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India diary: Day five - Bangalore's contradictions
A visit to the slums and curry in a colonial club

By Andy McCue

Published: Friday 04 June 2004

silicon.com reporter Andy McCue was on assignment in India from 14 to 23 April investigating offshoring efforts in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and New Delhi. This is his diary. Articles and commentary on IT offshoring and BPO in India and elsewhere will be appearing on silicon.com over the coming weeks. You can find them all here.

18/4/04: No meetings on Sunday - the hard-working Indians do have a day off. I forgo a tempting day by the pool in almost 40 degree heat to see the flip side of the high-tech miracle in India by visiting a friend's charity project in a slum village on the outskirts of the centre of the city. Locals tell me one of the downsides of Bangalore's growth is that a once sleepy and peaceful city has become overrun with thousands of migrants looking for work - and this means the wide streets are now traffic-clogged arteries filling the air with noxious fumes.

I make my way to the village of Bandai Palya, which has sprung up around a quarry, in a flimsy auto-rickshaw that dodges between buses and motorbikes with the project sponsor.

The quarry is now only worked by hand and makeshift housing is perched perilously around the steep edges of the pit. Election bunting hangs across a dry mud road leading up to the village, although today the government has just turned up and started laying stones in an attempt to win the poor vote in the elections which start this week.

India certainly isn't 'shining' (the BJP party's campaign slogan) for these people - the women earn 1,000 rupees (£12) a month working from 7am to 8pm in the garment factories, and are docked for arriving late.

The men who do work - alcoholism is rife and many simply let the women bring in the money - earn 80 to 100 rupees (£1 to £1.20) a day in the construction industry where children are often drafted in to 'play in the sand' and mix concrete with their feet for no money. One little girl following us around says she gets 5 rupees (6p) a day making cardboard cartons in a factory with 40 other children. Raw sewage flows down the middle of the village past the water tap that is only switched on by the government between 2.30am and 4am.

A view of one of Bangalore's poorer neighbourhoods.

Back in Bangalore centre the mercury nudges 40 degrees again so I take up an offer of lunch at the majestically colonial Bangalore Club in the heart of the city. I'm attracted by its lush green lawns, tennis courts, and cool restaurant with gigantic portions of lamb biryani and huge glasses of fresh watermelon juice.

The club, whose members are predominantly the wealthy Indian class, is a throwback to a different age. A framed guest book from the 19th century shows off Winston Churchill's signature from when he stayed as a young soldier - and failed to pay his bill. It is yet another reminder of the extreme contrasts in standards of living that exist in India.

Sunday is a 'dry' day in Bangalore - meaning no alcohol can be sold - so the pubs are closed and even the hotel bar is only serving soft drinks. It makes for a quiet evening ahead of a busy day touring Electronics City tomorrow.