I just got visited by a very old friend/colleague of mine who I hadn’t seen since I was 18 (I’m 33 now)!
He’s Hungarian and done really well for himself at a big consulting firm (mA). What’s interesting is that he lives in the Middle East but commutes into Pakistan. He’s been more to Pakistan than I have been (haven’t been for a decade).
A few points he made:
(1.) Visas into Pakistan is so difficult to get for Westerners. He wanted to take his family up north for skiing but dropped the idea.
(2) Hotels in Karachi are sh!t. Bombay (Mumbai) and Dubai are far far superior in quality. Food is excellent but hygiene questionable in the Land of the Pure.
(3.) he won’t go to India since that will mess up his Pakistan visa.
(4.) Bill & Melinda Gates are putting a lot of money into Pakistan. For a lot of global corporations Pakistan is in a sweet sport; large, consumer driven economy untapped and somewhat sophisticated BUT awful reputation. So if u cut through the crap Pakistan has great opportunities.
(5.) he’s pioneered an amazing global innovation for his firm using Pakistan as a test case. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of Pakistan being an innovator hub..
” Hotels in Karachi are sh!t. Bombay (Mumbai) and Dubai are far far superior in quality. Food is excellent but hygiene questionable in the Land of the Pure.”
South Bombay is Eastern European standards (not much but still), the rest is Karachi (or probably even worse). And let’s not have Dubai in the same sentence 😛
India definitely has some of the most luxurious best 5 star hotels in the world in all major cities and tourist spots.
However this is nothing to be proud of because the reason why these hotels are luxurious is the extremely low cost of manual labour in India which makes it possible to hire armies of low paid workers to maintain the decor and wait upon the patrons. There are even flunkies waiting with towels in their hands in bathrooms of the Mumbai Taj Mahal hotel.
I would rather have higher per capita incomes in India than these ultra luxurious hotels.
Both work
The Ambanification of India..
Saurav, we don’t agree! Bombay now has high quality hotels for global elites, albeit they are extremely expensive. So does Rajasthan, Punjab and many other places around India.
India plus (India plus people of Indian ancestry around the world plus countries with shared culture) is a global superpower.
+1.2billion
AnAn,
Great concept you are articulating. My thoughts: Now Indian Diaspora in about 100 countries and totaling around 20 million is a virtual nation. Their combined economic, brain, and political power is perceptible in the whole wide world. That is not even extending to India plus you are proposing.
Zack, the moment Pakistan opens up economically and dampens Takfiri Jihadi Islamism . . . Pakistan will have an economic miracle. Pakistani Americans are extremely successful. Pakistani expats + Indians + Indian expats will invest heavily in Pakistan.
Free trade, free product development collaboration, free investment, free labor in SAARC + ASEAN + WTO now! [India and Pakistan will economically remarry and the border will become increasingly irrelevant.]
Zack,
My friend I have a request. I want people to discuss a topic that is totally different from what we have had so far.
You may be aware that the Missionaries of Charity (yes, the Mother Teresa’s Group) is right now embroiled in a controversy where it has been revealed that it was involved in selling children
https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.firstpost.com/india/ranchi-baby-selling-racket-police-find-fourth-child-given-away-for-free-by-missionaries-of-charity-nun-4747181.html/amp
The fact of the matter is that this organisation and Mother Teresa herself are quite shady characters. Have a look at some of these old videos –
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NJG-lgmPvYA
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UdYKsiredbM&t=52s
I think you should have a post on this and about how the Vatican goes about its business in India. The Church is, you know, very quick to blame BJP all of their imagined ills so it is necessary we also discuss their not so innocent ways.
Thanks in advance.