Back to India for the Children of Immigrants

Preetha Narayanan moved back to India for a year and a half on a scholarship.

Thousands of Indians born in America have found a new home in the land that their parents abandoned. This week for NPR I reported on a new trend among second generation Indians to return to India in search of opportunity. Part of the draw is that Indians born and raised in the states often feel conflicted over their identities--on one hand they feel like they feel set apart from the American mainstream, while on the other they aren't sure how well they they fit into India, either. Inevitably, when they move to India, many in the second generation find that they have more in common with other Americans than they do with local people. And some people, find that disheartening.

But there are some clear advantages to moving. In addition to new visa schemes like the PIO and OCI cards that allow people to cross borders and work without too much government hassle, returning Indians also find that they can seriously advance their career. S. Mitra Kalita, a newspaper editor at Mint in Delhi, says that simply moving to India threw her into the ranks of senior management almost immediately. It would have taken her years to get to the same position working at newspapers back home.

And it's not just the second generation moving back. I'm increasingly meeting people here in Chennai and Bangalore who have been educated in the United States and even worked there for a few years who have decided that moving back makes a lot of sense. In the 1970s and 1980s most people assumed that moving to America would lock them into the west--returning wasn't even on the table. Now, it seems, many people are able to bridge both worlds.

Here's the story on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=87884391

The Hindu's Front Page "Real Estate"

This is the front page of The Hindu today, February 29, 2008. It's a full page ad hocking a new real-estate scheme. For more than a century The Hindu has been considered one of India's best newspapers, but selling its front page to an advertiser is nothing less than editorial treason.

And it's just the most recent offender in a long line of terrible advertising ploys that undercut the credibility of journalism in India. Earlier this year the Decccan Chronicle pull a similar shenanigan when they thought no one would notice.

It's true, newspapers do need to support themselves on advertising dollars, but in order to retain credibility there is usually a wall between editorial and advertising. Reporters need to have free reign to write the stories they want, and the paper sells on the basis of those stories. By putting a full page advertisement on the front page the newspaper ceases to be a news source. It makes it the trash that delivery men leave on my doorstep.

I don't think I am going to read The Hindu anymore.

Traffic, Congestion, City Planning and...the Nano

What do you think about traffic in India? I want to know.

As far as infrastructure is concerned, the next decade is going to determine the long term future of India. The number of vehicles on the roads is growing by orders of magnitude. According to statistics on the Bangalore Traffic Police website, in 1987 the IT capital of Bangalore had only 400,000 cars on the road. By 2005 there were more than 2 million. As India metropolises continue to grow the mileage of roadways doesn't even come close to keeping pace leading to traffic jams, and worse, gridlock.

Next year automakers are going to release 14 new car designs onto Indian roads. New players Volkswagen and Nissan are preparing for major releases while TATA motors has announced an ultra-cheap "people's car" that cost barely more than a motorcycle. I'm working on a story about the future of Indian cities--the plans to make things better, and the downfalls of quick development and I'd like to get people's opinion of what they think the future holds.

Also, does anyone know of any cutting edge initiatives in city planning, or civic management that are prepared to deal with the traffic influx? In your opinion, who are the biggest and brightest minds in the field?