India

For The Cause Of The Taj

Harshad Oak

The monument wasn't the beneficiary of your votes, the phone companies were If you are a true Indian patriot, send me a 100 rupees. Sounds ridiculous, right? But
that’s exactly what’s being done by one of the most ingenious yet dubious campaigns
in recent times, The New7Wonders Poll. Every medium around has been campaigning
for Indians to vote for the Taj and ensure that it gets on the list of the New 7 Wonders
of the World. By the time you read this, the Taj might even have got on to the
New7Wonders list and the media would be flashing victory messages and interviewing
all and sundry about how they feel on the Taj being chosen…

(Continued in the scanned article image on the left). Published as part of my column for the Maharashtra Herald that’s published on alternate Saturdays.

Blame It On The IT Wallas

Harshad Oak

Blame It On The IT wallas

“IT walon ney sab mehanga kar diya hai” said the travel agent after charging me a hefty sum for a Volvo bus ticket. Apparently it was peak season and any bus destination that was remotely interesting to the IT walas in Pune was selling at many times the normal rate. The agent was of the chatty kind and after inquiring about things ranging from the origins of my family to the reason for the trip, he said that the common Puneite won’t pay any amount that he asked for, but the IT walas blow money like crazy and will pay thousands without any hesitation. So naturally everything has become expensive.

IT people sure have made life difficult for most others. Few other industries can match the pay packets or the glamour associated with IT today. Take any product or service that would interest an IT professional and you would see that the price has at least doubled every 2 to 3 years …(Continued in the scanned article image on the left)

Should I keep rowing or should I abandon ship and swim for that glittering island?

Harshad Oak

A few days back, a friend told me about his plans to head for a foreign country because he has had enough of India. He isn’t one of the ‘crazy about US’ kinds who think that all things American are cool or who only talks about English music and Hollywood. He is as connected to India as most of us. Yet he is convinced that he has to move out of India.

That discussion has got me thinking about the topic of young Indians migrating from India. This article is my attempt to put down the various factors that are at work in this matter.

I will discuss the history of Indian migrations and then look at why people migrate and why they don’t. If you are expecting a yes or no answer about migrating, I unfortunately can’t provide that.

Although I am taking an Indian perspective, I think most points would be relevant to all developing nations.

Also please note that I am trying to take an objective view on the subject and not a patriotic or emotional one.

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