Some general observations on India. To begin, we need to remind ourselves that India is the world’s largest democracy (the US is #2). And I hate to say this, but theirs is probably thriving better than ours. These are some signs from the last election.
India may also be the world’s biggest purveyor of small-business capitalism. Small businesses of every description, everywhere. This little cooker of meats is I understand “famous” (though I have to say that Indians may use the word “famous” too often). Some of these little businesses go back 100 years, not so hard to believe when you appreciate that the country’s interior has not been disrupted by war in more than 100 years.
Some of the roadside displays are quite fancy. I unfortunately am not allowed (warned by my doctor and Fulbright) to not buy any roadside food as this could have me worshiping the ivory throne for quite some time. That goes for dairy products as well, so this little ice cream stand is verboten. Note that this sticks out into the roadway, and buyers would literally stand in the road, and we have already talked about the traffic.
Many of the roadside displays are much less formal, little carts that are moved about – in amongst the traffic. These are some displays near my Metro station.
Here is a guy who has a small display outside the entrance to The Institute (more on that later). He sets up all these limes at the beginning of each day. Behind this is a little grinder for shaving ice to make what we would call “snow cones”. It is starting to get hot and I would love to have one of these, but of course I do not know where the ice came from, and so can’t.
Let’s see some of the little carts that are pushed down the small street in front of my apartment. This guy comes around in the morning at about the time I leave for work (0830). He has a variety of vegetables, which he can weigh out on a small hard-held scale. The second picture is of a cart with some carpets, the guy riding this dismounted and hustled out of field of view as I took the picture.
And here is the garbage man – there are no garbage trucks as we know them. What a neighborhood might do – and my neighborhood is a bit upscale – is hire a guy to come around and pick up the trash left by the roadside. Poorer neighborhoods do not do this and the garbage piles up to create a real mess.
Off the major roads, every alleyway is literally lined with displays of every kind. The second picture here shows clothing, and the third shows me at a little outdoor leather shop, where I am having a couple of additional holes put into my belt (I am losing weight!). These displays are everywhere. There are stores, I understand, but there are many of these small entrepreneurs … everywhere. There is no social net, so people raise money however they can.
This is a sign at the Metro station, in English and Hindi. Elsewhere the signs are mostly in Hindi.