle class cars. The ultimate was seeing an owner silently mouth "AC" to her driver from inside the shop where she was making a payment so that her driver would start the airconditioner and chill the car before she was driven away in a minute or 2.
Lowest are pedestrians comprising of ppl with limited amount of cash. Not too many of those. Then, those riding theri bycicles inspite of the risk of weaving around traffic at their life's peril. Then, those who travel by buses . . .but unlike earlier, they dont seem to be running to catch the bus. Buses are now stopping, fully, pickng up passengers and then driving away.
On top of those are those who can afford 3 wheelers (auto-rickshaws). Many more people seem to be using them, and the lower middle class who couldnt afford them earlier seem to be travelling by them. 2 days ago, I saw a young couple, 23-26 yrs canoodling. It was sweet!
On top of those, of course are those who have cars, but can be graded by with/without drivers, old/new cars, fancy/middle class cars. The ultimate was seeing an owner silently mouth "AC" to her driver from inside the shop where she was making a payment so that her driver would start the airconditioner and chill the car before she was driven away in a minute or 2.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
En route
I'm running a few days behind but heres an update (will post pix in a bit). The flight from Chicago wasnt bad. We were hearded like cattle, had cardboard food, sat still for close to 13 hours, wonderful time! The highlight was looking down from 36,000 feet at the Pamirs/himalayas(hope my geography is right here) - they started off as small repetitive muntains and graduated to these staggerng high and dry massifs. I could see slivers of thin roads criss-crossing through passes . . .nature at a staggering scale. These are the mountains that the Mongol tribes marauded through to conquer, and assimilate themsleves in India. Had a great seat-mate (Hi Chand) . .pix attached.
Tarun, my bestest (as they say in native tongue here) was there to pick me up from the airport . .what a delight to see him. The 6 years I hadn't seen him just dissappeared . . Delhi has changed for the better . .Roads are better, so many more fly-overs. I see less number of people lounging. People nos seem to heading off purposefully. And the construction of the underground is everywhere. Unlike few years ago, there are no poorly dressed or grubby workers - they are wear hadhats and bright jackets to identify themselves. Bahut professional.
Today (Wednesday) is all about shopping :) . . . Heading off to Connaught Place, or Rajiv/Indira Gandhi Chowk as they were renamed a few years ago . . .
Tarun, my bestest (as they say in native tongue here) was there to pick me up from the airport . .what a delight to see him. The 6 years I hadn't seen him just dissappeared . . Delhi has changed for the better . .Roads are better, so many more fly-overs. I see less number of people lounging. People nos seem to heading off purposefully. And the construction of the underground is everywhere. Unlike few years ago, there are no poorly dressed or grubby workers - they are wear hadhats and bright jackets to identify themselves. Bahut professional.
Today (Wednesday) is all about shopping :) . . . Heading off to Connaught Place, or Rajiv/Indira Gandhi Chowk as they were renamed a few years ago . . .
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sputtering Start
It's Sunday morning, TO is preparing for Pride Parade and . .I am still in TO! The flight to Chicago (where I would have caught my direct flight to Delhi) was delayed from TO itself, and there was no way I could have made it. So, the airline rebooked me for the next day (today, Sunday), and here I am, still in TO. The upside to this is that the rest of the vacation WILL be better that the past 24 hours :)!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
@ Work
Ok, so its close to 4 pm and here I am, just created my blog account so all of my friends can keep a track of what I've been upto . . .Productivity 0, planning 1, high hopes for my trip 8 (if u read as 8 horizontally = infinity = high hopes of this trip heheh).
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