There were headlines in the India Times yesterday about a CIA study that concluded it would be inevitable that China and India would become the world’s next superpowers over the next twenty years. I didn’t get a chance to read the article, but it seems hard to imagine with all the problems India is currently facing—namely its poverty.
It almost seems as though a huge percentage of the population here is living on the streets. I had to venture out at 6 AM for a trip to Agra the other day, and I must have walked past well over 100 people sleeping on the streets in a three-block jaunt I had to make to hook up with my tour company. And those were just the ones I noticed who weren’t sleeping in total darkness. There were a number of fires burning along the way to keep several of them warm.
Along the train lines and along the highways outside of Delhi are tent villages with scores of people living outside. At most intersections and in shopping areas, you will come across beggars, staring in the windows of your taxi or reaching in for money. If you happen to be in an autorickshaw, which is a noisy tricycle-type motorcycle with a roof but no doors, they’ll just climb in with you. Some are disabled, many are small children who spend their time otherwise playing with each other in the gutter or median strip, waiting for the next traffic light to stop traffic so they can approach. No one seems to hand over any money to these people. Lonely Planet advises giving a donation to a charity that will look after them instead. It’s all quite disconcerting.
On the other end of the scale are the very wealthy, living in individual compounds that initially looked like embassies to me—each with big gates, guards, and servants. There seem to be doormen for every store you go into and security guards lurking around inside, presumably to keep the homeless out. My guesthouse locks down tight from about 11 PM until 9 AM and has a guard sleep on the couch near the front door. Occasionally you’ll hear banging on the front door in the middle of the night, which is a bit creepy.
