India as compared to the US in 2007

The following is a mail I wrote in reply to a friend (AV) in the US, after coming to India for a few months break after many years in the US.

The context is whether my friends should send the chequebooks that the Indian bank mailed to the US due to a flaw in their address change process, or whether I walk up to them in India and have them delivered to my Indian contact address.

I have altered the mail slightly to remove specific names of people and organizations, but have retained the basic spirit of the essence:

AV wrote:

We think that while we could send you the cheque book via mail/courier, it probably makes more sense to request another cheque book from your bank for the following reasons:

1. Help them correct and update your address (they have the US address right now)

2. If they have made a mistake, they should be correcting it

3. Sending across the cheque book by courier could be unsafe, not to mention expensive (why should you pay 30-50$ for their screw-up?)

My reply:

Your argument is amusing - it captures the gestalt of the difference between how you perceive India to be when you are in the US, and how it actually feels when you live in India. I have been meaning to capture the essence of that difference, and this is as good a chance as any to do it. So be prepared for a long essay below - read at your leisure:-)

Taking this specific instance, I'll elaborate on your three arguments below from an 'NRI slowly turning Desi' approach:-):
1. In order to help them correct and update your address, the only true recourse I have is to fill out a change of address form, which i have done already, and submitted, and it has been accepted (I am cutting a long story short here - I had to fight with the manager of the main branch here, to get to even meet the only guy in that branch who could do it. I have spent well over 5 hours, and a few thousand rupees in taxi cabs in my trips to the bank, and I learnt that the baseline for everything else - getting a card, etc. - is to get my change of address done, which they have screwed up.). Most likely, if I go to them, they will be confused, as one part of their records will tell them that the change of address has been executed already. They may even refuse to take the form as the change of address is done. It is a bit like one of the tasks in the twelve tasks of Asterix, where they go to a government building and almost go mad getting the right forms as they are kicked around between contradictory responses
2. "if they have made a mistake they should be correcting it" - Ah, that is the very essence of the difference between the US and India - it is not about whose mistake it is. It is about (once you have identified a mistake) how much you can get someone to do to address your needs - I did think like you when I started interacting with , that they are an international bank, and they will be at least as efficient as first tech. It is sad but true that they are even worse than what I had experienced with *a public sector bank*(though that may be because my dad worked there for many years). I can tell you several things where the mistake is someone else's but I have to suffer for it:
a) The apartment we live in collects maintenance fees to take care of all electrical, wiring and plumbing issues - however, the wiring needed for phones is only in the living room, and we have been asking them to fix it for the bedroom since we moved in - they promise everyday that they'll come in tomorrow (at least they are consistent with that:-))
b) I bought a music system from a shop that turned out to have bad sound quality, and when I tried to return it, he refused to even consider a refund. He told me to take something else. He had nothing that I needed. Now, i am forced to take whatever I can from his pile of junk, including rechargeable batteries, etc. to make up the money.
c) I have employed a driver, who is quite a nice guy - an average driver, but a good sincere person, etc. I pay him 5000 rupees a month, although we dont use the car most days. However, he lives near electronic city. If we get back home later than 8:15 pm, he misses his last bus and needs to be paid auto charges over and above the salary (anywhere from 100 to 150 rupees a trip). There are other drivers who are local, but they are not as dependable as this guy. I wouldnt trust them alone with my car as I can trust this guy. The result? I am paying this guy an additional 1000 to 2000 rupees. I have asked him to get a scooter or something so he can ride back if it is late. Discussions are ongoing:-)
d) The gas in our kitchen leaks through a nut, though very slowly. We have notified the owner, and they did bring out a guy, which took nearly three weeks - apparently the guy who does the copper and nut work is heavily in demand and hard to get. He did fix it, and even charged for some new nuts, etc., but it still leaks. Now, we have no real option but to call him again. The issue is still open in our bug database:-)
e) My driving instructor, apart from the fee charged by the driving school, requires a tip everyday - he even has the audacity to ask for it as 'gurudakshine' (tribute paid to the master by a student in ancient Indian schools) :-)
f) Some places accept rental agreement as address proof, but banks and some places do not. Some people need a gas connection proof or a ration card, etc. It is never clear what is needed unless you spend the half day in traffic (and petrol, other expenses) to get to the office and talk to the persons there.
g) We had a bunch of stuff delivered to our house, but they almost never come at the time they give. If they say they'll come in the evening, they land up in the morning. S and I were stuck inside the house even though we had a lot of things to do outside, mainly because of this for the last month or so. Only after we bought our car, we are able to move around.
h) Everyone we ask about anything (directions, what form to fill to get something done, etc.) has an answer - a confident answer, and there is exactly a 51% probability of their being right. It is the 1% above the mean that is keeping this place from collapsing under its own inefficiency.

I could go on and on, but I guess you get the flavor of the way things work out here.

