Saturday, June 28, 2008
Gone Crazy....Back Soon
I've been busy lately but I'll post another article shortly. Until then I hope all is well with you guys.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
What do night clubs in Bombay and the Indian economy have in common?
Great News! A new club opened in Bombay! With the opening of Magic, the available nightlife options in Bombay increased by 20%. The only other legitimate non-mujra bar type clubs are Prive, Redlight, Polly's*, China House, and whatever the latest club in Phoenix Mills is. Admittedly I have not been to Polly's in over two years and quite frankly after bumping into some 10th graders there last time, I am reluctant to return. Full disclosure- I would not describe myself as a regular Bombay clubber. Then again, with people going out three times a night to the same 5 (now 6!) clubs week after week, it kind of gets hard to keep up.
Think about it. It's the same five (now six!!) clubs filled with the same 200 people sourced from the same set of 800 or so people night after night after night. While I can see how it is interesting for people returning from studying in America or vacationing in the UK (the joke of an education in the UK can only be described as vacationing). More on my opinion of the "education" system of Europe later. Heck, it's great to return to Bombay and I look forward to partying with old friends and the music is a refreshing break from the standard hip hop of US clubs (although hip hop does serve its purpose-grinding- remarkably well).
What baffles me is what drives the 20 something son of diamond merchant to get excited about visiting China House for the third week in the row, where he will meet the same girls he met in college four hours ago, who have been excited since yesterday about the new dresses they bought to go to the same club that they were at yesterday, and last week, and the week before last. At the club, everyone will drink, dance in circles and/or dance in front of someone (no vulgar grinding, chee please) and then go home. That's it. End of night. I hope you get what I am hinting at..
For those of you who don't get my drift, I'll quote Aditya, a friend of mine who visited from the US.
"Dude, India is where penises come to die."
Why do we all love paying Rs. 2000 (~$40) to go to the same damn 5 (now 6!!!) places over and over again in continuous loop? As I see it, there are three reasons for this-
a). There is no alternative- We have to make the most of what we have.
b) Hype- Heck if we got only 5 lame clubs to go to, might as well over hype them so that our lives stay exciting and sound exciting to others, right?
c) Patriotism/nostalgia- Yes we love Bombay (patriotism can apply to city as well as country). We grew up here. We have memories here. Our friends are here. So naturally Bombay is fun.
Now, to draw a parallel between inflated Bombay night life and the Indian economy. I am skeptical about the Indian emerging market story. (I'm not saying India cannot be an economic power, I'm just not convinced if it is on the path to becoming one.) I do not hate India. I love India. More than most people. I obsess over how I can make India a better place. When I point out problems in India, people have accused me of being anti-Indian. Does loving your country mean not criticizing its faults?
Everyone I speak with in India is convinced that India is an emerging super power. The economy is "booming". Many people openly make statements like "India's economy will overtake America in 10 years". I am tempted to dismiss these people as idiots or lunatics, unfortunately they are not. These are real statements I read in the newspapers and hear over dinner with fresh graduates in economics. It is frightening. I could either attribute these statements to stupidity or delusion. Given that I know these people are generally intelligent human beings, I must attribute it to delusion.
Let's put what I am trying to say in the frame work I used to explain the irrational excitement for Bombay night clubs:
a) We have no alternative- We live in India, we were born here. We might as well look at the rosy picture. We might as well delude ourselves about the state of the economy, because what is the point of looking at it realistically?
b). Hype- Ever since we got classified with Brasil, Russia and China as part of the BRIC emerging market bracket, the entire nation has caught the super power bug. Oh, can someone explain to me how yesterday's over-population problem turned into a large market and workforce? How on earth are we a stable democracy? Open a newspaper. Read the inner pages. Make sure this newspaper is not Mid-Day. This country is in turmoil. 25% of the territory of India does not even pay taxes to the Indian government- they pay it to the parallel government set up by the Maoists. Look at the countries surrounding India's border. Do you see stability? We are in deep deep trouble.
c). Patriotism- There is nothing Indian's love more than praising India. In the 1970's when India's economy was a piece of shit, Indians abroad would still boast about how things were changing. 38 years later we are saying the same things. Our patriotism is so strong that we refuse to believe/acknowledge that there are some major problems facing India.
So we continue to club. So we continue to fool ourselves into believing that things are not only alright, things have never looked better. Yes it is a fact, things are improving, I am not denying it. But this is inevitable. 17 years after reforms were first introduced in 1991 of course things are improving. But it is important to keep perspective. The recent changes only look so damn awesome because for the past 60 years our economy was so damn bad.
