Published on: January 20th, 2010
Why India There has been a lot said about the economic opportunities in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China and sometimes South Africa). These countries are contrasted to the more mature economies of the US, Japan and the European Union. All the BRIC countries were less impacted by the Great Recession, relatively … Continue reading Why India?
Published on: March 31st, 2010
Good, Bad and Ugly In any new situation there are invariably little things that surprise. Coming from the US to almost any other country the ‘not so good’ typically outnumber the ‘good’. India is no exception. Let me list a few in no particular order. Not so good: Power. In terms of an ‘Infrastructure Gap’ … Continue reading Good and Not So Good
Published on: April 27th, 2010
Meetings. I have been to a lot of meetings in India and have noticed some patterns. Meetings… Never start on time. A half hour wait for the ‘chair’ is not uncommon, except when I’m the ‘chair’. Always have refreshments, usually regular coffee in small half full cups and if you are lucky, cookies. Always have … Continue reading Meetings and Paper
Published on: April 30th, 2010
Religion. This of course is always a touchy subject, but made less so in India because Hinduism is so inclusive and non-judgmental. In short, it’s not dogmatic and perhaps that’s why it’s appealing to me. I’ll explain the Gods, sacred texts and the cow in another entry. It’s as important to get the feel of … Continue reading Religion
Published on: May 2nd, 2010
Sewer Construction In one project we plan to build over 400 km of new sewers in two large cities in eastern India. The good news is we are in the coastal plain and don’t have to deal with rock excavation. In our case when you dig trenches deeper that 2 meters (6 feet), and sometimes … Continue reading Pipes
Published on: June 4th, 2010
Slums The overwhelming fact of India, beside the 110+ degree temperatures, is the vast number of poor people in the urban areas. The photo gives a small sense of what is actually a ‘high end’ slum area in Bhubaneswar. The bigger cities are worse, remember Mumbai (Bombay) in Slum Dog Millionaire? The slums are generally … Continue reading Slums
Published on: August 15th, 2010
Monsoons. Except for a few spots in north India, most of the monsoon season had seen below normal rainfall this year (2011). In fact some states were in a drought, when all of a sudden the heavens opened in September, the last month of the season. The picture of the Mahanadi River gage shows high … Continue reading Monsoons
