A third world country?

I am in India these days and I have to say the contrasts still amaze and sadden me at the same time.

Private enterprise is flourishing and carving out opportunities. I have been going to a club everyday to use the gym and marvel at the facilities there. There is a lovely pool, restaurant, spa etc. but more amazing to me is the fact that there are drinking fountains around the club, all hooked up to a state-of-the-art water filtration system. I just got a high speed satellite internet hook-up that I can use anywhere in the city. For the first time in all my visits, I actually saw street sweeping trucks on the roads. On a smaller scale somebody has setup a diminutive temple under a tree, just outside our neighborhood. Once a few people start visiting the idol, I am sure the shrine will slowly grow and not only a priest have found an income, but a piece of land would have been quietly acquired as nobody would dare demolish a temple. I am always impressed by the ingenuity of people.

However, it doesn't take too long to realize that there is a parallel third world country here too. There are piles of trash, and ragged little children playing in it. The drive from our house to the club is equally revealing. You pass scum covered ponds with water buffalo, and impromptu childcare by the side of a construction site - little kids watching even littler kids, on swings fashioned out of rags hung between two trees, while the mothers work carrying bricks on their heads. But then this is also the first time that I see street urchins dressed in jeans - maybe there is indeed a trickle down affect.

I couldn't help but agree with this article I just read about the state of India.