My Days in Delhi: Part 2

I continue today the discussion I started in my last post. In this I will talk a bit about my encounters with the poorer classes in Delhi and hope that you can draw some contrasts to my last post which focused on the middle and upper classes. I will also group students in this discussion simply because by our Western standards, the jobless are often lumped in with the impoverished in official statistics. However I will also try and explain the difference between these groups in India, and then hopefully give some thoughts on why achieving a sustainable society has extra challenges because of the existence of these groups.

My first encounter with students about my own age in India came within my first few days in Delhi. I happened to be walking through Connaught Place and was called over by a couple of young guys named Ganesh and Subhash. They were both recent computer science graduates (a popular major in India) enjoying a day off from their job searching in the sunshine. I could understand why when they said that they had been job searching for several months on end and had not really found anything. Worse, each had only had a couple of interviews. They explained that there are far more computer science graduates each year than there are jobs, even with the IT sector in India booming. So each call for a position netted dozens to hundreds of applicants. I witnessed this firsthand when the hotel in which I stayed hosted 7 days of interviews for a shipping company—over 570 applicants interviewed over those days.

So though these students seemed cheerful today, they had the difficulty of being without any income and reliant on family and relations to support them until they could find a job. Neither could guess when a position might arise, and when it did it would almost certainly not be the one they wanted. It turned out that during my time in India both of them found jobs, but then had to work very long hours doing things they enjoyed but which were not ideal for either. However I suppose they should count themselves lucky to have jobs.

Throughout my time I met several other students, especially on my various weekends out or at conferences. It was often true that students were more curious than adults and more willing to approach me and find out who I was. Perhaps because they had learned English in school they were more confident in speaking to me, or perhaps they felt kinship because of the age similarity. For whatever reason, in both Chandigarh and Amritsar I was approached by students, two in computer science and one in business, and then later at the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit met an engineering student.

In all of my interactions with these students (including the two that I met on my first days in Delhi) one big theme emerged—to them I was not just a friend but a potential avenue either to school in the US or a free meal. It bothered me a bit that I felt like the “friendship” was being taken advantage of just a bit in the sense that it did not seem as though there was just a genuine desire to hang out and talk. There were always suggestions to go and get food (followed often by profession of lack of funds) or questions about how they could get jobs in America or go to university in America. Now I don’t mind helping friends, but when after talking with someone for about 10 minutes you ask if he can help you go to America, that’s a bit forward to me. The worst was being asked to serve as a sponsor for someone to go to University in the US. At least on that one I had legal ground to firmly say no (though I never said yes anyway to these requests). As for the food requests, it was a bit disheartening to see that even the younger generation had adopted the association of foreigners (even poor student foreigners) with money. I somehow felt that had I too been Indian, money suddenly would be found and the cost of the meal shared. Perhaps, however, there is also something cultural I am missing in this, and perhaps next time I meet any of them my meal will be offered instead of theirs being asked.

After all of these conversations, the impression I got is that many students dream of being able to go to the US, few actually have the means to get into school there or pay for it. It seems as well that no one is really there to give them career advice or school advice. This was especially clear in two separate requests for me to tell students where in the US they should apply. I was given grades, test scores, and interests and basically asked to be a guidance counselor. I explained that it was not my job to do such research for them, but since they clearly had internet access (they both were on Facebook), I explained how to do such searches themselves. That, however, did not seem appealing, and I don’t believe either followed up.

These encounters give me an interesting view of education and schools in India. I had previously been told by a researcher at The Energy and Resources Institute in Delhi that education in India did not emphasize individual thought but rather being able to copy and paste relevant information. In some ways, this approach carries over to how I was asked about school applications and ways of going to the US. Rather than generate the information themselves, they were looking for someone to spoon-feed it to them. I don’t want to generalize too quickly here and make this occurrence seem epidemic in India (though the TERI researcher’s comment led me in the direction of that conclusion) but if I did encounter a representative sample, then this could pose a challenge for India’s growth in the future. While the education system is improving rapidly (something you have to give credit for considering the baseline from which the nation began 65 years ago), without a spirit of independent research and knowledge creation it will be difficult for India to rise to the top of world nations. In a few conversations with other travelers and scholars, I am led to believe that this style of education is fairly common in the developing world and perhaps is the reason why many of these nations have trouble growing economically (except those like China and India where sheer numbers can provide incredible growth).

