Comments on: Games Indians Play http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/2007/10/12/games-indians-play/ India's leading venture capital and startup blog Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:08:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3 By: mahesh http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/2007/10/12/games-indians-play/#comment-337992 mahesh Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:16:42 +0000 http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/2007/10/12/games-indians-play/#comment-337992 very nice book but doesnt give the solution. very nice book but doesnt give the solution.

]]> By: Bipin http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/2007/10/12/games-indians-play/#comment-98772 Bipin Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:24:33 +0000 http://www.venturewoods.org/index.php/2007/10/12/games-indians-play/#comment-98772 Interesting post. In any comment on a people as a whole , or on their socio-cultural leanings there is a danger of using an incorrect socio-cultural reference. Typically for everything Indian, the reference seems to western economies/western cultures. A simple question of why some Indians jump red light could be a complete study of how roads and traffic have evolved in India. Not too long ago, red lights were unheard of apart from the metros. When a small town gets red lights, people take time adjusting to it. You could argue enforcement is required and I agree. More than average enforcement is required till people get used to the idea of stopping at red lights. Good roads and smoothly flowing traffic are also strong deterrents against red light violations. A correct reference for red light violations would be to check the statistics from US when it was at a comparable level of socio-economic development. Another example would be industrialists fighting with each other for quotas during license raj. Does this mean Indians don't or can't co-operate? I dont think so. Why not question public policy? My only point is its tempting to think that adult Indians will not take to McDonalds or Pizza Hut or KFC because as kids we were brought up on roti-dal-chawal. Culture ,as you talk about, is never static and is a function of multiple other functions including a time-warped form of itself. Interesting post. In any comment on a people as a whole , or on their socio-cultural leanings there is a danger of using an incorrect socio-cultural reference. Typically for everything Indian, the reference seems to western economies/western cultures. A simple question of why some Indians jump red light could be a complete study of how roads and traffic have evolved in India. Not too long ago, red lights were unheard of apart from the metros. When a small town gets red lights, people take time adjusting to it. You could argue enforcement is required and I agree. More than average enforcement is required till people get used to the idea of stopping at red lights. Good roads and smoothly flowing traffic are also strong deterrents against red light violations.

A correct reference for red light violations would be to check the statistics from US when it was at a comparable level of socio-economic development.

Another example would be industrialists fighting with each other for quotas during license raj. Does this mean Indians don’t or can’t co-operate? I dont think so. Why not question public policy?

My only point is its tempting to think that adult Indians will not take to McDonalds or Pizza Hut or KFC because as kids we were brought up on roti-dal-chawal. Culture ,as you talk about, is never static and is a function of multiple other functions including a time-warped form of itself.

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