India is still Mysterious to Americans
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On a recent visit to India Secretary of State Hillary Clinton negotiated an agreement that permits American companies to build nuclear power plants in India and encourages exchanges in businesses and academia as well as government.
“What I see is thrilling” she said. “I hope the partnership we are developing will truly change the future for children of both of our countries.”
In preparation for partnership Americans might read “Doing Business in 21st Century India” a book by Indian management consultant Gunjan Bagla.
“If you can begin to appreciate ambiguity and paradox you start to grapple with India” writes Bagla. Americans he said should understand that Indians view time as “a flexible cyclical commodity in plentiful supply.”
Having served four years as a correspondent based in New Delhi I consider this sound advice as illustrated by one incident in particular.
With daytime temperatures rising above 100 degrees I once drove 700 miles in a car without air conditioning to join my family in the cool mountains of Kashmir. Two weeks later I left before sunrise to return to New Delhi.
Near Jammu a rockslide blocked the road for two hours. I then crossed flat countryside to join the Grand Trunk Highway but as I neared Amritsar gates slammed shut across the highway.
Stepping into the broiling sunlight I saw perhaps a half mile away a locomotive shunting cars between the main line and a sidetrack.
‘Too little patience’
A white-bearded man in a turban who left his own car explained that the law required gates to be closed when trains were within a certain distance.
“It won’t help to be upset” he said. “You Americans have too little patience.”
The temperature rose higher the lines of cars behind us grew longer and the man in the turban finally agreed that the delay was unusual.
Together we walked to an office beneath a tower overlooking the tracks where he obtained a large ledger and said “Write what you like.”
After I wrote my complaint he filled a page with beautiful Hindi script. His statement was longer than mine was but he was serene as we returned to our cars.
“Of course you know the crossing manager has two books” he said calmly. “One is for people to write. The other is for the inspector to see.”
Driving more slowly to New Delhi I wondered what he had written in the book.
Watson Sims was Associated Press World Services Editor before retiring to Asheville.
