The economy of India has certainly had its fair share of ups and downs. The old world colonialism of the past has thankfully been decimated and in the generations since the United Kingdom’s departure, it’s easy to see how much better a nation can thrive when left to its own devices, particularly in the case of India. The major metropolitan areas of cities such as Bangladesh or Bombay are nothing short of stunning when you take into consideration how little they’ve had to work with in such a short period of time. It’s no wonder that a country such as the United Kingdom or United States have had such a leg up compared to the nations that are considered “third world countries” especially after the heavy reconstruction the world had to go through after the Second World War. What was the policy on calling some countries a “first world nation” and some countries a “third world nation” anyway? There isn’t even a “second world country” classification system. It seems more like a rich kid popularity contest that has little to no meaning in the real world anyway, but that is beside the point…
As you can see in the image above, even a major metropolitan area such as Bangalore can still display some of the uniquely Indian architecture that the world has come to critique and admire. In the case of Bangalore, which has been hailed as the “silicon valley” of India, there has been a great boom of businesses that rely on software development, management, distribution and sales. Infrastructure based businesses as well as banking and energy companies have been major contributors in the business environment. A few short years ago, during one of the biggest Hindu celebrations, Diwali, the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, was heavily praised as many businesses were booming. This reminds me of the comedian Russel Peters (a Canadian-Indian by descent but his impersonation of an Indian accent is quite accurate) who often pokes fun at his own nationality (among others) for being quite frugal. Ordinarily, one might take his humorous observation with a modest amount of sincerity, however in the case of Bangalore, and by extension most of India itself, the cause of such success has been less attributed to being thrifty and more a result of financial tact and business acumen. It’s up to debate what direction the economy of India will take next but for now I leave you with this beautiful image of Bangalore’s skyline.
