Day 2&3 - Bangalore / Mysore

Tuesday and Wednesday, Yesterday we had our first round of conversations with Allstate in Bangalore. Good conversations. I also met and spoke with a number of other senior Infosys folks who have build relationships with the Infy team.

India has a huge pool of available labor. Tasks that would likely be executed by one or two in the US may be done here with 3 or 6. People frequently use very simple implements (e.g. hand crafted brooms for raking up leaves) to help them with their tasks rather than a specialized tool (leaf blower) that would be used in the US. The trip from Bangalore to Mysore was interesting. We have two new SUVs with drivers taking us from place to place. Leaving Bangalore we got on what passes for a highway here. At one point, it ended (literally) and we merged into a rutted dirt track. For two kilometers we bounced back and forth and then the highway started up again. Apparently, there is politics and not-enough-bribery involved.

Notes on traffic here. Much smaller cars than we have in the States. Narrow is key. On a four lane road (two in each direction), there may be 5 vehicles vying for right of way in one direction. 3 of those are likely either motorcycles or three-wheel taxis, but the other two are a truck and MY driver. Horn honking and light flashing are ways to say, "Hello, I'm passing you." There are very few stop lights. If there is a need for traffic to slow down to allow pedestrians to cross, a speed bump (mountain) is placed in the road. Note, this is the same road (highway) I was referencing earlier. They're everywhere. Quite effective - you almost need to stop to avoid bottoming out.

In my example above about traffic, there'd also be pedestrians two-three wide on each side of the street while this passing maneuver was going on. People seem to walk LOTS - rather than taking a car or a moped. Mopeds usually have two passengers. I've seen several with 4. Maybe one with 5.

The Mysore campus is amazing. It's a jewel. Lots of construction still going on. 300+ acre campus. Huge rec facility. For R300 a month (~$7.5) you get access to the multiplex (free weekly movies), world-class exercise facility, pool, badminton, billiards facilities. Bowling (available on campus) is R45 a string (~$1).

I need to get a better handle on what poverty and middle class here. There's definitely a different notion of what middle class means here. In one conversation I heard, roof over your head, ability to feed your family, moped to drive to work. These items equal middle class. Compared to two cars, a house you own (or are paying on), ability to eat out 2-3 times a week... There really are different definitions. I want to figure out if the people who are walking through these (by our standards) quite poor towns fall into that definition of middle-class.

There seems to be a real appreciation for scarcity of resource. Water in particular is viewed as scarce. I've seen signs everywhere indicating that it's all of our jobs to conserve water. Most of the fountains are not currently running because it's the not the rainy season. I think the water delivered to houses through municipal pipes is not deemed potable - that everyone either boils it or drinks bottled water. Things are simpler and plainer.

We saw an amazing ostentatious 19th century palace today. Cool. Interesting that it was built by a Brit and he imported all sorts of (my opinion) non-essential stuff from Europe. Cast iron columns, mirrors, tiles. It wouldn't be done that way any more. They'd build a tile factory and produce everything locally. The work aspect of my trip is interesting too. Fitting into the above cacophony is a bit challenging. Tomorrow, there's no customers. It'll be good to talk with my team.

An addition 12 hours later. The last two paragraphs point out what India is like. It's poverty right next to 21st modern.