India vs Latin America

On Monday we started our ten-day course on microfinance: Total Immersion Program in Finance and Development (TIP/FD). The first speaker was Jessica Wollock and she spoke about development and finance in India, giving a brief overview of economic policies in the country since Independence.

She mentioned that there exist many similarities in economic and industrial policy with Latin America before the 90's; for example, a very large public sector with a desire for central planning, as well as close collaboration with the private sector in policy making. By the mid-80's they had unsustainable government spending and debt that led to a balance of payments crisis, which in turn forced them to slim down the public sector and start opening the economy.

Here is where the two stories differ. Whereas Latin America followed very radical free-market reforms in capital and goods markets, India has followed a more gradual process. This can explain to some extent why India has been growing so rapidly while Latin America has stagnated. By following unorthodox policies they have been able to deal with the constraints that impede growth and also with distributional conflict (Rodrik's argument). This was certainly not the case in LA.

So when I asked the speaker about why if the stories were so similar we saw such different outcomes, her response surprised me. She answered from the viewpoint that LA is better off than India, which is something I didn't expect, since in my mind growth rates can be seen as a parameter of success of an economy and India is growing and we are not.

But she is right. Per capita gdp is higher, on average, in LA (surely in Mexico); access to basic services and infrastructure is also higher and poverty incidence is lower. Her argument was that even if policies were similar, LA had a better starting point, so even if growth rates have been lower, levels of gdp are higher.

This is not to pat ourselves in the back and be satisfied; LA should also be growing. The relevant comparison is then not against growth rates or levels of indicators, but against policies that promote and sustain growth. That is where we are falling behind and where we have a lot to learn from India.

Madre de Deus! Chennai

After having a very delicious South Indian breakfast which consisted of papadam and some sort of soup, a coconut rava masala dosa (hmmmm, pure deliciousness) and my most favorite drink: fresh lime soda, I went to the airport to catch my flight to Chennai.

I was very impressed by the domestic airport in Delhi; it is newly renovated (re-opened 15 days ago) and is very modern and comfortable. I couldn't help but compare it to our infamous T2 in Mexico City (tons of money spent on a medium class, low quality terminal in the most important airport in the country). All departure terminals are distance terminals (you take a bus to get to the plane), which maximize space and it has many shops, among them a very large bookshop (I bought even more books on India) and, to my surprise, no cosmetics-perfumes shops.

I flew on one of India's many low-cost airlines: IndiGo (2.5 hrs flight for 80 USD). Very good service, good airplane, left on time. No complaints.

I arrived in Chennai at around 7; this time my bags came with me, thankfully; and people from CMF were there to pick me up. They thought I would get scared at the traffic, but being from Mexico and after Delhi, Chennai traffic was old news.

Chennai is the fourth largest city in India and the capital city of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the fastest growing urban areas in India with over 8 million people. Until 1997 the city was called Madras, a name derived from Madraspattinam, the name of a fishing village that was in the area. Apparently the name of this village comes from the portuguese who settled in the area in the 16th century and named it Madre de Deus. the neighboring town was called Chennapattinam, and as the city grew they were merged. The British went by Madras, and the locals by Chennai.

Many tropicalized Victorian buildings remain, giving the city, especially around Marina Beach, an interesting personality. Outside the main area of the city there is the Teosophical Society Garden, with a Banyan tree that is over 400 years old. I have yet to see it, since they were closed the day I went there (they open 3 times a week from 8-10 am and from 2-4 pm, riiight).

So instead I visited the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, dedicated to Shiva. Legend has it that one day Shiva was talking to his wife, Parvati, and she got distracted by looking at a peacock. The god got angry and turned her into a peacock and sent her to earth. She prayed in penance for a while before Shiva decided to turn her back into her old form under a tree in the place where the temple now stands. Since she was there in penance, it is believed she will grant the visitors their requests regardless of who they are, so it is a very popular temple in Chennai.

After making some undisclosable petitions, we decided to visit Fort St. George, another sight in the city. None of the rickshaw drivers knew where or what it was, but we pushed on, until we got there to find it was closed, and not very worth it. Autos know best.

Vatican monkeys

True story:

The Vatican Embassy in Delhi has monkeys that live in the trees. Very aggressive monkeys. They like to jump into other embassies and destroy the garden, steal food, and have even attacked people.

The Norwegian Embassy decided to do something about this after one of the monkeys bit the ambassador's wife's dog. They hired protection in the form of another monkey that seems to keep the intruders at bay. Since this is Norway, land of rights and ranked highest of all countries in human development, this monkey has an official post at the embassy: Special Security Attaché (or something to that effect) and is on the payroll. I think they pay him in kind.

Delhi traffic

Half of the time I spent in Delhi was either in a taxi or in a rickshaw. This inevitably led me to think about traffic and how such apparent chaos seems to work. There is actually a fairly clear system underneath. First of all who has priority over who: trucks-buses-cars-taxis-rickshaws-motorbikes-bikes-pedestrians. The buses and trucks will take their place and around them the cars. Any free space between them will be taken by rickshaws and motorbikes, and on the sides bikes and people will try to get by. Since at any moment you might find someone coming in the wrong direction, doing a crazy u-turn, reverse or any such unexpected action, when driving you only look at what's happening in the front, not the sides and never behind you. It is the person behind you who has to maneuver around what you do. This explains why many cars and rickshaws do not have lateral mirrors. What for?

In order to keep traffic flowing all vehicles are constantly changing lanes and passing each other, especially the most mobile ones (rickshaws and motorbikes). For this to work they use honking as a signaling mechanism: once means "I'm here", two honks mean "I'm passing you", three or more mean "$$%@@!!". The problem is that sometimes they just honk for the fun of it, so the signal loses all value and all you get is a lot of noise and a lot of chaos.

