Is India changing?

印度正在改变吗？

以下是Quora读者的评论：

Balaji Viswanathan, follows government policies closely.

This week I landed in San Francisco and walked into a T-Mobile store to get a new sim card for my trip. I asked for plans and the store clerk asked if I wanted a 2 GB plan or a 5 GB plan. I said 2 GB/day is fine when they replied it is for a month!

In India I get over 60 GB/month of mobile data, but I was fascinated that top data plans in US don’t get anywhere near that. That is one tiny example of how India is changing.

At a time when we are moving everything from education to healthcare to governance to entertainment, shop and security online, the data availability is a key element to a nation’s success. It was impossible to think even 5 years ago that India would get ahead of the US in this! India’s mobile data usage is among the highest in the world!

When I left India in 2004, we were talking of a teledensity [number of phones/people] in single digits. Not only everyone has a phone now, but the smartphone penetration is getting universal by 2020.

这星期我到了旧金山，进到T-Mobile想买一张新的sim卡方便旅行途中使用。我询问了套餐，店员问我想要2 GB流量的还是5 GB流量的卡。我说2 GB/天就够用了，结果他们回复说2GB是一个月的流量!

在印度，我每个月的移动流量使用量超过60GB，令我匪夷所思的是，美国的顶级流量套餐都远远达不到这一水平。这足以瞥见印度的变化。

当我们将教育、医疗、治理、娱乐、购物和网络等一切都搬上网络时，数据流量就成了一个国家成功的关键因素了。就在5年前，都不敢想象印度能在这方面领先美国!印度的移动数据使用量已是全球第一!

2004年我离开印度时，我们谈论的还是电话密度(电话/人的数量)仅是个位数水平。现在不仅每个人都拥有了手机，而且智能手机的普及率到2020年还会越来越高。

About 12 years ago, my grad school friends and I were spending an evening doing some tech predictions for India. When will Google Maps come to India? Given the complexty of Indian roads, maybe 2040. How about ubiquitous wifi hotspots? Maybe 2030. When will an equivalent of social security number to connect all accounts? Maybe 2050.

Our predictions were remarkably off. By 2016, Indians were massively using Ola/Uber powered by Google Maps. It was the default option to get anywhere. In no time India has brought the entire country in Aadhar ecosystem and drastically simplified many things. Recently I lost my mobile phone. I just walked into a nearby Airtel store, gave my thumbprint for Aadhar authentication, and got the sim card deactivated and new sim card activated in less than 2 minutes.

Urban Indians are seamlessly shop online and increasingly trying out new technologies. Technology gap between the US and India has reduced remarkably.

Ten years ago, I visited India to meet my family and the US, to get technology. Now, the situation is getting reversed.

大约12年前，我和研究生院的朋友们花了一整晚的时间为印度做了一些技术预测。谷歌地图什么时候会涵盖印度？考虑到印度道路的复杂性，或许得等到2040年吧。那么无处不在的wifi热点呢？可能要到2030年。至于什么时候能推出类似社会安全号、能连接所有账户的号码？也许2050年。

我们的预测很快被狠狠打脸了。2016年，印度人就开始广泛地使用基于谷歌地图的Ola/Uber了。这已经成为人们出门的必备工具。印度很快就在全国推广了Aadhar系统，大大简化了许多办事流程。最近我的手机搞丢了，我走进附近的Airtel商店，用拇指指纹进行Aadhar认证，不到两分钟就停用了旧sim卡，又激活了一张新sim卡。

印度城市居民正开始享受无缝的网上购物，并尝试越来越多的新技术。美国和印度之间的技术差距已经显著缩小。

十年前，我去印度拜访我的家人，去美国学习技术。现在，情况正在发生逆转。

When I left India for the first time in 2004, our airports sucked and the US airports like JFK, LAX and Logan looked way better. Now, our airports in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi are remarkably more convenient than the ones in the US and Europe. Mumbai, Delhi emerge as world’s best airports in global passenger survey

Our highway networks were horrible at the start of this century. Now, I can zip across the countryside in the new highways at speeds comparable to US interstates. And to do that I can rent a car from Zoomcar or equivalent in a far more seamless way than I do in the US with Avis or Hertz.

Sure, our cities like Bangalore have horrible traffic and freak the hell out of visitors. But, that will improve too.

Our cities are all getting Metros and if you are connected to the metro [such as in Delhi], the commute is much more convenient than the BART in SF and T in Boston and the coverage is rapidly growing and in about 5 years I expect to see viable metro rail connections in all major cities of India. How metro rail networks are spreading across India

The middle class homes in India have amenities pretty much the same as the middle class homes in the US. I find the difference getting less and less.

当我在2004年第一次离开印度时，我们的机场破败不堪，而美国的机场，如肯尼迪机场、洛杉矶机场和洛根机场看着要好得多。但现在，印度班加罗尔、孟买和德里的机场比美国和欧洲的机场要方便得多。在全球旅客调查中，孟买和德里的机场已成为全球最佳机场。

本世纪初，我们的高速公路也很糟糕。现在，我可以在新建的高速公路上以堪比在美国州际公路上行驶的速度穿越乡村。我可以从Zoomcar之类的公司租车，这可比我在美国Avis或Hertz租车要无缝便捷得多。

当然，我们的城市，比如班加罗尔等，交通十分拥堵，让游客望而生怯。但是，这种情况会慢慢改善的。

我们的城市都逐步开通地铁，如果你可以搭乘地铁(如在德里)，上下班就比波士顿的BART更加方便了，覆盖范围也更广，我认为5年内印度主要城市的地铁都将联网。地铁网络是如何遍布印度的。

印度中产阶级家庭的设施和美国中产阶级家庭几乎一样。我发现差距越来越小了。

Sure, some of the basic facilities are still weak. But, they are improving too. Rural India will reach 100% toilet coverage by December 2018

Electricity is still a problem, but we are slowly solving that. Electricity reached all Indian villages on Saturday. Still millions of individuals homes to get electrified but the hope is they will all get it in next 2 years. India's $ 2.5 billion scheme to electrify every household explained.

