JC in India

This weekend it is the G20 summit here in Delhi. While the main event is occurring over these two days of the 9^th and 10^th of September, in reality this is the culmination of months of other sub meetings and diplomacy, held at various locations around India. But today, I am only a few miles away from Joe Biden, Rishi Sunak, and a host of other World leaders, each of whom are discussing various matters at a venue in the centre of Delhi. They are all staying in a dispersed variety of hotels all around the city, and somewhat surprisingly the locations of these, with listed country occupants is in the public domain.

Given the security implications and scale of such an event, there is a huge police presence out and about and the country is taking it very seriously indeed. This last week, going to and from the office most street corners have been marked with a military presence, and there has been an increasing amount of road closures in readiness for the main event.

This is a proud moment for India, taking centre stage on the global political landscape. There is a huge appetite for a successful outcome, and I am sure whatever actually happens in these halls of power, the resulting messaging will of course bias towards positivity and optimism. I of course hope it all goes smoothly and safely, as being resident here it is obvious just how much effort has gone into putting this on, and I hope for the countries sake it is a successful event, with no negative occurrences.

Jo Biden arrived on Thursday afternoon apparently, and I sadly missed seeing Air Force One arrive. Unsurprisingly his aircraft does not appear on the usual trackers, so it would have been a fluke to actually spot it, but someone local to my neighbourhood obviously managed to. This photo is pretty much exactly the view I would have had if I had been in the right place at the right time.

In order to ensure the secure running of the event, central Delhi has almost gone into lockdown for the weekend, and residents are advised to stay off the streets as much as possible. The Government even issued a mandate to businesses in affected areas to close yesterday (Friday) if possible, and with Thursday having already been a public holiday (the birthday of Lord Krishna apparently – Janmashtami), if adhering to this it would have meant for a 4-day weekend. Not surprisingly our company ignored this closure mandate, so it was a working day as normal although I personally worked from home. My suburb of Vasant Vihar is home to a lot of secondary embassies, and with all the potential road closures to, from and around the airport I elected not to venture out.

The mandate issued by the Government only went out earlier this week though and did seem to cause a world of confusion with uncertainty over whether this applied to shops, retail outlets and the like. So, when I wondered down to Basant Lok (the local shopping zone) earlier today for a walk I was quite relieved to find Tim Hortons was indeed open, and my cappuccino and cheese sandwich intentions were fulfilled!

My local grocery store where I sometimes order online even messaged to say they were open and delivering over the weekend. It seems the Government’s advice led to more uncertainty than necessary, and the shopping area today did seem notably quieter than usual for a weekend. I think a lot of people (like me) are basically staying home all weekend and trying to avoid the potential carnage.

India is a very proud nation, and to say they want to profile the country positively on the wider world stage is an understatement. For the last few months there has been an ever growing stream of works to ‘beautify’ the city, and particularly the roads where G20 delegates will travel.

To be fair they have done a great job, and the city has certainly benefitted from such with new road surfacing, fresher street side decorations and lighting, and a good general spruce up. As is usual in India, these have been intensive works which have all come together positively at the last minute. I recently went back to the UK for two weeks, and returned at the beginning of this last week knowing I would see a material change over the time I was away. And I was not disappointed.

It is a shame that it has taken such an event for improvements like this to be made, but regardless of that the end result is good and I just hope it stays improved and well kept. In a nod to the political bureaucracy though, it transpired that the government asked our company to lead on some of the road developments at the airport as for the government to contract and manage the works it would have required too much administration to manage it all in the timeframes posed. Think that through a bit to appreciate the irony…

On the darker side though, there has been some considerable ‘brushing under the carpet’ of less desirable aspects. About a mile from where I am living there is a slum which has its boundaries on one of the main roads. This does not look the best admittedly, but it is home to a whole community and it is what it is, and is part of India. However, the authorities put up sheets along the street side to effectively cover it up and hide it from view. There is a news article online where the residents are interviewed expressing frustration to this, and talking of how they are stifled with no air flow as a result. It is sad to see something like this occur.

Link to this article is: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw8Eu0ksVCW/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

With the work gone into this beautification and the desire to profile the best of India to the world, I am not however surprised to see such actions.

