Anish Kothari

I've been back in the USA for a week now. It's nice to be back home where everything is familiar but I miss India a lot. For better or worse, daily life in India is much more interesting than in the USA, but processes are so systematic and efficient here that make doing any kind of work a pleasure. But each place has its benefits and I enjoy both places for what they are. I've been away from the USA for nearly 2 years so I wanted to share my thoughts on what has changed, what I like and what I miss about India.

This is the list of obvious things that are my disposal in the USA that I didn't have in India: 24/7 (hot) water, electricity, fast broadband internet (without download caps yet!), motorized transportation, punctuality, various credible media sources (radio, TV, internet, magazines). Also, I've felt like Gulliver in Lilliput this week because bathroom toilets and sinks are much lower to the ground in the USA - presumably for handicapped access. Strange but true

And here's a thorough list of what I miss about India.

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Here's a post I wrote 3 weeks ago. Since then, there has been an anti-corruption movement that resulted in the passing of the Jan Lokpal Bill last week. Also, the Indian cricket team won the Cricket World Cup, which united Indians like very few events have before: it was a collective fist pump for a country that desperately needed one. I hesitated to post this before, but having re-read this, I stand by my words. Let me know what you think.

I've realized that I'm not willing to work a regular job in India; there are a number of cultural issues to deal with that I'm tired of fighting. Namely, there is a lack of accountability (work gets passed around like a hot potato), there are too many interruptions (people not finishing their work on time), and, most importantly, the fact that work happens at a very slow pace. In between the tea/coffee breaks, betting on cricket, celebrating everyone's birthday/wedding/property acquisition, etc. work doesn't get done on a timely basis. And that's when there aren't external events like power outages, traffic jams and transportation strikes getting in the way. Sometimes, those factors totally prevent work from being done and require jugaad in the form of paying bribes, extending deadlines or simplying giving up because the work is impossible. The end result is unpredicatability: a work day that could be completed from 9am-5pm is extended from 10am-8pm. In the end, it's just not worth it because that's time and effort that takes away from someone's well-being. That's ok for a lot of working people who don't want to do anything but watch TV in their free time, but not for me. I'm in the prime of my working life and not utilizing my ambition would be mortgaging my future.

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