Out of India

Months before we came to India, we became keenly aware of magazine and news articles that talked about the IT (Information Technology) boom in India. One picture that captured our attention was below the fold on the front page of the New York Times. There, displayed amid all the news fit to print, was a picture of homes with grassy front yards neatly arranged on palm tree lined roads. The article talked of the Silicon Valley of India and the burgeoning population of IT professionals. Today we rented a car and driver and visited this Silicon Valley of the East.

Wow! Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but the actual experience of walking the palm tree lined roads, gazing at the greenery and upscale homes is breath taking. When we moved to India we traded our upper income suburban home for some in-town Bangalore living. Our apartment is spartan, yet comfortable. We share sidewalks with cows devouring discarded vegetables. We often find docile packs of wild dogs napping at intersections. We compete with the locals when flagging down an autorickshaw for a ride to the market. We are part of the IT boom, but clearly not “valley people.”

This Silicon Valley here is called Whitefield. It could be considered a bedroom community about six miles east of the IT Bangalore community. Whitefield also has its own homegrown massive International Technology Park that houses high-rise glass and steel technology offices. Needless to say, the technology boom has changed the landscape that was once covered by coconut groves, vegetable farms and eucalyptus plantations. Construction is seen everywhere.

Our intent for today was just to “go to Whitefield” and drive about. Before departing, Helen called a woman listed in her Overseas Women’s Club (OWC) phone directory who lives in Whitefield. After her conversation with Laura, we were invited to visit the Palm Meadows community where she lived. Laura was out shopping, but indicated since we were westerners we would have no problems entering this well-guarded gated community and driving around.

Laura was correct. Our western heritage granted us access without much fuss. Once inside, it was pretty easy to see why we entered without challenge. We watched a tall blonde mom direct her son, in a clear German voice, where to turn their bicycles to head home. The OWL directory lists Palm Meadows members from the US, UK, Korea, Japan, Ireland, Mexico, France, Holland, and more. Palm Meadows is also the home to Indians who have “made it.”

The climate of Bangalore is very much like Southern California. Just a few kilometers outside the congestion and smog of Bangalore, the sky is blue and clear. All the homes in Palm Meadows are constructed of white stucco with red tile roofs. Cars fill driveways. Gardeners tend to immaculate lawns and colorful flower gardens. The club house provides a bar, health club, tennis courts, swimming pools, and other upscale amenities.

Inside this walled, moneyed community, reality mingles about. Laborers in hard hats and flip-flops attend to the construction of new homes. Barefooted women dressed in green saris walk along, balancing concrete-filled pans upon their heads. The cows and dogs may be barred from the compound, but the haves and have-nots continue to share the clear, blue sky in this land of incongruous contrasts.