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May 17, 2007

The World Is Flat: Three (3) Things About Bangalore

Globalization, multinational tech firms, and cows in the street

Let’s begin by admitting what we don’t know about India: everything. That is, we shall obviously struggle to say anything comprehensive or conclusive about a country that is home to one-sixth (1/6) of humanity based on three (3) days in one city (Bangalore) – with most of that time spent in a windowless conference room planning the details of an upcoming software implementation. Save for two hours of sightseeing I crammed into the end of my last day here, my time in Bangalore was the standard-issue mix of business travel vignettes that really could have been pasted into my memory from just about anywhere: the too-familiar business-traveler terrarium of airports, hotel rooms, cabs, and hotel restaurants.

Still, I’d be lying if I told you the visit was generic/ boring. It is India, after all, and Bangalore more specifically. Ever since I read The World Is Flat a couple years back, I’ve been pretty intrigued by Bangalore, the epicenter of outsourcing and the future of the globalized tech economy (I even used Bangalore in a post on how to properly update Charlie and The Chocolate Factory a few years back). I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about, savor the contrasts (old India versus new India, thanks to the Internet(s)), and soak up this little slice of our globalized future.

I can’t say I was disappointed. Three (3) things about Bangalore:

1. The tech thing is not overstated: when you hear that all these multinationals are setting up shop in Bangalore, it’s not a joke. In fact, not only are there tons of multinationals building out offices in Bangalore, but they’re all pretty much in the same office park. Admittedly, The World Is Flat comments on this as well, but it’s pretty hilarious to roll into the complex and see the who’s who list of global tech listed on the entrance gate: IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, etc. We didn’t make it to Wipro HQ (they have their own compound), but the scale of the investment in Bangalore is impressive.

The overwhelming part is really the contrast (highlighted by the gigantic wall, above) between the gleaming office park and the surrounding area. Not that the surrounding area is so bad, mind you – it just looks like most of the rest of India looks. That is, in various stages of development. So that right down the street from the tech park you have random animals wandering the streets (more on that in a few paragraphs), folks cooking street food, and a broad variety of makeshift structures and residences.

I’m sure there are people who have complicated theories/ explanations of what I’m about to say, but Bangalore really struck me as a sort of big step function in development. That is, you have a place that’s skipping directly from developing world to globalized tech center – without pausing to do things like invest in infrastructure, enforce some sort of sanity on the roads, and get the people some nice clean water to drink. I’ll stop before I sound too insensitive (and I don’t mean to be, because the growth and development that is happening is so impressive), but it really leads you to wonder what it’s all going to look like ten years from now. And how the growth in a place like Bangalore might benefit the rest of India. Okay, I’ll stop now. (I really don’t know what I’m talking about.)

2. Bangalore is not exactly a tourist destination: though I spent most of my time in a conference room, I did make an effort to get out and see the town – albeit for two hours on my last day. The crazy thing was that we got most of it done in two hours. I hired a car (about $12.50 per hour) and had him drive me to all the destinations listed on the various tourism web sites. We saw it all, and I was back at my hotel in two hours time. This is mostly because “nothing was open” and “I only got out of the car once.”

Seriously. The driver took me to this castle (above), but we stayed in the car because they charge you if you get out and take a photo. There was even a soldier dude coming at us trying to stop me from taking a photo from the backseat. We also went to the Bull Temple (below), but hey, it wasn’t taking visitors either. Ditto with the parliament building.

The only place that was open was (wait for it)…the knick-knack shop! No kidding! You mean I can’t actually visit any of the sights, but I’ll get a chance to haggle over rugs and crappy little souvenir statuettes? Really? And get hassled by like fourteen different pushy salespeople? That sounds like a treat! Tell me more!

Still, you can’t get too down on Bangalore for not being set up for tourists. That’s not what it’s there for; it’s there to be a global technology hub (and I’m sure they’ll get the touristy stuff figured out soon enough). And that's really what I was excited to see.

3. Look before crossing: I was discussing a trip to Vietnam with a friend a few years back (said friend had also recently done a Vietnam trip), and the topic of traffic in the cities came up. So I started going on and on about how crazy the urban traffic was in Hanoi: the noise from the incessant honking, the seeming absence of any sort of order and/ or traffic rules, and the hideously dangerous mix of different vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, and pedestrians that were sharing the same roads. And I distinctly remember him smiling and saying, “Well, you obviously haven’t been to India.”

No. No I had not.

Wow. The roads were complete chaos. I cannot believe I didn’t witness a multiple-fatality accident. Cheers to everyone who manages to navigate these roads without dying each day! I’m really just not that good a driver. If you put me behind the wheel, I can almost guarantee that I’d produce a Grand-Theft-Auto swath of destruction that would end only when they pried the steering wheel out of my cold, dead hands. (Of course, they drive on the wrong side of the road too – that wouldn’t help.) I am in awe of the skills these folks have – and the ability of everyone to so seamlessly share the road, like a big school of fish moving in formation.

And, of course, I can’t not mention the cows thing. That is, I had heard that there were random cows roaming the streets in India, and that no one really messed with them, even if they were in the middle of the road. Right. So I didn’t actually believe that. Now I believe it. There are definitely random cows roaming the streets in Bangalore, and no one really messes with them, even if they’re in the middle of the road.

All in all, it was a great visit, and I feel lucky I had a chance to see Bangalore at this point in history – it’s definitely a signature city for this decade on planet Earth. One more thing I have to mention: I can’t believe how polite, friendly and kind the people were. It was completely disarming. I kept expecting someone to scam me, but no, they just wanted to say hello. Great stuff – just a warm, friendly place.

Oh right, and one more thing – I thought I might get out of here without getting sick in my belly. Most people get sick in their belly when they visit India, but I was trying to be extra careful about what I ate and drank (no uncooked anything, don’t open your mouth in the shower, etc etc). And I was close. Very close. Oh so close! But no luck. Got sick last night. Sigh. It wasn’t too bad, though – all in all, I think I got off pretty easy (considering some of the stories I’d heard). And thus concludes the TMI portion of this post.

Hey, at least I didn't end up in the hospital.

Posted by thatkid at May 17, 2007 2:37 AM under ThatKid

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