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My experience with Indians is fantastically good, but I am wary of India itself. They have a very elaborate system of granting and refusing permission for doin

My experience with Indians is fantastically good, but I am wary of India itself. They have a very elaborate system of granting and refusing permission for doing practically anything, called the "license raj" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_Raj http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_Raj). The ultimate purpose of that system is to make sure that the designated winners win, and that the designated losers lose; as everybody happens to be born into their designated places. If the situation accidentally starts working out differently, the "license raj" bureaucrats will keep changing the rules, until the social order desired, has been restored, and the designated winners are winning and the designated losers are losing again. Nowadays they pretend that they are abolishing that system, but that is not true at all, because they cannot abolish its underlying motivation. As soon as too many designated losers start doing too well -- instead of starving as they are supposed to -- they will urgently reign in that kind of social disorder. As a foreigner, you cannot expect to be anything else but a designated loser; even though you are probably still considered "touchable" :-)

ankeshk 16y ago
This is true. You absolutely need to know the art of bribing to get things done in India. Because people who pay Rs50-100 ($1-2) to the right person will jump way ahead in the line. So if you don't bribe - or don't know how to bribe - things will take very very long for you. This goes for everything from getting a new internet connection to filing papers for a new company incorporation. The reasoning about "everybody happens to be born into their designated places" is not true however. India had the caste system. Not anymore. Sure you'll find a few pockets of exceptions - a few villages that still think they are living in the 16th century. But by and large, this is not true. If you can hustle, you can succeed in India. Case in point: Dhirubhai Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani Made his money in textiles and oil, gas, energy. Gautam Adani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautam_Adani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautam_Adani Made his money in shipping. Both of them were very poor once. Their stories outshine Horatio Alger stories.
jarsj 16y ago
You are talking about the India before 1991. "Licence Raj, also the Permit Raj, refers to the elaborate licenses, regulations and accompanying red tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990.[1]" There has never been a more supporting ecosystem for entrepreneurs in India. Shaadi.com/Rediff.com/Naukri.com/JustDial.com and many others are just few of the success stories.
enry_straker 16y ago
The India of today is not the india of the 80s. That would be like comparing communist china of Chairman Mao's era to the china of today. The whole process of dis-mantling the license raj was started by the current Prime Minister in 1991 when he was appointed the finance minister of india. He has continued to push his economic agenda on modern india and the results are plain to see. A GDP growth rate among the highest in the world for the last 15-20 years. Among the world's leaders, i doubt if anyone has half his knowledge of world or indian economy or his educational qualifications. There is a realization within the entire beurucratic and political framework about the importance of openness and integration with the global economy. Which is one of the reasons why so many IT and BPO organizations have sprung up all over india.
RockyMcNuts 16y ago
How fortunate that in the West incumbents never benefit from government favoritism, or bailouts when they fail spectacularly.

ankeshk 16y ago

This is true. You absolutely need to know the art of bribing to get things done in India. Because people who pay Rs50-100 ($1-2) to the right person will jump way ahead in the line. So if you don't bribe - or don't know how to bribe - things will take very very long for you. This goes for everything from getting a new internet connection to filing papers for a new company incorporation. The reasoning about "everybody happens to be born into their designated places" is not true however. India had the caste system. Not anymore. Sure you'll find a few pockets of exceptions - a few villages that still think they are living in the 16th century. But by and large, this is not true. If you can hustle, you can succeed in India. Case in point: Dhirubhai Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani Made his money in textiles and oil, gas, energy. Gautam Adani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautam_Adani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautam_Adani Made his money in shipping. Both of them were very poor once. Their stories outshine Horatio Alger stories.

jarsj 16y ago

You are talking about the India before 1991. "Licence Raj, also the Permit Raj, refers to the elaborate licenses, regulations and accompanying red tape that were required to set up and run businesses in India between 1947 and 1990.[1]" There has never been a more supporting ecosystem for entrepreneurs in India. Shaadi.com/Rediff.com/Naukri.com/JustDial.com and many others are just few of the success stories.

enry_straker 16y ago

The India of today is not the india of the 80s. That would be like comparing communist china of Chairman Mao's era to the china of today. The whole process of dis-mantling the license raj was started by the current Prime Minister in 1991 when he was appointed the finance minister of india. He has continued to push his economic agenda on modern india and the results are plain to see. A GDP growth rate among the highest in the world for the last 15-20 years. Among the world's leaders, i doubt if anyone has half his knowledge of world or indian economy or his educational qualifications. There is a realization within the entire beurucratic and political framework about the importance of openness and integration with the global economy. Which is one of the reasons why so many IT and BPO organizations have sprung up all over india.

RockyMcNuts 16y ago

How fortunate that in the West incumbents never benefit from government favoritism, or bailouts when they fail spectacularly.