India is changing!

Photo Courtesy utpal
Yesterday I started comparing the India I see today to the one I lived in, just 5 years back. Boy, was I surprised! So many things have changed that it is silly to try to write about each in a little blog here. But still, just so to keep an account which might serve as a good reference point when I sit and think about the country 5 years from now, I am writing about the changes. Here goes my discursive piece on a changed India.

The People

Indians still love to dress ostentatiously and express feeling exuberantly, but most will agree that there is a change in attitude. People feel free and have more modern ideas. For instance, sex may actually be discussed in homes and schools. Women expect their husbands to help in household chores and (surprisingly) men do not mind.

Nuclear families have become a norm and couples do not consider baby production their sole concern. Fewer Indians depend on their parents to find a “suitable match”. Women have a wider choice in dressing and occupations and working late nights does not have a stigma attached.

The Jobs

This is the area that has seen a huge change. Thanks to outsourcing, Indians are enjoying an unprecedented job boom. Call centers are ubiquitous and young, old, graduates, non-graduates, homemakers, engineers – all are rushing to be a part of this industry.

India is already a leader in IT. It will suffice to say that companies like Microsoft, IBM and Google are not only eager to hire Indians but are wary of the indigenous IT giants like Infosys, Wipro and TCS. Besides, health sector, financial market, aviation industry, content management, HR and many other fields are seeing a boom that has lured many expatriate Indians back home.

The economy

The news of strengthening of rupees against dollar may have created trouble for export industries but it definitely has warmed a number of Indian hearts. Indian economy is on a rise and the whole world has grudgingly started acknowledging that.

Though the inbound foreign investments still leave a lot to be desired, the kind of ruffles Indian companies are creating globally is the stuff business dreams are made of. Acquisitions, whether by TATA, Birla, Wipro or Vijay Mallaya, prove that India is no longer ready to be a wallflower in the world economy.

The young crowd

The new generation watches MTV, reruns of Friends, Shakira concerts and listens to the latest hip hop and Justin Timberlake records. The young crowd reads Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire and sports GAP tees and whatever style is the latest to hit the global fashion scene. They profess love over a mocha latte and spend Saturday nights in discos. Career focused and fun loving, these young guns are a far cry from the obedient but confused generations of yesteryears.

The Shopping scene

When one sees yet another article titled “7 ways to deal with shopping addiction” in an Indian magazine, one can safely surmise that the shopping scene has seen a tremendous change here. Malls are everywhere and are packed even on weekdays. They have become everyone's favorite hangout.

Pretty Young Things shop and the guys ogle, couples walk around hand in hand without the fear of moral policing, housewives enjoy the change from the drudgeries at home, men delight in the convenience of mass shopping and the older generation look muddled but pleased at the comfortable shopping experience. No questions about it – malls have proved to be total people magnets in India.

The phones

This discussion cannot end without a few words about the telecoms revolution. Mobile phone is probably the only thing that has finally brought some uniformity in the completely disparate sections of Indian population. While only a few years ago, mobiles were merely a status symbol of the rich, today, they have become a symbol of India's growth. Now, if only,the politicians took a cue and did something for the education sector.

Conclusion

With the license raj easing and global interest increasing, it is the correct time for India to show that it can rise above the bureaucracy and corruption and blast off its economy. There is a lot to be done as the unbelievably indisciplined traffic situation and shoddy infrastructure clearly proves. India may be changing but to really stand out it must change fast enough.

Pictures of Udaygiri caves

Here are a few of the pictures I took at Udaygiri, the place I talked about in my previous blog. To see my post on Udaygiri-Khandgiri, just click here.

That is a monkey I saw immediately upon entering the Udaygiri caves. He was sitting all be himself on the huge structure at the entrance. The place, in general, has many of these animals and you'll love seeing them lazing around and doing their monkey business!

Here is a picture of Udaygiri caves taken from the top of its twin hill, Khandgiri. Doesn't all this greenery look soothing! The caves themselves have an aura of sagacity - I know, rocks are not supposed to be wise, but try visiting these hills to get an idea of how even stones seem to talk if you try getting somewhat philosphical.






This is a carved out section of the hill. It has great work on the inner walls. Many carvings depict the stories of the lives of kings and the monks. I was mesemerised by the lovely works on stone.





Here are a series of tiny caves in Udaygiri hill. Notice how the rocks are placed, making any attempt to climb dangerous. I tried, of course, and still worry about those head bumps I got!

Thoughts about ancient monks

Recently, I visited an extremely ancient and fascinating site called Udaygiri-Khandgiri, located about 8Km from Bhubaneswar in Orissa. Here the term ancient is not an exaggeration at all- the structure I traveled to was more than 2000 years old. And why was it fascinating? Read on to find out!

Udaygiri and Khandgiri are twin hills that possess such wonderful remnants of the bygone era that the archaeologists must have been ecstatic on discovering them. The interesting aspect of these hills is that there are many caves – more than 30, I think- that are said to have been created in the 2^nd century BC by a powerful king named Kharvela. These caves were supposed to serve as the perfect seclusion sites for the austere Jain monks who had given up all worldly pleasures (the very few that there were then) to live a life of penance.

After getting a few bumps on my head while entering the smallish caves, and suffering from my first bouts of claustrophobia, I realized that the monks must have been very brave in deed to live in these incredibly simple caves. I cannot imagine how the Jain monks must have taken all the trouble to climb up on all those rocks in order to reach the tiny chambers that had no other furnishing barring a few carvings here and there.

My herculean efforts to cover every hidden cave of the hill were rewarded with severe leg cramps and sightings of lovely statues and inscriptions. After climbing the dangerously placed rocks of the hill in the stifling heat, I could hardly keep my balance and that gave me an even better idea of what the monks must have endured each day in order to maintain their penance.

At the most hidden angles, I spotted caves that could test one's physical limits- so difficult they were to reach and so compact in size and structure. The whole structure was made of coarse grained sandstone and the inside of the caves were quite cool. There were statues and exotic carvings that conveyed stories and gave a fantastic glimpse into the general lives of the past residents.

The place itself seemed very serene, just like those monks must have been. While driving away, as I gave a last look to the caves, I realized that they looked so peaceful and wise, totally without the chaos and ostentation of our modern lives.

All the time I was in the caves, I kept thinking of what a tough life the monks chose for themselves, but it was while leaving that I realized that the lives they chose must have been totally without fears, insecurities, sleeplessness, greed and the other worldly troubles that our “easy” lives seem to be plagued with.

First thoughts

What should one write in his very first blog?
Truth or made up stories.

Truth is easy to write, it is something you know for sure; but is it something you are ready to share?
Is it something your readers are eager to know about?

Perhaps your life is too average to be chronicled in a public journal.
Perhaps it is too risky to blatantly bare your soul in front of total strangers.

But isn't that the point of writing a journal- to reveal all your secret desires, anger, fear, love, hate and everything else you cannot say aloud. Photo Courtesy nettaphoto

So are blogs journals? But aren't journals supposed to be hidden and meant for private viewing only?
So what do you we compare blogs with?

Perhaps they are just a web book full of random notes. A modern way of broadcasting, in which every blogger is given a chance to air his views. What views he chooses to blog depends upon his concept of personal zone. A shy person might take pains to hide his thoughts or at least his real persona behind euphemisms while an extrovert may bask in the new found way of interacting and letting his steam out.

So where am I going with this taradiddle? Nowhere specific. I am just trying to organize my first thoughts about blogging in order to decide the course my blog is to take hence forth.

I guess I'll take a safe course and pursue those trains of thoughts that keep popping into my silly brain from time to time.