Infrastructure & Aesthetics

I spent my first evening with two colleagues (Priya and Rishi) enjoying one of India’s new favorite foods - pizza. The sign on the storefront said Pizza Hut, the servers dressed in familiar Pizza Hut uniforms, and on the surface it seemed people were enjoying cheese-covered pies of thick dough just like back home. To my delight, though, I discovered that the MNC (multi-national corporation - local newspapers use this acronym casually; just like our current prevalent use of IED) integrated Indian flavors and produce into their fare. For instance, instead of cheese & pepperoni, we ate the classic Paneer Teekha Makhani and - off their new World Fest menu - Paneer Ranchero! Paneer is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese common in vegetarian dishes in India. On pizza, it is added on top of the melted mozzarella cheese base.
(Read about the new Pizza craze for yourself in this morning’s issue of “The Hindu”.)

After a delightful meal (I forgot to mention the Supreme Spicy Garlic Bread), we called our drivers to pick us up and take us back to the hotel. Unfortunately, in the time it took us to stuff ourselves with Paneer and capsicum, our drivers got stuck in the middle of a gridlock caused by traffic to a nearby wedding hall. The gridlock was so bad, it would take them another hour and a half to get back to the road. In the meantime, we took auto-rickshaws back to the hotel. I swore never to get on one of these again last time we were in Hyderabad and I almost fell off of one in mid-ride (the vehicles fit 3 people uncomfortably. We were four and I got the equivalent of a handle bar as my seat). So much for my swearing…

Over dinner, I had commented to my colleagues what I hated most about India: 1) Total, utter chaos: on the road, traffic signals are missing or ignored. Basic services are haphazard at best (I stood in line for 15 minutes trying to buy a bar of soap at a mini-market yesterday. The line kept getting bigger as children were cutting in front of me. One of four available registers was open, and at least three staff members were manning - or loitering around - an unused Customer Service desk with an empty feedback box).
2) All service providers and merchants are out to get you: No matter what I try to buy, it always seems like I am being taken advantage of. People just assume that you’re trying to screw them, so they preemptively screw you. You get ripped off in a cab, buying a souvenir, or eating dinner. You could leave the most generous tip, come in the next day, and instead of being thankful, the provider will abuse the relationship even more. Haggling is required due to the complete mistrust by everyone of everyone.
3) The place stinks: Really bad.

I had tried to explain how all these issues fall under two categories of societal failure: lack of infrastructure, and bad taste (no concept of aesthetics). Bad roads, a crippling bureaucracy, and an enormous population out of control make for all sorts of scale issue and unsolvable economic and structural problems. This is exacerbated further by an inability to hide the issues behind a veil of illusion that would make it all seem palatable - like a Paneer pizza.