Now before I get too down on education and innovation in India, I would like to counter that there are some smart, innovative individuals in the nation that I met. Two happened to be students in Chandigarh. Though in their first year of studies in computer science (what else), they had already begun writing plot lines and code for video games. Close friends, they hoped that after their education was finished, they might be able to work together on their own start-up company making such games. More recently, I received a message from one of them that he has started a web design and graphic design business. You can check out some of his work here. I know they are still young, but just to find this entrepreneurial, innovative spirit was refreshing. In my experience, it is rare to find such thoughts and ideas being carried out among 19 year olds in America even with the education system we have (definitely more thoughts to be explored on that one, but not appropriate here). All I can hope is that these two students won’t be discouraged by their education or by jobs they may have to take en route to their dream company to pay the bills. With the competition and long hours that I have been told are common in computer-based employment in India, I would not be surprised if many young, bright individuals burn out and never get to implement their dreams. Hopefully I am wrong on that.

Yet to many, even the long hours and low pay of call centers are a dream that is still unattainable. For much of India’s population, living in poverty is still a reality and for many, even a simple job is still a dream. Every day as I rode the Metro to and from meetings or activities and then walked the streets to get to and fro I encountered the urban poor of India. Even within this “class,” though, there are many different levels. The people here range from those who own shops or businesses catering to the local populations in the poorer areas to those who must beg for a living. I will try and explain from my observations a bit more about what I mean on this.

My first impressions of Delhi came in one of these poorer neighborhoods (you can read more about those first few days in one of my previous blog posts).Here, though many people owned shops or sold goods, the living was clearly not good as the buyers often had the same income level as the sellers. Tourists were targeted for the extra income they could be expected to bring (mostly through quoting higher prices than an Indian would get and then counting on the tourists not bargaining as well). Here as well many tried to make a living selling travel packages to their villages elsewhere in the country, usually in Kashmir. They said they must do this work so that their family had a source of income. For some, I doubt this assertion is entirely true but for others, I believe it may be. One such many took me into his home the first night for dinner. After navigating the narrow alleyways between buildings, stepping over mud puddles and sleeping dogs, and passing many huddled around small stoves with little food, we arrived at his building. Though it was run-down and dirty, it at least had plumbing and electricity. His “apartment” (if it can be called that) was simply a room—four walls and a floor—with a wooden door leading in. He and his cousin slept on mats on the floor with pillows and no more. The only other possessions were a deck of cards and a pile of clothes. A few magazine pictures adorned the walls. The kitchen and bathroom were shared among the whole floor. Not exactly glamorous living conditions, and yet I imagine he was better off than others in the city.

Aside from those who own shops or service centers, many of the lower classes are employed in poor service jobs, including servants for the wealthy and the most visible—rickshaw drivers. I have no idea how much per day these drivers make, but it is clear from the clothes they wear that it is not lucrative. Moreover, with so many drivers in India and bargaining being the norm, it can often be hard to get a fare. It is no wonder then that people like me get charged much more than is normal because we are not expected to know the correct fare. Yet what amazed me about some of these drivers is that they often would turn down a fare even if the price was fair because they did not want to. I suppose that this visible declining of fares is part of what gives rise to the stereotype of some Indians as being lazy. Though it is fully within their right to decline such fares, it does seem as though even small trips would be worthwhile to these drivers when outwardly it would appear as if the money is needed. When I finally did agree on a price with my drivers, I noticed that many are uneducated. It seems that it is an entrance position for those who move into the city or a job for those who could not afford school earlier in life. While this is a good thing, for many it seems as though they become stuck in that position with little chance of moving upward. India’s social structure makes this difficult, and the bonds that form among rickshaw drivers seem to only strengthens this lack of upward mobility.

As you ride in your rickshaw through the streets of India you see the very bottom of Indian society. They are even more noticeable as you walk the streets. They are the hardest part, in my opnion, about living in India or visiting. You quickly develop a tough skin, though, because if not you would soon be among them. They are those who must beg for a living. Unfortunately these displaced people make up such a large part of the population, many living in slums or other informal housing, that you feel sometimes as if it is every other step that you are begged of. For these people, life must be very tough as it is unlikely that they get much money per day given that for many in India money is tight. The good news is that organizations are working daily to help these people find better jobs and employment, especially for the children in this position. The challenge is that there are so many (and the number is growing as more migrate to the cities) that to help them all is very tough.