India can do it. India can become a power. But not yet. Not unless things dramatically change. What we are in now is a bubble.
I will in my next posts detail what I can think the problems in India are and some potential solutions.
May be we should all go to this Center I saw along the road whilst I was driving to Bangalore from Coimbatore. We need all the divine help we can get!
-Rush
P.S See you at Prive on Friday.
Think about it. It's the same five (now six!!) clubs filled with the same 200 people sourced from the same set of 800 or so people night after night after night. While I can see how it is interesting for people returning from studying in America or vacationing in the UK (the joke of an education in the UK can only be described as vacationing). More on my opinion of the "education" system of Europe later. Heck, it's great to return to Bombay and I look forward to partying with old friends and the music is a refreshing break from the standard hip hop of US clubs (although hip hop does serve its purpose-grinding- remarkably well).
What baffles me is what drives the 20 something son of diamond merchant to get excited about visiting China House for the third week in the row, where he will meet the same girls he met in college four hours ago, who have been excited since yesterday about the new dresses they bought to go to the same club that they were at yesterday, and last week, and the week before last. At the club, everyone will drink, dance in circles and/or dance in front of someone (no vulgar grinding, chee please) and then go home. That's it. End of night. I hope you get what I am hinting at..
For those of you who don't get my drift, I'll quote Aditya, a friend of mine who visited from the US.
"Dude, India is where penises come to die."
Why do we all love paying Rs. 2000 (~$40) to go to the same damn 5 (now 6!!!) places over and over again in continuous loop? As I see it, there are three reasons for this-
a). There is no alternative- We have to make the most of what we have.
b) Hype- Heck if we got only 5 lame clubs to go to, might as well over hype them so that our lives stay exciting and sound exciting to others, right?
c) Patriotism/nostalgia- Yes we love Bombay (patriotism can apply to city as well as country). We grew up here. We have memories here. Our friends are here. So naturally Bombay is fun.
Now, to draw a parallel between inflated Bombay night life and the Indian economy. I am skeptical about the Indian emerging market story. (I'm not saying India cannot be an economic power, I'm just not convinced if it is on the path to becoming one.) I do not hate India. I love India. More than most people. I obsess over how I can make India a better place. When I point out problems in India, people have accused me of being anti-Indian. Does loving your country mean not criticizing its faults?
Everyone I speak with in India is convinced that India is an emerging super power. The economy is "booming". Many people openly make statements like "India's economy will overtake America in 10 years". I am tempted to dismiss these people as idiots or lunatics, unfortunately they are not. These are real statements I read in the newspapers and hear over dinner with fresh graduates in economics. It is frightening. I could either attribute these statements to stupidity or delusion. Given that I know these people are generally intelligent human beings, I must attribute it to delusion.
Let's put what I am trying to say in the frame work I used to explain the irrational excitement for Bombay night clubs:
a) We have no alternative- We live in India, we were born here. We might as well look at the rosy picture. We might as well delude ourselves about the state of the economy, because what is the point of looking at it realistically?
b). Hype- Ever since we got classified with Brasil, Russia and China as part of the BRIC emerging market bracket, the entire nation has caught the super power bug. Oh, can someone explain to me how yesterday's over-population problem turned into a large market and workforce? How on earth are we a stable democracy? Open a newspaper. Read the inner pages. Make sure this newspaper is not Mid-Day. This country is in turmoil. 25% of the territory of India does not even pay taxes to the Indian government- they pay it to the parallel government set up by the Maoists. Look at the countries surrounding India's border. Do you see stability? We are in deep deep trouble.
c). Patriotism- There is nothing Indian's love more than praising India. In the 1970's when India's economy was a piece of shit, Indians abroad would still boast about how things were changing. 38 years later we are saying the same things. Our patriotism is so strong that we refuse to believe/acknowledge that there are some major problems facing India.
So we continue to club. So we continue to fool ourselves into believing that things are not only alright, things have never looked better. Yes it is a fact, things are improving, I am not denying it. But this is inevitable. 17 years after reforms were first introduced in 1991 of course things are improving. But it is important to keep perspective. The recent changes only look so damn awesome because for the past 60 years our economy was so damn bad.
India can do it. India can become a power. But not yet. Not unless things dramatically change. What we are in now is a bubble.
I will in my next posts detail what I can think the problems in India are and some potential solutions.
May be we should all go to this Center I saw along the road whilst I was driving to Bangalore from Coimbatore. We need all the divine help we can get!
-Rush
P.S See you at Prive on Friday.
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