Awesome blog post - enjoyed your concise, authentic and tangible writing (although writing itself is a little intangible lol). I felt like I truly interacted with the piece and there wasn't any fluff which was incredibly appreciated.
Had never heard "communism is the only economic system so terrible that it can make German people poor," but that's very funny. Thanks and excellent post.
To be fair to Indian rum: Bajan rum is fantastic, some of the best in the world. Your friend from Barbados comparing Indian rum to the stuff he nerds out about is a little apples-to-oranges. More in my area of expertise, Indian whiskey isn't really in a class with single malt Scottish or Japanese whiskey; but next to, say, the average younger Irish malt from distillers who have popped up recently, Indian malt whiskey is great!
Albeit, there are problems with labelling regulations in India that don't apply to exports (which have to comply with the labelling rules of the target country), so it's possible you got some rum that couldn't even be labelled rum over here. I would imagine that that *would* really not be comparable at all.
"I was also told about some cases of someone ordering an Uber and having the driver immediately drive in the opposite direction of their destination, in order to force the passenger to cancel." -- While Portugal is obviously not the same level of low trust, this was a regular occurrence for me while I lived there.
"There was a man there whose full-time job seemed to be blowing a whistle and telling people to leave a specific strip of beach. You could walk either side, and you could walk around, but you couldn’t walk on the strip. I have no idea what was going on there." - most of us have jobs just like this, some of us wear ties but the job is equally pointless
Tamil Nadu has been ruled by people from the film industry, or their descendants, for the last 55 years. Oddly, this has meant that it prospered relatively speaking. The current Chief Minister may be named Stalin (there was also a legislator named Hitler from the North East) but, because his family are from the film industry, he understands markets and that voters are actually customers. Still, Tamil Nadu has done some stupid things- e.g. the Government monopoly on liquor which has resulted in horrible quality.
The Brits ruled most of Tamil Nadu for two centuries and Tamils still praise those obscure officials who built dams or canals. However, it was Annie Beasant (whom Indians firmly believe to be Irish) who had the biggest impact on that sleepy city. Indeed, Ireland was a big influence on India. That's why the Indian flag looks like the Irish flag upside down. Da Valera's 'Directive Principles' and principle of constitutional autochthony were copied by India on Independence. Indian leaders strived to make India as boring and joyless as Da Valera's Ireland. Intellectually speaking, Indians firmly believed that higher education is about learning how to scold people for being materialistic. Amartya Sen is apotheosis of the Nehruvian intellectual. He would often accuse his pal, Manmohan, of being a heartless brute who sought to turn India into an economic super-power though all Indians were illiterate and horribly diseased. You must first send Indian people to Harley Street and then to Cambridge before you can expect them to get a job scolding people for being heartless brutes. Sadly, Manmohan didn't actually have any power, so Sen's wrath was misdirected. Still, Indians greatly appreciate Sen's focus on 'normative' economics and ethics because he ran away from India with his best friend's wife. He has since explained that people have multiple identities. No doubt, the fair lady in question also had an identity as an umbrella which he happened to borrow. When he discovered this umbrella was actually a lady he felt obliged to divorce his wife and marry her. It's the sort of thing which could happen to anybody.
One final point about Tamil Nadu. The State has been run by Parties with a fiercely anti-Brahmin ideology. Sadly, the Chief Minister for many years was a fiercely anti-Brahmin, Brahmin lady. It may be that anti-Brahminism is helpful to a region because what a Brahmin likes best is scolding people for being too materialistic. The truth is simpler. Tamil Nadu, like Bangladesh, prospered because of a rising female participation rate in the economy. The fact is women tend to be materialistic. Also if you try scolding them, they quickly turn on you and suggest that you have puny genitals. Anyway, that is why I left Tamil Nadu.
In Australia on our multicultural channel SBS during the day it shows the 6pm news bulletins from around the world, the other day I happened to catch the English language Indian News ‘DD India Prime Time News’ the level of pro-Modi propaganda on this show was truly shocking, it made Fox look balanced, discussing the India / Saudi bilat the host had 2 talking heads who both agreed Modi was a geopolitical genius dominating the world stage (I am not exaggerating in the language I use) but that wasn’t even the amazing part, before those 2 even got to speak the host himself talked about how ‘ppl see that Modi has a level of nimbleness and skill on the international stage that eclipse anything that’s come before in India’ (and then more in that vein) it was truly bonkers stuff
My understanding is that the State broadcaster is similarly taken over (maybe DD is the State broadcaster for all I know) and everyone else has followed suit, did you see this kind of thing while you were there?
You should go to China next!
Awesome blog post - enjoyed your concise, authentic and tangible writing (although writing itself is a little intangible lol). I felt like I truly interacted with the piece and there wasn't any fluff which was incredibly appreciated.
