[Assam] NYTimes.com: Inside Gate, India's Good Life; Outside, the Servants' Slums
Chan Mahanta
cmahanta at charter.net
Mon Jun 9 08:15:25 PDT 2008
Very well analyzed Uttam.
The example is an easily comprehensible and pervasive one. But there
are many more that are not as visible or apparent and require a
little more critical/analytical examination, even though they are
right there just underneath the surface. And it does not even take
a trained economist or political scientist to see them, if only we
keep our eyes and ears open.
And I never cease to marvel at the thin-skinned, knee-jerk reactions
from our friends who are incapable of seeing these things in any
other light but western condescension to the Indian condition.
Incidentally, Somini Sengupta is the daughter of an immigrant Bengali
family from Kolkata who are close friends of a close friend of ours
and is married to a Dutch indophile. She is nothing like a "India
hater" or "India-basher" as some of our friends might say, out to
make India look bad to the world.
At 3:54 PM +0100 6/9/08, uttam borthakur wrote:
> >>>>>>>>Think a bit more, and tell us if this "PRIVATE CAPITAL" is
>really private, and if so how.
>
> That's what I was pointing at by mentioning the Orwellian
>Newspeak. The term 'Globalisation' was flaunted as the end of all
>ills, as capital will flow to the peripheries from the points of
>concentration. But after all these years, it is reported that net
>flow is from periphery to concentration. The vocabulary is managed
>to end all discussion. The question is how private is the private?
>Suppose a minister has Rs.10 lakh in his pocket given by a private
>businessman who made his money by not supplying according to the
>tender. Apparently, it is private money that is in the minister's
>pocket.
>
>Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
> > They may be opulent and in stark contrast with the surroundings. If
>>they are totally funded with private >capital and are
>>self-sufficient, there is not a whole lot you can complain about
>>their being.
>
>
>**** Think a bit more, and tell us if this "PRIVATE CAPITAL" is
>really private, and if so how.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>At 5:49 AM -0700 6/9/08, Dilip&Dil Deka wrote:
>>We all agree that there is a vast gap between the rich and the poor
>>in India. Slowly but surely, India's middle class is also growing in
>>number due to free enterprise.
>>Before we criticize the likes of Gurgaon and IPL, we need to ask the
>>question - are they funded from government revenue in which all
>>Indian citizens have a claim? They may be opulent and in stark
>>contrast with the surroundings. If they are totally funded with
>>private capital and are self-sufficient, there is not a whole lot
>>you can complain about their being. If the Gurgaon complex installs
>>its own generators to get UPS, why should they be criticized? If the
>>residents manicure their lawns with their own money, where is the
>>problem?
>>Should the residents of Gurgaon spend time and money in improving
>>the lives of Shephali Das and her kids? MOST DEFINITELY.
>>Most entrepreneurs in the western world do and it is a trait Indian
>>entrepreneurs lack. THEY NEED TO WAKE UP before Maoists move closer
>>to them and cause terrorism in the cities.
>>Dilip Deka
>>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----
>>From: Jyotirmoy Sharma
>>To: A Mailing list for people interested in Assam from around the
>>world
>>Sent: Monday, June 9, 2008 6:23:45 AM
>>Subject: Re: [Assam] NYTimes.com: Inside Gate, India's Good Life;
>>Outside, the Servants' Slums
>>
>>India's poverty is western media's obsession( whether good or bad is
>>debatable ).
>>In Aus, whenever there is anything shown on India, it will be mostly about
>>slums, call centres, riots etc. There will never be any report on India's
>>positives - be it the growing middle class, good progress in space
>>technology etc. Maybe it is one way of telling the local population as to
>>how priviledged they are. Coverage of local issues which make them look bad
>>is sometimes relegated to the background.
> >As an example of media bias, most of the IPL matches were shown live on free
> >to air channels here. However, they cut the opening and closing ceremony.
>>Maybe that would have raised the question, "How could a poor country be
>>capable of such pomp and flamboyance?"
>>
>>JS
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>On Mon, Jun 9, 2008 at 11:05 AM, Ram Sarangapani wrote:
>>
>>> C'da thanks for the article, its a good article (though not an eye
>>> opener) and Umesh, you raise some good points.
>>>
>>> One is left wondering which is worse, a country that can possibily afford
>>> to
>>> eradicate poverty within its boundaries, or a country that flaunts
>>> its riches that it can ill afford to. :)
>>>
>>> --Ram
>>>
>>>
>>> On 6/8/08, umesh sharma wrote:
>>> >
>>> > In Washington DC and New York the contrast may not be so obvious
>>> > but Harlem is a US slum near the riches of Manhattan. People do beg
>>> > in downtown DC. DC is the crime capital of the US. Does that make Bill
>>> > Gates or Bill Clinton apologetic or for that
>>> > matter Thomas Friedman or Al Gore who stay in multimillion dollar
>>> > homes and buy carbon credits.
>>> >
>>> > Poverty is relative -unless someone is dying of hunger. For sickness look
>>> > at PG county govt hospitals - 10 miles from White House which as per a
>>> local
>>> > College Park resident ( I haven't been there) where patients sit in
>>> > corridors for days without treatment.
>>> >
>>> > Umesh
>>> >
>>> > cmahanta at charter.net wrote: This page was sent to you by:
>>> > cmahanta at charter.net.
>>> >
>>> > The Good Life of Gurgaon
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > INTERNATIONAL / ASIA PACIFIC | June 9, 2008
>>> > Inside Gate, India's Good Life; Outside, the Servants' Slums
>> > > By SOMINI SENGUPTA
>>> > Gated communities have emerged in India, giving its growing
>>> > upper-middle-class giving Western amenities, along with maids and
>>> chauffeurs
>>> > who live in nearby slums.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/world/asia/09gated.html?ex=1213588800&en=223c319279fc0dfc&ei=5070&emc=eta1
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
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>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Umesh Sharma
>>> >
>>> > Washington D.C.
>>> >
>>> > 1-202-215-4328 [Cell]
>>> >
>>> > Ed.M. - International Education Policy
>>> > Harvard Graduate School of Education,
>>> > Harvard University,
>>> > Class of 2005
>>> >
>>> > http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)
>>> >
>>> > http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > www.gse.harvard.edu/iep (where the above 2 are used )
>>> > http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
>>> >
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>Uttam Kumar Borthakur
>
>
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