Comments on: YouTube Videos on India

By: Yuxiang Gao

Yuxiang Gao — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:04:14 +0000

A shared experience of Buddhism gives China and India a
common cultural ground. China and India are ancient nations with deep historic ties, including trade ties, and intellectual and cultural exchanges.
The thousands years histroy of india is very attractive for me.
And now India show it aother attractive aspect—the amazing IT industry.
For a developing country, this huge success in high tech industry almost mean a miracle. I admire this so much.

By: Leslie Mann

Leslie Mann — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:17:58 +0000

The India Shining narrative is informative, yet dry in the beginning but the part I really enjoyed was the “piece” he wrote at the end. Mutchler was able to piece back together his original narrative to a poetic background of rhythm and melody with a short, one-minute artistic rendering of India as we see it today. Lyrics such as: “the government is slow to change,” reminds me of the many comments throughout the central blog and previous years’ posts I’ve recently read. Change in infrastructure, change in traditional values (women’s rights), changing the slums of Dharavi, changing the call centers. The list goes on and on. If India seems to be doing so many things right in the global economy, it obviously has still some work to do in the future; but growth is abound and India’s future is bright. As Mutchler so eloquently phrases it, “India shining, the weather is sweet, people are climbing while the west is asleep.” Remind anyone of Zakaria’s The Post-American World?

By: Vitus Holzner

Vitus Holzner — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:04:36 +0000

I love the first video! Looking at the images of pure chaos on the streets and hearing the host say “There is a method that emerges from the madness … it’s the same sort of self-organizing system scientists observe in ant hills and bee hives. Somehow, against all odds, somehow things get done!” really sent a shiver down my spine!
Coming from a society that regulates the curvature of bananas (I’m NOT kidding!! Click here) I am amazed how in India people don’t seem to need this framework of rules and regulations to make everyday life work.
I hope the trip to India helps me to understand this way of working better and maybe even change my perception of how certain situations in business and life in general ought to be handled.

By: Kirk Story

Kirk Story — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:49:15 +0000

The William Jefferson Clinton Science & Technology Center offered a compelling story of supporting rural education in India. I encourage this sort of diplomatic relations. It appears that many in the US are fearful of the rise of nations like India and China. These people would most likely argue that we are wasting money by supporting our rivals. I content that through education- all boats rise together. The world receives a net benefit from informed humans.

Ah the Clinton years… Seinfeld, budget surpluses, Wu-Tang…

By: Raquel Rusing

Raquel Rusing — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:54:06 +0000

This is exactly what I was looking for! More videos on India. Thank you, Jay. And I’m being sincere. After finishing Out of India, I was very interested in spending more time relating to India than China.

I think my favorite video here was on a personal level - the Taj Mahal. I am so excited to see this because ever since I was a child who watched Disney’s Aladdin, I was intrigued by the story of how the great palace was built - third wife dies so you build a massive structure in her honor, at least this was the lacking romanticism a ten year-old was interpreting. This story of the Taj Mahal reminded me of the concept behind the Egyptian pyramids, a way to preserve the memory of your dead. But let’s be honest, how much more beautiful is the Taj Mahal to view than a pyramid, which is (without any disrespect implied) a cookie cutter endeavor in comparison.

Also, I found the The Simpsons Episode, named Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore. The Taj Mahal is involved with this video, too, hence my interest.

I also found some cultural references to India through some blogs and forums regarding Matt Groening’s genius psyche:
-Homer flies into the international airport that looks like Hyperabad, Andhra Pradesh
-Homer refers to Brahma, a Hindu god as “Papa Smurf”, Ganesh as “The Elephant Man” and Shiva as “Johnny Sixarms”
-The song that plays at the end of the episode is Pal Bhar Ke Liye by Kishore Kumar, a famous Bollywood playback singer from the 1970s. The song is from the Bollywood movie Johnny Mera Naam starring Dev Anand and Hema Malini.

Some mistakes:
-The Taj Mahal is not in Bangalore.
-The river that runs behind the Taj Mahal is the Yamuna, not the Ganges.
*These I did not catch, but I’m glad that I know now.

Ultimately, I feel like my lack of background in India causes me to have no business comments, but I do want to express my sincere interest in learning about the country. I wasn’t excited for India to be integrated into the international trip initially, but I have since gained an appreciation for the opportunity to experience two countries.

By: Romain Guerel

Romain Guerel — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:06:19 +0000

My favorite India blogs:

Metroblogging Chennai: http://chennai.metblogs.com/
2point6billion: http://www.2point6billion.com/
India cut: http://indiauncut.com/

You can find the other ones I like on the India Business blog roll of my website: http://chinaandi.typepad.com

Enjoy!