Thank you Ashna!
Had never heard "communism is the only economic system so terrible that it can make German people poor," but that's very funny. Thanks and excellent post.
Enjoyed this! Before you visit Japan, let me know!
I hope to go next summer, but that is reliant on a large number of stars aligning.
This was really interesting. I would love to read more about India.
To be fair to Indian rum: Bajan rum is fantastic, some of the best in the world. Your friend from Barbados comparing Indian rum to the stuff he nerds out about is a little apples-to-oranges. More in my area of expertise, Indian whiskey isn't really in a class with single malt Scottish or Japanese whiskey; but next to, say, the average younger Irish malt from distillers who have popped up recently, Indian malt whiskey is great!
Albeit, there are problems with labelling regulations in India that don't apply to exports (which have to comply with the labelling rules of the target country), so it's possible you got some rum that couldn't even be labelled rum over here. I would imagine that that *would* really not be comparable at all.
"I was also told about some cases of someone ordering an Uber and having the driver immediately drive in the opposite direction of their destination, in order to force the passenger to cancel." -- While Portugal is obviously not the same level of low trust, this was a regular occurrence for me while I lived there.
Great piece, Sam! Looking forward to more travel writing.
"There was a man there whose full-time job seemed to be blowing a whistle and telling people to leave a specific strip of beach. You could walk either side, and you could walk around, but you couldn’t walk on the strip. I have no idea what was going on there." - most of us have jobs just like this, some of us wear ties but the job is equally pointless
Tamil Nadu has been ruled by people from the film industry, or their descendants, for the last 55 years. Oddly, this has meant that it prospered relatively speaking. The current Chief Minister may be named Stalin (there was also a legislator named Hitler from the North East) but, because his family are from the film industry, he understands markets and that voters are actually customers. Still, Tamil Nadu has done some stupid things- e.g. the Government monopoly on liquor which has resulted in horrible quality.
The Brits ruled most of Tamil Nadu for two centuries and Tamils still praise those obscure officials who built dams or canals. However, it was Annie Beasant (whom Indians firmly believe to be Irish) who had the biggest impact on that sleepy city. Indeed, Ireland was a big influence on India. That's why the Indian flag looks like the Irish flag upside down. Da Valera's 'Directive Principles' and principle of constitutional autochthony were copied by India on Independence. Indian leaders strived to make India as boring and joyless as Da Valera's Ireland. Intellectually speaking, Indians firmly believed that higher education is about learning how to scold people for being materialistic. Amartya Sen is apotheosis of the Nehruvian intellectual. He would often accuse his pal, Manmohan, of being a heartless brute who sought to turn India into an economic super-power though all Indians were illiterate and horribly diseased. You must first send Indian people to Harley Street and then to Cambridge before you can expect them to get a job scolding people for being heartless brutes. Sadly, Manmohan didn't actually have any power, so Sen's wrath was misdirected. Still, Indians greatly appreciate Sen's focus on 'normative' economics and ethics because he ran away from India with his best friend's wife. He has since explained that people have multiple identities. No doubt, the fair lady in question also had an identity as an umbrella which he happened to borrow. When he discovered this umbrella was actually a lady he felt obliged to divorce his wife and marry her. It's the sort of thing which could happen to anybody.
One final point about Tamil Nadu. The State has been run by Parties with a fiercely anti-Brahmin ideology. Sadly, the Chief Minister for many years was a fiercely anti-Brahmin, Brahmin lady. It may be that anti-Brahminism is helpful to a region because what a Brahmin likes best is scolding people for being too materialistic. The truth is simpler. Tamil Nadu, like Bangladesh, prospered because of a rising female participation rate in the economy. The fact is women tend to be materialistic. Also if you try scolding them, they quickly turn on you and suggest that you have puny genitals. Anyway, that is why I left Tamil Nadu.
In Australia on our multicultural channel SBS during the day it shows the 6pm news bulletins from around the world, the other day I happened to catch the English language Indian News ‘DD India Prime Time News’ the level of pro-Modi propaganda on this show was truly shocking, it made Fox look balanced, discussing the India / Saudi bilat the host had 2 talking heads who both agreed Modi was a geopolitical genius dominating the world stage (I am not exaggerating in the language I use) but that wasn’t even the amazing part, before those 2 even got to speak the host himself talked about how ‘ppl see that Modi has a level of nimbleness and skill on the international stage that eclipse anything that’s come before in India’ (and then more in that vein) it was truly bonkers stuff
My understanding is that the State broadcaster is similarly taken over (maybe DD is the State broadcaster for all I know) and everyone else has followed suit, did you see this kind of thing while you were there?
DD news is State run. It was always horribly run and deeply sycophantic.
Hi, I'm from Chennai. Very interesting article. I hope you liked Chennai/India.
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