On INDO-US ties...

"Robert Blackwill once said economic relations between India and the US were as 'flat as a chappati'- a comparison that did not go down well with many Indians. Do you see that changing? What would it take to put a 'puri' on the table instead?"

This is taken from an interview I read on www.businessworldindia.com
One of the most fascinating things about this whole INDO-US friendship is that the Americans somehow still dont trust us and at the same times we Indians are a proud lot.
India is a classic example of earth and sky meeting as one. On on side you have the latest gadgets being sold in the bold new malls of New Delhi, a city which has neither the electricity to power them nor water to quench the thirst of people using them.
Every year the news items are the same. In April/May it is about how the mercury is climbing (read SOARING!) and how there is neither enough water nor electricity to take us through the summer. What I find most amazing is that after a long winter and a gentle spring we forget the pains of summer and are seemingly surprised when the outside temperature reaches the mid 40s (celsius).
Similarly the US is a classic example of such a contradiction. Although there the problems are not as basic as availability of clean water and power. There the problems are more complex. A rot seems to have set into the core of society itself. As people go about their daily lives with a single minded dedication to make it over the next Quality of Life barrier (on their way to the top) they forget the basics of life itself.

Maybe you need hardships in life to keep you grounded.

:)
A.