Even if the system appears to work it is very stressful and very costly. So the question is: how to make it better? I have the idea that if all the vehicles on the streets were to abide by the number of lanes available and not take up the space in between they would not fit. There would be gridlock, a permanent traffic jam. This is what happens when you have more people and cars and rickshaws than kilometers of roads. Someone told me that with the entrance of "nano", the 1000 USD car, rickshaws will disappear, since it will be the same price to have an AC car than a rickshaw. I think not. Rickshaws exist to be able to move between all the cars and buses and get people to where they need to go (funny fact: Mexico is now importing rickshaws from India. It's the latest thing in small towns: cheaper than a taxi and perfect for small distances).

So I still don't have a clear idea on what might work. Clearly the system is an informal institution that solves the problems that would otherwise make driving impossible. Can it be ameliorated? Probably. I think usable sidewalks for people, not for cars to park in would be a very good start. I'll keep thinking about it.

Delhi

Delhi is one of the ten largest cities in the world with 16 million inhabitants. As many other major cities in developing countries it has grown haphazardly in strange ways. Large inflows of population and changes in lifestyle make it almost impossible for public services and infrastructure to keep up. Roads are congested and unwalkable, half of them seem to be under construction, there are no sidewalks to speak of in most parts of the city and there is constant honking and car noises. And in the summer before the monsoon the heat is unbearable (at least for me).

At first I felt as when I was little and I visited my grandmother in northern Mexico. The heat in the summer is as bad or worse than Delhi's. Story goes I would open the door to the street and after feeling the hot dry wind I would shake my head and say "nooooooo" and close the door, as to keep the heat out. But Delhi has ways of opening the door unexpectedly. For example, you might not realize it right away, but there are actually a lot of trees in the city and parks. My favorite were the Lodhi gardens. After crossing the gates all the traffic and noise and stress of the city disappear. The old mughal ruins and the trees take you to a different world. As the sun set and the heat diminished people came to the park to walk and to socialize. Children playing, couples taking a stroll, old men talking, some joggers (women in full salwar kameez and tennis shoes); and then the city takes on a very different personality that is very enjoyable, as if a door opens into a private courtyard away from the noise of the street.

Delhi is a very old city and you can feel it, the way it refuses to sit still in any period. Inhabited since the 6th century BC, it became the capital of the mughal empire in 1639. would remain the capital of the empire until 1857, when Calcutta became the capital of the British Raj until 1911. From the Mughal period comes the Red Fort, that even if a bit unkempt, still shows signs of what it must have been, with fountains and marble halls with jeweled inlays; the same for Humayun's tomb. It is funny to see how the mughals, and later on Lutyens, tried to impose structure and geometry on the city, and the city rebels against it. It will do things its own way, no matter how much we would like to order it, Delhi follows its own rules. Trying to do things in our own terms will only tire us. It's better to sit back, wait for the sun to go down and wait for the city to surprise you. Opening the door might not be so bad.

On arrival

I arrived in Delhi on June 1st at 7 am after 36 hours of very stressful travel. I bought the most complicated plane ticket possible: Boston-NY-Mexico City-Atlanta-Newark-Munich-Delhi, and was completely exhausted. After missing 2 flights, changing 2 others and being delayed because the plane's bathroom would not flush, my suitcase did not arrive. Perfect. But I was so excited about finally being in India, I did not care much.

After patiently waiting in line to file a report (there were many passengers in my situation, including a group of very shady middle-aged Italians) I realized that the concept of standing in line in India is very diffuse: people will sort of stand around, not really in line, and will get in front of you if they can. I took a deep breath and decided I did not have the energy to fight. I would patiently wait.

After an hour, I left the airport and took a cab to my friend's aunt's house in Saket (South Delhi). The traffic in Delhi outdoes its reputation, so all I saw were cars, motorbikes, metro walls, honking, rickshaws, more honking and all I wanted was to arrive. I clearly had no idea where I was going, so I kept trying to make sense of the roads and signs I saw; but since they are building the subway to the airport half the roads were blocked and all of them have walls to guard the construction, and I couldn't see anything (and not that it would have helped much, anyway).

Finally, after many u-turns and asking around (Saket can be a complicated neighborhood), I arrived at M-9 2nd floor, where I was warmly greeted by Ms. Veena Bhandari and her husband. After all the commotion of exams, going to Mexico for 3 days and a very long trip, all I could do was sleep. And sleep I did.

A Passage Through India

I read E.M. Forster's A Passage Through India more than 10 years ago, and was deeply impressed by it. I was very curious (and a bit scared) about a place that could change and confuse a person so much. As the years have gone by, I have become more and more interested in India, its history and culture.

Now, in the summer between the 2 years of my Master's program in Public Administration in international Development (MPA/ID), I have the opportunity not only to visit India but to do development work here. India is one of the most vibrant and exciting places to work in development given the quality of the people involved and the sheer number of projects in place. I hope to learn more about microfinance and health insurance schemes for the poor.

The book was written in 1924 and it's about an English woman who travels to India and is overwhelmed by everything she sees and experiences. It portrays the relationship between East and West in the later days of the British Raj. In the book E.M. Forster frequently refers to India as a "muddle" because the logical Western mind cannot accept the extreme diversity of Indian religion, society, wildlife, and even architecture. For him, Westerners are always trying to categorize and label things, but India defies labeling; it has to be accepted and not explained in terms of reason.

I don't know if I'll be as shocked as Adela Quested (and I hope not to have her problems!), but I expect to be very impressed and changed after my time here. We'll see.

(For a more comprehensive review: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Passage_to_India; there is also a movie on the book that is very good. Watch it if you can).