Talking Point

Danny Boyle’s, eight Academy Awards winning yet controversial film Slumdog Millionaire, set and filmed in India, gave the country another name derivative – the Slumdog Land. The name tagging apart, the film also carried a deeper symbolism for India, a land of many contradictions.

As India surges forward in taking big strides of development, there are millions of slumdogs, aspiring to become millionaires all over the country in their own entrepreneurial ways. The making of new India thus needs a thoughtful blend of big ticket macro development as well as the inclusive growth of micro-small-mid sized enterprises for a sustainable growth movement.

16th Feb 2009: I started early from home once again to catch the 6.30 Jet Airways flight to Delhi. The early morning fog ensured that the flight was delayed by an hour. However, the good breakfast served by Jet Airways more than compensated for the delay. As we were about to land at Delhi, the outside temperature was 11 degrees…pretty cold I thought as I peered out of the window, to see men huddling in pullovers and mufflers.

Delhi airport was as chaotic as ever. I collected my baggage and headed for the prepaid taxi booth. After an uneasy 30 minute queue, I was able to pre-pay for a “EASYCAB” to NOIDA and exited the airport wondering how on earth I would find my EASYCAB amidst the chaotic landscape that confronted me. However, a uniformed guy appeared out of nowhere and politely asked if I was an EASYCAB customer. Upon seeing me nodding in the affirmative, he immediately took over my luggage trolley and led me to where my pre-paid EASYCAB was parked. As we approached the cab, a Sardarji i leapt out of the well-maintained SUV, loaded my luggage at the back and opened the door for me to enter. The uniformed guy thanked me and departed promptly (I mean, he did not hover around tentatively expecting a tip) . Sardarji got into the driver’s seat and we set off. It was that EASY! No haggling, no negotiating, bargaining, no tipping. What a customer’s delight! I had to pay Rs. 600 for the trip, but given the long distance and the wonderful service experience, it was really worth it.

The impression that I was beginning to form was that while the market was really gearing up to offer world-class services, and beginning to succeed, public infrastructure was still in a time-wrap, the facilities far short of acceptable standards.

After a seemingly never ending travel, we reached the guest house in NOIDA. NOIDA, aka Gautam Budh Nagar, was a huge place in a state of constant real-estate development, with roads, bridges, overpasses, underpasses, diversions, malls, multistoried buildings in various stages of construction. As a result, the air was perpetually thick with dust, especially in the dry months. The greenery looked browner than green, and leaves probably breathed in more dust than carbon dioxide.

My colleague from MicroSave was already at the Guest House and so I dumped my luggage in my room and set off to Ghaziabad to meet our MFI client, whose head office was located somewhere in a series of run-down, derelict apartment blocks. My colleague pointed out to the signboard, hanging precariously on the third floor verandah. I could not get the full name of the MFI since part of the board was hidden behind assorted undergarments let out to dry by neighbors who used the signboard a readymade, convenient clothes-line for their daily laundry.

Winding up the crumpling dusty staircase, we tentatively opened the door and peered in to see two young men hunched over laptops engrossed in animated discussions involving target markets and intricate details of financial products in a manner that was reminiscent of group discussions in high-end business schools. The hardware (the crumpling infrastructure) and the software within (the discussions) appeared starkly incongruous. I once again adjusted myself to a modern-day Indian reality… value created and distributed through such low-fixed-cost hell holes! Who on earth could compete with this combination 1?

Introductions over, I realized that our client was Rupaal Singh, a Sardarji in his early thirties. Having completed his studies in London, he decided to set up a professional microfinance organization and hoped to expand rapidly over the next five years based on a differentiation strategy of product innovation. For lunch, Roopal took us to a swanky mall just across the street, offering a wide range of food options. We settled for pizzas at Nirula’s ii.

Back at the guest house that evening, I wondered what to do. I set out to find an internet café and something to eat. After receiving directions from various people, I ended up at the Sector 50 shopping complex. I found the internet café, again a hole-in-the-wall. In the cubicle next to me (uncomfortably close to me) sat a high school boy and his girlfriend. They were busy polishing a presentation for their school project. Their topic, “Flirting with Genes” caught my attention! Having completed my emailing, I decided to settle for a roadside dinner of steamed momos iii and egg roll at the “Kolkatta Snacks Stall”. The food was delicious and value for money, if you are not too fussy about ambiance.

17th Feb 2009: We continued our work with Roopal. This time, for lunch we visited Dominos Pizza, for a more authentic pizza experience. In the evening, I repeated my Sector 50 market jaunt. Only this time at the hole-in-the-wall internet café, my neighboring booth was occupied by a daughter and her mother. The daughter was dictating out an essay about her school, while the mother was busy typing out the stuff as best as she could.

Apparently, a lot of the NOIDA homes still did not have computers and internet connections. The children came from well-to-do backgrounds and were attending decent schools, going by their sophistication and English proficiency. “Why did they not have computers and internet connectivity at home”? I wondered (are the friendly-neighborhood hardware sellers listening?). For dinner I tried out a variation, this time at the “Darjeeling Snacks”, where I had a plate of ‘mixed chow-mein’ iv.

To be continued …

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1 In China they say, the hardware and infrastructure goes first and the software (and warm bodies) follow. In India it appears to be the opposite – the software hovered in thin air, waiting for the hardware!

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i Turbaned Sikhs are commonly referred to Sardarjis in India. It has reverential rather than derogatory connotations. 

ii Nirula’s : A chain of fast-food outlets, mainly operating in and around Delhi. Nirula’s pioneered fast-food in India, much before the advent in India, of the Mc Donalds and Pizza Huts.

iii Momo: A dish of dumplings of Tibetan origin. It is very popular, along with Chinese food, in various parts of India.

iv Chow mein: The ‘Chow-mein’ is the staple of the ‘Indian-Chinese’ cuisine. Chow-meins come in different forms like chicken chow mein, egg chow mein, prawn, mixed or just plain vegetable chow mein, so as not to exclude the vast vegeteranian population. Originally derived from the more bland Chinese noodles, the chow-mein had been ‘indianized’ by the profuse adding of chilies, Indian sauces and spices. Some, in North India even add cottage cheese (paneer)! Chow mein is available extensively, especially in Kolkata, where each street corner dishes out steaming hot chow mein during the evenings!