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Development Hardly a Subject for Thought and Discussion

As usual, lip service is provided by the ministry for upgrading and improving the airline, but nothing comes out of it. The national coffer will have to bear the brunt again as it is the dire ‘personal’ need of the officials and the politicians to keep the big birds flying.

On the brighter side of it, Air India Express — a subsidiary of Air India — has a simpler and better outlook.

The budget carrier must be one of the very few in the world (in the classification) that provides a hot snack in flight without charge. The service is matter-of-fact and that is all what we require without all the avoidable frills and fancy service routines, which airlines, especially the new generation operators adhere to as an excuse to over-charge the customers.

One more thing, Air India Express has the state-of-art 737-800s. The seats are plush leather bound and the doors and fittings in the bathrooms and seat areas are usually serviceable!

One gets an impression that India is hardly hit by the depression because there are so many to feed and look after. This phenomenon works only in China and India as the unbelievably huge populations keep the home industries clicking irrespective of the type of competition their counterparts face elsewhere in the West, Japan and South Korea.

What’s astonishing is the fact that there seems to be lesser bicycles than hi-tech two-wheelers in the 100cc-200cc classes on Indian roads today. Traffic jams and the total lack of logic and road discipline have made life on the tar nothing but intolerable for a yearly visitor from abroad.

The number of new generation cars on the road is mindboggling. At least it has replaced the sick Fiat 1100 (Premier Padmini), the 1953 Morris Oxford (Ambassador) and the 1948 Royal Enfield (Bullet) partially and, the Yezdi (1950s Czech Java). All these makes were imposed on the public under the guise of the widely misled norms of the ‘mixed’ economy till the late eighties.

Getting on to another positive development are the statements made by Shashi Tharoor, former UN under-secretary-general and once a candidate for the UN secretary-general’s post. The former St Stephen’s, Delhi product who also has a brilliant academic and writing record, has come out with such positive energy that practically every sane person in the Kerala capital, feels relieved that they gave him the nod for the near 100,000 plus election victory margin in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.

The most assuring thing was that he immediately addressed the issue of the deteriorating conditions in Thiruvananthapuram. Re-locating himself from his ancestral roots in Palghat, in Kerala, Shashi has set up house in his newly adopted surroundings in the capital, which politically can be more hostile than what he will face as a minister of state for foreign affairs in New Delhi. The quick acting new generation ‘nedha’ (leader) has already begun talks on the possibility of linking the Spanish cultural capital of Barcelona to Thiruvananthapuram for the enhancement of social, cultural and other fields where both cities could benefit immensely.

In the broader perspective, the physical and structural environment too could be brought under the umbrella and could ultimately lead to a totally ‘overhauled’ city in India. If this is wishful thinking one will have to wait and see as the opposition which will holds power in Kerala for another two years will see to it that no good comes out of it, just as Congress led initiatives have been snubbed in the past years.

His is a very positive attitude which is relevant from his remark saying India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.

And the southern-most state of the country, Kerala, so richly gifted by nature still limps when it comes to economics. Lavish spending on houses, dowries, wasteful wedding receptions and ornaments coupled with the negative impact of militant trade unionism have kept Kerala out of reach when it comes to development, forcing an energetic and vibrant labour force to seek openings abroad.

While Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh march on, the ‘adopted’ campaign of ‘God’s Own Country’ holds no ground in Kerala, at least for the moment. There has hardly been a change of any kind in the positive direction in the state, development wise for the past 40 years.

But all is not lost, as the state makes its mark felt in all spheres of life the world over. Kerala can take pride that it has recently produced an Oscar award winner, the Miss World runner-up, and now has a former Indian Foreign 
Service topper as the new Indian foreign secretary.

And, it can also feel happy about the way her sons and daughters keep returning home to be part of the culture and tradition.

Moni Mathews is senior reporter-cum-sub editor at Khaleej Times. Write to him at moni@khaleejtimes.com