India Trip Preconceptions

Below are a few of my preconceptions of India, its people, culture, society, business world, etc.

1) Vast infrastructural disparities
     Based on some basic research and Hollywood examples, I imagine India to have extremes of development basically side-by-side. To clarify, modernized cities next to shanty towns/slums. In addition to this picture, I also imagine a large spectrum of infrastructural investiture. A large proportion of the Indian people live in poverty, and utility companies are either government run or monopolized. This raises difficulties for towns and villages to get basic utilities like clean water, electricity, or internet capabilities. Essentially, I expect western modernization living along side poverty and typical developing country scenes.

 2) Garbage everywhere
      This perception is based solely on personal experiences. I've had the opportunity to live/visit in both Ghana and China. To most people these countries are seen as developing or underdeveloped. I've realized that a developing country can be categorized by environmental measures such as Green GDP, and in my personal opinion, the degree of garbage on the ground. In Ghana, the streets are the dumpsters. Trash is either burned or disposed of right next to someones "house". In China, I was startled to see garbage even in very public/tourist locations such as the Great Wall. This shows to me an underdeveloped governmental sector that should provide services such as trash removal.

3) Temples/historical places everywhere
      India has one of the most well documented history's known to humankind. They also have an incredibly rich, diverse, and complicated sociocultural structure. This is largely attributed to their religious history and influence. Hinduism has an incredible amount of gods within their pantheon, and since India is such an "old" place, I expect to see temples, shrines, and historical building all over the country.

4) 24-hour rush-hour/mass congestion
      India has an absolutely massive population, rated the second in the world, approximately 1.2 billion people. This is significant because India is roughly 1/3rd the size of the United States, with 4 times the population. Because of this, I anticipate to see mass congestion is terms of traffic, people, buildings, etc. I'm also looking forward to the degree of governmental control to try to manage and even mitigate issues associated with such a large population on a smaller land mass. As stated earlier, a good measure of a country's development is the degree of social services offered on a vast scale. 

5) Massive IT industry
      Perhaps my greatest preconception is the expected massive IT industries within India. A strong stigma about India from the United States perspective is the "sweat-shop" type call center. Almost everyone has experienced a customer service individual who is actually in India. Whether your experience was good or bad, the idea that certain service sectors are dominated by India is cemented in the minds of many Americans. I expect to see a large number of IT service companies with a broad spectrum from businesses like IBM India to a more stereotypical Indian IT company that provides the stereotypical services listed above.