A Land of Contrasts

Indians often describe their country as "a land of contrasts."  Well, that's true.  But every country is a land of contrasts.  In the United States we have unspeakable wealth and despondent poverty.  We have the highly educated and the illiterate.  We have devoted philanthropy and criminal greed. We have NPR and Bravo. What distinguishes India in this regard is that these contrasts are juxtaposed.

From upwardly mobile professionals on up, people live in modern, clean houses and apartments that are usually surrounded by compound walls.  Outside of these walls, one often sees thatched huts.  My speculation is that when modern buildings are under construction, the laborers set up makeshift housing nearby.  These settlements, of course, don't have plumbing or trash disposal, so the garbage is strewn everywhere.  It's hard, in the US, to imagine that people live under these conditions right next to modern buildings with the modern conveniences.

To combat the proliferation of these makeshift villages, the government set up the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board in the 1970s.  It's purpose is to relocate the squatters to multi-unit government housing.  This seems like it would a hard battle for many reasons.  With the auto industry booming in Chennai, more people are moving there in search of work.

The IT industry is also booming, but it's white collar workforce has some means.  So if you have some money, you can afford a nice place to live, domestic help, a car, and modern conveniences.  However, your television time will be interrupted by a rolling blackout, your shower will end abruptly when the water is cut off to supply another part of town, and your domestic help may steal from you and disappear. But those are all parts of life in Chennai and perhaps India as a whole.

On the positive side, the violent crime in Chennai seems negligible.  The crime one reads about in the newspaper includes burglary and robbery.  In the two weeks I was there, I didn't read any reports of assault or murder.  If the appearances are true, it is a pretty big contrast for a city of eight million people, many of whom live in abject poverty, to have so little violent crime.