Railway Disruption
Heh. There is something satisfying about receiving a grant to study railway disruption in India, and then having railway disruption… disrupt your plans.
Review: Traffic Signal
Traffic Signal is a fun movie that goes over how networks of street beggers, vendors and walkers swarm stopped traffic, and what systems they leverage and disrupt to do so. The movie has several great examples of how this black business works, and ties into black globalization.
Here is one: The street build networks of drivers who receive a cut of the begging profit in exchange for slowing down in certain areas and instigating payment.
Subtitles are a necessity, even if you understand Hindi (the dialect is ultra-street).
Micro-Minor Infrastructure Disruption
There is only one entrance to the parkling lot of the Mumbai entrance when exiting the building. Theoretically one should be able to make it through the gap with baggage or baggage cart without any problems. In actuality the local porters, perpetually hovering, have actually dug a minor hole so as both baggage and cart get stuck in a narrow gap.
When this occurs, they swarm on the target, help lift heavy baggage out of the hole and then take one to one’s vehicle – regardless of what one wants. Then they pester and guilt-trip until payment is made before moving on to the next target.
Review: In Spite of the Gods
I read Edward Luce’s In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India on the plane. It offers a smart view of India that moves past the Friedman-esque optimism that plagues so many of these books and provides insight into the (many) challenges India faces. Reminiscent, to some degree, of V.S. Naipaul’s work.
In India
Quick FYI:
I am in India prepped to begin my project after a few days of travel+vacation. Long flights on British Airways, long layover in London, finally landed in Mumbai.
Posting frequency will be erratic, and most likely typed after being scrawled on the back of an index card.