Monday, May 01, 2006

It takes a global village

I cross-posted this in my blog about Bangalore: from an Assoc. Press story about Americans working in Bangalore:
"The poverty that you see at such an in-your-face level, and so much of it, gets really tiring," Anderson said. "You get up and drive to work in the morning, and every day four little girls come up to you and beg for money."

This is why I've never understood taking vacations in the third world. If this joe gets spare-changed by children every day while driving to work, then what must it be like when you're a tourist trying to sight-see? Every moment of the day you must be face-to-face with the consequences of imperialism and consumerism: "grinding poverty," as the Assoc. Press writer characterized it. Gosh, what a fun vacation! Be sure to take lots of pictures!

Later in the story:

N.R. Narayana Murthy, Infosys' chairman and co-founder, said the company started its internship program six years ago to show foreign students there's more to India than "cows, poverty and pollution."

"They get exposed to another side of India," Murthy said in an interview on the Infosys campus in Bangalore.
Yes, I'll bet the wealthy chairmain of a huge software company believes there's more to India. You think he gets spare-changed by beggars in the parking lot? Not bloody likely.

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