3. 'Why I should pay for their screwup' - this is a question that I started with, but it doesnt quite work that way here. I went in a cab to a friend's house. I had called the friend out of his apartment, which takes a few minutes as it is a large apartment. We were waiting outside his apartment, when a cop harrassed my cab driver to pay a bribe/fine claiming it was a no parking zone. We were still standing with the engine running, and we were in the car, but such technicalities fall short when facing a cop determined to make his bribe. And that makes sense - why should the guy even consider your arguments when his goal is dishonest to begin with? Now, I landed up paying the driver, as it may have cost him from his salary.

OK, so all that said, you must be thinking that I hate it out here and regret my decision of coming out here. To the contrary, I absolutely love this place.

I live in a beautiful 8th floor apartment with a view of a lake, the freeway a little beyond, and high rise apartments at a distance. During diwali, due to a large number of communities along the horizon, we had an all night fireworks display, all across the horizon. It was better than most fireworks I have seen anywhere. The apartment has 24 hour security, round the clock power and water supply, and I have installed a water purifier that brings water that is even better (tastewise and healthwise) than the bottled mineral water we get here. There is a nice walking track around the house with some greenery, children's playground, etc. and it is fun to walk around when it is not raining. This apartment is neither too near nor too far from the main road, so there is lesser noise and dust, and at the same time, the city and the airport are near by (about 10 minutes and 20 minutes distance respectively in low traffic - double that if there is moderate traffic).

We have a rented apartment, a car, a maid, a cook, a driver, and may retain an all day baby helper as well. All of this would ring in at less than 30k (where the car was bought outright) a month. I can go out wherever I want, whenever I want, and as long as I am inside an Air conditioned car, I can read, work, anything, while stuck in traffic. Traffic is also not as bad as it seems - there are certain pockets where you get stuck especially at peak hours, but since I am not commuting in peak hours, I can get away without much traffic if I time my trips right. If I plan in advance, I can fly to any place within India for less than 5000 rupees. Even better, we can get anything delivered to our house - from a pack of milk to food to groceries to clothes to furniture - most deliveries happen same day or next day, and are usually free.

I just need to embrace rather than fight the realities of things out here. We were born in this environment, and used to know how to live here. If we realize that most of the ambiguity is a direct consequence of poverty, then we can learn to be much more tolerant with the things here. For instance, I was initially indignant when our driving instructor had the audacity to ask for a tip, and even that as gurudakshine which has some very pure connotations. However, later, I learnt from him that he earns just 3000 rupees a month! His entire survival relies on tips. I asked him why he didn't opt for a driver job, where he would get 5000 or more. The difference he said is in the timings. Driver jobs are not timebound - instructor job is strictly 6 am to 6 pm. Now I have no qualms tipping him.

R N put it nicely, about driving in India versus the US, and I am paraphrasing - in the US, the rules dictate how you drive, so you can drive with your mind shut. In India, your intuition dictates how you drive, and as long as you give your intuition complete control, you can drive quite comfortably and it is far more enjoyable as well. This statement is equally true for getting things done in the two places. In the US, there is a law that determines what you should do, so you can turn to the law (or the policy book) to decide how to get things done. In India, you have to focus on what to get done (and pick your battles there depending on what matters more and what matters less) and how you can get it done the way that you have decided is the right resolution for you. In many cases, this may involve things we hate doing such as lying, bribing, being 'diplomatic', listening to crap from guys you wouldnt even want to talk to otherwise.

One last anecdote: when I was in *an Indian software company* about ten years ago or so, they had a rule that required employees to wear a tie one day a week. Some of us found that rule ridiculous, and protested it in whatever ways we could. A senior colleague there gave me some advice that I remember to this day: if you want to fix something that you dont agree with, then argue it out, but follow the rule when you are arguing. Dont stop following the rule while arguing it, since you will be the one who suffers the most. This could well be out of Machiavelli or Chanakya Neeti or the 48 Laws of Power as well... I think we need to try and fix it, but assume that it may or may not get fixed. In fact, I have learnt to start with the assumption that nothing will get done on time, and many things wont get done at all out here. If I have that as the assumption, then every little thing that actually gets done (and they all do eventually) turns out to be a joy.

Re the bank issue - you are right. It is their incompetence that is responsible for the misdelivery of cheques. However, given the time and the effort already spent on them, the best algorithm I have found (for such issues in general) is as follows:

1. Call them,
2. Tell them the problem,
3. and send them whatever letters they need

4. Expect them to screw up again. So assume that the issue will never get fixed, and take all other precautions (which is why I want to retain the chequebook that they sent to the US, as I assume that they will screw up again)
5. If I dont hear back I ping them once a week to remind them. They usually promise a resolution by next day, and then, nothing happens.
6. If they still screw up, go back to 1.
7. Eventually, they will fix it - I cannot be sure when, what effort it would take, and as long as I assume they will screw up, I get a little pleasant surprise when they eventually fix it:-)

If you got this far, congrats:-)
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- A