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The author in the rush of justifying her feelings of moral suffering has put some factual lies and false notions. First, she claims that the standard of living

The author in the rush of justifying her feelings of moral suffering has put some factual lies and false notions. First, she claims that the standard of living in India is plummeting and goes on mentioning slums, filth, corruption, bureaucracy etc. If one checks the recent national census and other survey results, the poverty has been steadily declining [1], the illiteracy has sharply declined [2], Indian consumers are the most optimistic in the world! [3], and ironically - Indian entrepreneurs are the most optimistic in the world! [4]. The rest of her complaints are just nitpicks. Second, the notion that happy existence or perfect system is the prerequisite to creativity and success. This is false. If one studies Anthropology, creativity/art/culture/economic-activity/entrepreneurship exist everywhere, even in the most failed country. It is the nature of man to grab every little opportunity. The fact that Mercedes has opened R&D centre in India only shows their creativity, their ability to grab the opportunity and their entrepreneual spirit. More power to the potholed roads! There's nothing called perfection in this universe. Third, not a criticism but, one doesn't need to be overly pessimistic. India and other emerging economies are yet to see several decades of growth. Especially India and China, because of their huge population, will continue to see high economic growth for very long (ask any economists) [5][6]. And no, the moral suffering due to inequality will not disappear anytime soon. China even after growing at a breakneck speed of 10% a year for last three decades and pulling millions of people out of poverty has more inequality than India (Gini coefficient) [7]. I think we'll just gradually evolve to live with it. [1] - http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/indias-poverty-declined-to-322009-10-plan-panel-est_537354.html http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/indias-pove... [2] - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/150267/indias-literacy-level-74-per.html http://www.deccanherald.com/content/150267/indias-literacy-l... [3] - http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=30621_Indian+consumers+continue+to+remain+the+most+optimistic+globally:+Nielsen+Survey http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=30621_Indian+consum... [4] - http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:5wJKiOx4osAJ:www.li.com/attachments/Legatum%2520Institute%2520Survey%2520of%2520Entrepreneurs%2520-%2520China%2520%26%2520India.pdf+indian+entrepreneurs+optimism+legatum&hl=en&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShjlYdq8b2VaWCleGadm9BSKIrYo30wHqMYVLhRZ5z_Hdc4m4A-JLsvqZhJpqh94PQRAq3S5HA9yfJNUGyJPL8VUVypBLuJH7RXspWKZh6m0VzoWGgjyHny8H3-hNRuS4qiFib6&sig=AHIEtbROuyp3RIPfmt3kaLIoZGk0tBkB5Q http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:5wJKiOx4osAJ:w... [5] - http://www.livemint.com/2011/05/25191535/India-could-be-world8217s-3.html http://www.livemint.com/2011/05/25191535/India-could-be-worl... [6] - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/140463/india-likely-worlds-largest-economy.html http://www.deccanherald.com/content/140463/india-likely-worl... [7] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gini_Coefficient_World_CIA_Report_2009-1.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gini_Coefficient_World_CIA...

sridhar_vembu 15y ago
Standard of living is going up, but quality of life is definitely declining in major cities. There is a lot more money (even after adjusting for inflation) so the purchasing power has increased tremendously. There is a much richer variety of goods and services people have access to, housing is a lot nicer, people can afford vacations and so on. All that is on the positive side. On the negative side, people spend longer and longer time commuting in worse and worse traffic, suffer more water & electricity shortages. The general stress level of urban life has gone way up. Overcrowding would explain all of the negatives, and I have outlined why the overcrowding occurs. It is not just "too many people", because even the most densely populated regions of India have plenty of space when you leave major cities and India's population density is at the same general level as Western Europe. It is the inadequate infrastructure that causes massive overcrowding. I agree with your overall point though - I am an optimist.
- obelix 15y ago
  As an entrepreneur who moved to Bangalore recently, I completely agree to Sridhar's post here. My 2 paise - do a India based / focused startup, just live outside India's cities (if you can't live outside India, that is).

sridhar_vembu 15y ago

Standard of living is going up, but quality of life is definitely declining in major cities. There is a lot more money (even after adjusting for inflation) so the purchasing power has increased tremendously. There is a much richer variety of goods and services people have access to, housing is a lot nicer, people can afford vacations and so on. All that is on the positive side. On the negative side, people spend longer and longer time commuting in worse and worse traffic, suffer more water & electricity shortages. The general stress level of urban life has gone way up. Overcrowding would explain all of the negatives, and I have outlined why the overcrowding occurs. It is not just "too many people", because even the most densely populated regions of India have plenty of space when you leave major cities and India's population density is at the same general level as Western Europe. It is the inadequate infrastructure that causes massive overcrowding. I agree with your overall point though - I am an optimist.

obelix 15y ago
As an entrepreneur who moved to Bangalore recently, I completely agree to Sridhar's post here. My 2 paise - do a India based / focused startup, just live outside India's cities (if you can't live outside India, that is).