I expect most of the VVIP’s would not even be gazing out of their escorted car windows to see the like, but would instead be in discussions within, or looking into phones. But personally, I am pleased the works have been done. They were needed, and the results are positive.

Prime Minister Modi has been in power in India since 2014 and is one of the longest serving prime ministers. Prior to this he was Chief Minister of Gujarat, a state to the west of the country. His time there came with some controversy during a period where rioting in 2002 resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 people according to official records, most of whom were Muslim. He is leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which under his tenure is therefore the current ruling party in India and has largely Hindu composition and right leanings. Bharat is actually an alternative name for India, and recently there has been a lot of chatter about potential aspirations for the country to change its name to such, following in a similar vein to the previous name changes of some cities (Bombay to Mumbai, and Madras to Chennai for example). I do not know if there is truth to this or if it would ever happen, but it is in some way a symbol of the further leaning of this country to the right and to the further strengthening of the Hindu religion as prevalent.

In the upcoming national elections next year, it is expected Prime Minister Modi will win re-election, and this could trigger some further fundamental changes. He is widely expected to win, having a high popularity rating. All the more reason why he and the countries leadership are keen for this G20 summit to go well, and end with positive results that can be leveraged for the furthering of India’s international standing.

I do not personally know enough about the BJP party policies, or those of their main opponents, to have a view on who I would support in the event I could vote (obviously I cannot). It does not feel like change is coming though, and from all I hear everyone fully expects the BJP and Modi to win again and secure another 5-year term (his third if successful). Indian constitution does not limit the potential number of terms a PM can have, but given he is 72 years old there is reasonable expectation this would be his final term. Although that said, there is a certain President only a few miles away from me as I write this who may imply the potential for otherwise…

Being in Delhi this weekend, and indeed having 4 days in the apartment following a shorter work week in the office, fresh off the plane back from the UK early Monday morning is nice though. My time at home was great, and even though I was only there for two weeks it felt so much longer with all the activities packed in. Coming back to Delhi felt strange, as it felt like I had been gone for a longer time than I actually had. I also very much detached from work while at home, almost to Christmas detachment levels. It has therefore been a bit of an uphill catch up with work, and Monday was a busy day. But it was nice to just have three days in the office I won’t deny, and it did not take long to get back up to speed.

I am making the most of a few down days though, with my newly acquired Spotify account (at Indian bargain rates) now set up with good playlists, and my Amazon Firestick working like a charm with the VPN installed successfully making it believe it is still in the UK. Now I have completed the ‘watching all of Seinfeld episodes’ game, I am now doing likewise with the ‘US Office’ with Steve Carrell. It is far more brilliant than I expected, and I am a bit hooked, but trying to ration myself!

I am not expecting to travel anywhere now until the middle of October (except for domestic trips within India), so I have six weeks or so of being in one spot – mostly. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks and my boys (the apartment guards, Vikas and Pushpender) are scheming something to celebrate such… They keep hinting and grinning about the fact, so I am nervous and curious in equal measure as to what they will actually do to mark the occasion!

I consider myself truly settled in India now. I know my way around, I am completely comfortable with the living aspects and the fact I now have 5 cows living outside my apartment who seem to have moved in while I was away – joining my 5 pack of dogs – does not in the least bit phase me.

It is actually a pretty fun and interesting place to be once you acclimatise. Aside from the pollution and some of the obvious challenges I continue to really enjoy this experience, and I will always have a fondness for the positive aspects of this country. I cannot deny the work culture presents the most challenge, but that is all part of the experience and just needs to be adapted to and embraced to a point of acceptance of the differences. It is a good thing I am relatively easy going, and do not get stressed by the small stuff. I can see how someone with a different disposition would not survive long here, as is often the case.

There will be changes in the coming months, as some people I am most close to here will be moving on to pastures and countries new, and so the dynamic will be different soon in the working environment. You rely on kinship here to get by at times, and with this change it will doubtless alter some of the perspectives.

Change can be a good thing though. As I start to close in on completing two years in India my eyes start to lift to consider what could be next. Nothing stays the same forever.