The ugly...(from the good the bad the ugly)

There is a HUGE gap between the average population and the top 5% population of india when it comes to wealth. Everywhere you see, you see poverty in India. At traffic signals, you run into children selling petty items. While driving on streets you see slums with kids playing in conditions that would cause major factories to shut down in US in terms of air pollution, in hotels you see children working away as cheap laborers....

The prices are rising, inflation is very high but at the same time the average population in India does not seem to be making enough to make ends meet. People are working away day and night to earn enough to feed their families. At the same time you encounter hugh in efficiencies everywhere and it seems like there are multiple layers of bureaucracies everywhere. As I was travelling back to Pune from Mumbai last week, in my fully reclinable AC bus, I could see people just sitting every corner. I was wondering how can all this human power be harnessed to make the nation more efficient and wealthy. But then again, like any other top 5% population person, I focussed on my own worries and started working away on my laptop. :(

India (and other south asian countries in general) have huge human capital. The gap between the rich and poor is widening like never before. I wonder how long can this continue.....the only thing that I can console myself with is the fact that it has been like this for centuries...and hopefully the whole thing won't collapse around me!

Moments like this, I feel like returning to the cozy bubble of USA. That way, through media I will be fed with enough local issues like "how local firemen rescued a cat that climbed up a tree" and I can be worry free about the real issues in this part of the world.