I had written a longish post with my first thoughts on India and China here in the departure lounge of Hyderabad Airport. Alas, the mail applicaion on my iPod seems to have swallowed it and I must start again. Unfortunately, it does this occasionally, which, especially given that messages have to be tapped into life with only one finger, is a bit annoying.
I had two hours to wait between flights on my way to Vizag, where I’m headed for interviews with offer holders and potential students. It was a 430am start from Kolkata for the Hyderabad flight after quite a late night catching up with paper work with my colleague.
This will probable be a longish post as I have not much else to do–my phone is still not working (I don’t hold much hope for a recovery) and I’m low on cash (there don’t seem to be any ATMs in sight). The lack of a phone is frustrating, as well as making my slightly nervous in case there is an emergency. Luckily, the international office is ‘safety first’ and my schedules are known and I’m expected and tracked.
Hyderabad had the most modern of the airports have visited, though most of the others were undergoing renovations. I spent a few of my pennies on this week’s Economist and a decent coffee (Tea Leaf and Coffee Bean, my old friend from Malaysia and Singapore).
Someone noted to me that Indian airports are like Chinese railway stations, and this seems to be true (Hyderabad excepted). Only ticket holders are allowed entry, baggage is x-rayed on entry and queuing is less ordered than it might be. I guess the difference here stems from the longer history of publuc flying in India and the resulting age of the airports.
I note other differences in my glimpses of India, particularly with respect to poverty and the urban landscape, and to political and civil society.
In India, urban poverty is visible on an almost unimaginable scale. My early morning and late evening rides between airports and hotels passed countless people sleeping in the streets. Shanty towns are everywhere. Such poverty is not observed in Chinese cities. Moreover, the poverty is seen everywhere; side by side stand beggeds and the homeless with Benetton and Adidas stores. I have not in India seen the santitised shopping and hotel districts that characterise the first and second tier Chinese cities I’ve visited.
I suspect there are a number of reasons for this difference: the Chinese have used the Hukou system to control migration from rural areas to the cities and used centralised control to better effect in the construction of massive housing developments. Differences on religious underpinnings might also make the kind of differences noted in India less politically unstable than would have been the case in China.
The other key difference I have noted is political. Indian newspapers are very political and this seems to reflect a very politically engaged population. On the day of my arrival in New Delhi I wandered around the national parliament area observing the many protests and demonstrations. I arrived in Kolkata on the second day of a general strike and the roads were almost completely empty. Some newspapers seemed to take glee in reporting which leading supporters of the strike were spotted working.
I am now finishing this post in Vizag airport on the way back to Hyderabad after my Sunday afternoon of meetings.
The airport is a wonderful contrast to the one where I started writing the post. Vizag airport has one luggage belt for arriving passengers, no airconditioning and seems to cater more for helicopters than aeroplanes. It reminds me of regional Australian airports that I visited in my younger years in Australia. The 36 degree temperature, dust, flies and fans add to the nostalgia.
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Posted from my iPod
Thoughts on India and China
I had written a longish post with my first thoughts on India and China here in the departure lounge of Hyderabad Airport. Alas, the mail applicaion on my iPod seems to have swallowed it and I must start again. Unfortunately, it does this occasionally, which, especially given that messages have to be tapped into life with only one finger, is a bit annoying.
I had two hours to wait between flights on my way to Vizag, where I’m headed for interviews with offer holders and potential students. It was a 430am start from Kolkata for the Hyderabad flight after quite a late night catching up with paper work with my colleague.
This will probable be a longish post as I have not much else to do–my phone is still not working (I don’t hold much hope for a recovery) and I’m low on cash (there don’t seem to be any ATMs in sight). The lack of a phone is frustrating, as well as making my slightly nervous in case there is an emergency. Luckily, the international office is ‘safety first’ and my schedules are known and I’m expected and tracked.
Hyderabad had the most modern of the airports have visited, though most of the others were undergoing renovations. I spent a few of my pennies on this week’s Economist and a decent coffee (Tea Leaf and Coffee Bean, my old friend from Malaysia and Singapore).
Someone noted to me that Indian airports are like Chinese railway stations, and this seems to be true (Hyderabad excepted). Only ticket holders are allowed entry, baggage is x-rayed on entry and queuing is less ordered than it might be. I guess the difference here stems from the longer history of publuc flying in India and the resulting age of the airports.
I note other differences in my glimpses of India, particularly with respect to poverty and the urban landscape, and to political and civil society.
In India, urban poverty is visible on an almost unimaginable scale. My early morning and late evening rides between airports and hotels passed countless people sleeping in the streets. Shanty towns are everywhere. Such poverty is not observed in Chinese cities. Moreover, the poverty is seen everywhere; side by side stand beggeds and the homeless with Benetton and Adidas stores. I have not in India seen the santitised shopping and hotel districts that characterise the first and second tier Chinese cities I’ve visited.
I suspect there are a number of reasons for this difference: the Chinese have used the Hukou system to control migration from rural areas to the cities and used centralised control to better effect in the construction of massive housing developments. Differences on religious underpinnings might also make the kind of differences noted in India less politically unstable than would have been the case in China.
The other key difference I have noted is political. Indian newspapers are very political and this seems to reflect a very politically engaged population. On the day of my arrival in New Delhi I wandered around the national parliament area observing the many protests and demonstrations. I arrived in Kolkata on the second day of a general strike and the roads were almost completely empty. Some newspapers seemed to take glee in reporting which leading supporters of the strike were spotted working.
I am now finishing this post in Vizag airport on the way back to Hyderabad after my Sunday afternoon of meetings.
The airport is a wonderful contrast to the one where I started writing the post. Vizag airport has one luggage belt for arriving passengers, no airconditioning and seems to cater more for helicopters than aeroplanes. It reminds me of regional Australian airports that I visited in my younger years in Australia. The 36 degree temperature, dust, flies and fans add to the nostalgia.
–
Posted from my iPod