I have heard some very bad stories about India’s urban poor. They range from stories of babies being drugged to look sicklier than they are to try and gain more money to beggars in rich neighborhoods being beaten for approaching white tourists. The worst stories involve organized groups of children sent out to beg and then return the money to the ringleader (reminiscent of Fagan’s gang in Dickens’ classic Oliver Twist). Never having seen either of these myself I cannot assess their truth, so take both with a grain of salt. However I can believe that certain beggars would try and find an “angle” so to speak given the numbers that exist and therefore the competition. What bothered me most, however, was the persistence. Several times while sitting in a park I was approached by beggars, often children, who would not relent until I finally had to get up and move. Even after being told no, many of the beggars I encountered would only redouble their efforts. Tugging at clothes was common, following me in my path for a bit often occurred, and on rare occasions, my path was temporarily obstructed by those wanting money. As I said, this was the toughest part of living in India simply because the condition in which these people appear makes you want to give something, but the reality is that there are too many to give to some and not others. Money is better spent giving to organizations that help remove these people from poverty than directly to the people themselves.

So why is this all relevant to the discussion about sustainable cities in India? I’ll start with perhaps the biggest and most obvious challenge this very spread out population causes and that is the spending needed on development and infrastructure to accommodate and equalize the population. Currently India is in dire need of huge infrastructural investment to bring sanitation, plumbing, electricity, and mass transit to much of the nation so that those in the lower classes can simply improve their lifestyles to an acceptable level and maintain safer living conditions. This means that money otherwise could be spent on environment and efficiency improvements must rightly instead go to merely raising the average standard of living. I am not criticizing these priorities in any way but simply stating that until this happens it will be hard for India to focus on sustainable development.

Even once the infrastructure is in place to raise the standard of living, the income disparity in India and the rapid development of a middle class will create another challenge as they strive to reach the levels of comfort that the upper classes and middle classes in Europe and America enjoy. Though at this point we are assuming that basic needs are adequately cared for, what will happen is that extra income will likely be spent on items such as air conditioners (which are still not common in India homes), televisions, and computers, all of which will add to the already stressed Indian electrical grid. So instead of merely needing to provide low-emissions energy of the existing demand, India will suddenly have to supply low-emissions electricity for double or triple the current demand. This is already being tackled in India through consumer-oriented measures of reducing electricity consumption in electronics. Rating schemes and mandatory energy limits are being imposed on some new products to help citizens make informed choices on low-energy devices. However the sheer potential for electronic growth in India is incredible and means that no matter how hard the government tries, demand will grow. Along with electricity growth will be growth in demand for water both for human consumption and as a result of the new sewer systems and plumbing. India is already water-stressed and this increased demand just to reach a basic standard of living will necessitate innovative solutions to water supply and demand.

One other challenge that is tied to these other two is that there is not a standard housing or commercial solution for India’s sustainable development. That statement is pretty much true everywhere, but in India the challenge is exacerbated by the extreme differences in wealth and housing types. In this country where a 27 storey tower for one family overlooks the largest slum in the nation you clearly have vastly different challenges facing different sectors of the population. For architects, the challenge is how to create good, efficient low-cost housing that will help improve the quality of life for the urban poor without creating discomfort or economic disadvantage. Because of high costs for efficient and sustainable materials, it would be very possible for India’s urban poor to continue to be housed in inefficient buildings. This means that they must choose either between poor comfort or spending large amounts of their income on heating and cooling. It is for this reason that many architects are looking to traditional housing for insights. The climatic diversity in India complicates this challenge further and provides another impetus for considering traditional housing styles.

These are by no means the only challenges for development or sustainability in India caused by such the large disparity of classes in the country, but if I were to list them all, it would take pages. So for now I’ll leave it there but as always, I’m happy to discuss more if anyone is interested. I guess overall though I hope to leave the impression that India is a very diverse nation for many reasons, not the least of which is the class structure. It almost has two polar opposite societies increasingly linked by the burgeoning middle class. It will be interesting to watch how this changes and develops in the coming years. Personally I think it will transform the nation and provide power for India’s development. However it is a long road yet until that is the case.