India's Economy Hits the Wall?

What happened to the speed train that India Inc. was supposed to be on? Did we miss it?
The headlines of the main story in a recent business week starts off with "India's Economy Hits a Wall".

Now such articles and news are not necessarily what I was looking forward to right after a big move across continents.

Well, inflation is in the double digits, but what does that mean? In the US the and other developed countries the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used to calculate inflation whereas in India the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) is used for the rate of inflation. So there could potentially be some or even a major discrepancy in the meaning and impact of this double digit inflation number. Does this mean we disregard this inflation number and assume that the situation might not be as bad as its portrayed? Or on the other hand, is it a lot worse?

Meanwhile, how does this inflation rise, the lack of investments in infrastructure, the oil crisis and other global slowdowns directly impact a local or me (its hard to separate out all these issues)?

a. Diesel shortage in the city. Long lines at gas stations and rationed diesel is a common sight. Several people in India have diesel run cars as diesel is cheaper and gives better mileage.
b. Black outs ie power outages between 11am-3pm everyday in most parts of Hyderabad (this has not directly impacted us a lot because the entire housing area has full power backup. However, the backup power runs on diesel and diesel is in short supply, so there have been instances where we have had outages too).
c. Retail prices of grains, food etc. are on the rise, but I don't have the data points to compare the % increase and its impact.
d. The stock market has tanked and is still on a bear run (or fall as the case may be) leaving several investors way under water. Several IT companies have slower growth and their valuations have tanked.
e. The global slowdown will directly impact jobs, salaries and overall growth in services, retail, financial services, IT sector etc.
f. Airlines are grounding planes because of the fuel crisis and transportation costs have gone up significantly. I now pay double the price for airfare between local Indian cities. I also pay more for the school bus.
g. I'll stop here for now...

Its amazing how people just go about their business and don't let any of these shortages (water, electricity, diesel, broadband, cooking gas etc.) affect them. There is something to learn from this attitude and ability to adjust.

All this still doesn't answer my question about the fast train.

the maid brigade

Who would've thought that having too many attendants was a bad thing? We now have a cook, a maid for cleaning, an English speaking chauffeur and a gardener. As a friend of mine rightly pointed out...I now need someone who can manage all 4 of these folks.

I can't deal with so many people on a daily basis. Even giving the cook instructions for the menu of the day seems like a chore :) Jokes aside, it is not easy to manage them, esp. as work ethic, security, trustworthiness etc. could becomes big issues. Everyone around me has maid stories and I am sure it goes both ways. However, we also pay way above market rates and treat them fairly well which may help in retaining the right people.

Privacy, is one BIG reason why we chose not to have live-in attendants. Though we might end up changing our minds over time, esp. as our house comes with living quarters for attendants.

Good, dependable, chauffeurs are hard to find these days. One who interviewed with me wanted a providend fund (which is like a 401k), a yearly bonus, special holiday bonuses through out the year, 8 hour work days and more. Hmmm...I would need to then also hire an HR person and ADP for payroll. While I myself haven't seen a paycheck in a long time :)

The reason one can afford help in India and other developing countries is because of the huge difference in the economic standards of people. The cost of house hold labor is definitely going up however I think there will always be an endless pool of them (from the 1.1 billion) that are affordable by many.

Should the maids and household help be organized in some fashion? ID cards, rights, min. time off etc. Well, that's another topic for another day.

Happy July 4th!

Hope all of you had a great and sunny July 4th weekend. Every year we celebrate this event with a lot of outdoor activities, visits to local fairs and events that culminate in spectacular fireworks.

However, this year, we found ourselves in a quandary. Typically, immigrants to the US do their best to educate their first generation American offspring on the culture of their country of origin and celebrate the holidays, cultural and festive activities of that country (as portrayed in My Big Fat Greek Wedding :)). However, this year we found ourselves in a reverse situation. We now have a first generation American living in India. He obviously does not need to be educated on the Indian culture any more (as he is immersed in it). However, how do we expose him to the true culture of the US? How should he be celebrating July 4th and Thanksgiving? Any thoughts?

Deep thoughts from a 6 year old

Here are some excerpts from the eyes of an easy going 6 year old whose hero is Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes). This kid moved from a Japanese run private school (known as a boot-camp because of the high work load and the higher standards of conduct expected) in Bellevue, WA to a local school in Hyderabad.

The Journey:
On our way to India, we had a stopover in Amsterdam, where I offered him a bag of candy that looked like 'm&ms' and made by Hersheys. He read the label and immediately protested:
"I will not eat 'kissables', if I do I may fall in love. I do not want to eat them. I do not want to fall in love."

The School Bus:
I am very excited about going in a School bus, I have been on a School bus only on field trips. I don't like the new school, but I like going on a School bus.

You know, the first day when the bus was about to reach school, something strange happened, "all the kids on the bus got up and crowded to the front of the bus". Isn't that funny? I was the last to get up and get off the bus.

I got bullied by some older kids in the bus, they asked me not to talk in the bus and that I needed to go back to Seattle if I wanted to talk.
(I reacted quickly and asked, "why didn't you bully him back?" his response -- "Bullying is not a good thing, and its not right, so I will not do it")

(What is the solution? Do our kids need to push and be more aggressive? Will our kids survive if they are proper and follow the western etiquette?)

School:
I hate recess (from a kid whose life revolved around recess and play time). I don't have any friends, they all talk in 'Hindi' and 'Telugu' and I cannot understand them.

There is one girl in my class who came up to me and said she was from the US. But I don't play with girls.

I am the best behaved kid in class. There are kids who sit on desks, some even walk on them and others talk during class (this coming from a kid who was very talkative and had his share of quiet time in class).

Why is everyone here called an auntie? *smirk* We have two class teachers and an auntie, they come and go, in and out of the class through out the day.

We work all day, we write a lot and we also eat a lot. They make us finish all the food on our plate. I had idli for snack, rice and dhal for lunch, milk and samosa for afternoon snack. Work here (in school) is very easy, BCA (Bellevue Children's Academy) was a lot harder (this coming from someone who actually skipped a grade and jumped up a grade level in order to be with his own age group in India).

We had a lot of homework at BCA. This school doesn't have much homework.

In India, everyone is 'brown'.

Random:
You know, in India you can have other people drive for you. Also, you can honk whenever you feel like it (this was during my first attempt at driving).

When I ask for my turn, why is it that others don't listen?

I don't like mosquitoes. I hate mosquitoes. I don't like India because of the mosquitoes.

My life has completely changed. Its so different. Can we go back to Seattle?

Tennis Anyone?

Thanks to Sania Mirza, several Tennis Academies have sprung up across Hyderabad. The NVK Tennis Academy, run by S. Narendranath, former coach to Sania Mirza is one such club. This also happens to be the one closest to our house and where I signed my son up for lessons. Works out well for me, as I get to hit balls during his instruction time. Its been over 2 years since I played tennis and it took me a while to get used to the red clay courts. I found it harder to play in these red courts as compared to the green American ones. However, this is still way better than not playing any tennis and more fun than watching it on TV.

The youth of India really needs to get into playing sports and I hope role models like Sania Mirza take on a more active role in encouraging this and other sports.