Domestic fuel is still a problem, but we have been rapidly converting homes to LPG. India becomes second largest domestic LPG consumer. A few years ago only middle class homes could afford LPG and that too after a long wait to get the connection. Use of kerosene, diesel falls, LPG consumption rises on clean energy drive.

Rural India is changing too and getting students to schools. From 100 per cent child labour to academics, this Tamil Nadu village tells a different tale.

A generation ago we were ripped apart by terrorism and violence. We would hear of bomb blasts or cities under siege. Those have fallen dramatically.  At a time when rest of the world is quite violent, India is among the most peaceful.

当然，有些地方的基础设施仍然很薄弱。但是，他们也在慢慢改善。到2018年12月，印度农村地区的厕所覆盖率将达到100%。

电力供应仍然是个问题，但我们也在慢慢解决这个问题。周六，印度所有村庄都将通电。目前仍有数百万家庭有待通电，但在未来两年内所有家庭都有望实现通电。印度25亿美元的家庭通电计划得以实现。

家用燃料还是个问题，但我们已迅速将家用燃料改为液化石油气。印度成为第二大液化石油气消费国。几年前，只有中产阶级的家庭能够负担得起液化石油气，要经历漫长的等待，才能通气。在清洁能源活动的推动下，煤油、柴油使用量下降，液化石油气消费量上升。

印度农村也在发生日新月异的改变，学生们纷纷进入校园学习。从百分之百的童工到学生，泰米尔纳德邦的这个村庄发生了巨大的改变。

仅仅一代人以前，我们还被恐怖主义和暴力困扰禁锢。我们听到过炸弹爆炸或围困城市的消息。现在那些事情已经急剧减少了。在世界其他地方动荡不安的时候，印度已成为最和平的国家之一。

And we are trying some bold new ideas. India Wants to Give Half a Billion People Free Health Care and India launches world's biggest healthcare program.

And we are jum directly to renewable energy in a big way. The World's Largest Solar Plant Is Now Online.

We have a long way to go and enormous problems to solve in education, employment, water, gender equality and clean air. Our generation has a unique opportunity to get these solved and turn a develo nation into a developed nation.

Will India get developed by the time I die? Yes, we will.

We are getting there. And we WILL get there!

我们正在尝试一些大胆的新想法。印度希望为5亿人提供免费医疗保健，启动了世界上最大规模的医疗保健项目。

我们正大跨步直接跨越到可再生能源。世界上最大的太阳能发电厂现在已经上线。

我们还有很长的路要走，在教育、就业、水、性别平等和清洁空气等方面还有很多问题要解决。我们这一代人有千载难逢的机会来解决这些问题，把印度这个发展中国家变成发达国家。

到我年老将死的时候，印度成为发达国家吗？是的，会的。

我们就快到达目的地了。我们一定会成功的!

Sonam Nayak, works at Tata Consultancy Services (2010-present)

I came back from US in August 2018 because my H1B was rejected. My husband was in US and I was in India. I was really sad that my Visa was rejected and I had to stay away from him. I was staying in Pune with my sister. I was working in night shift (Work from home). At around 02 AM while talking to my husband in my apartment balcony I noticed a lot of flames and smoke coming from a building opposite to mine. I was scared that it could be a fire situation and as a responsible person I called 100. At the back of my mind I thought nothing is going to be done and I might have to call these people at least 10 more times. But to my surprise I got at least 25 calls from different police station. Finally one policeman identified the location(as I was new to Pune, I was finding it difficult to explain the address). He along with 5 more police man and fire brigade started searching for my apartment. Meanwhile I noticed that the flames and smoke almost vanished. It seems someone burned a lot of wood, thrash and sticks which led to it. I told the policeman the same. But he did not agree and said it was his responsibility to come on the site and check. I reassured him that the flame and smoke was all gone and it was safe. After a lot of convincing he agreed to go back and informed me that they will call again to check and I can call them again if I see any issues. I was really surprised to see that they cared for the well being and were so responsible. The sadness of coming back from US was converted to pride that MY INDIA is changing.

我是在2018年8月从美国回印度的，因为我的H1B申请被拒了。我丈夫在美国，而我在印度。我的签证被拒，不得不跟他分别重洋，我真的很难过。我和我姐姐住在浦那。我在家工作，上的是夜班。大约凌晨2点，我正在公寓阳台上和丈夫聊天，突然看到对面的大楼里冒出火光和浓烟。我担心发生火灾，作为一个负责任的人，我立即拨打了100电话。在我的内心深处，我还以为可能没人会管这事，我可能得再打上10次电话才有效果。但令我惊讶的是，我接到了至少25个来自不同警察局的电话。最后，一名警察确认了火灾地点(因为我刚到浦那，很难描述清地址)。他和另外5名警察和消防队一起开始寻找这个地点。与此同时，我发现火焰和烟雾几乎消失了。似乎是有人烧了许多木头导致了这场火灾。我对警察这么说，但他不认同，说他有责任到现场检查一番。我向他保证火焰和烟雾都消失了，一切都安全了。在多次劝说后，他同意回警局，但还会再打电话来确认，如果我发现任何问题，可以再打电话给他们。我对他们如此关心百姓的安乐，如此负责任大感惊讶。被迫从美国回国的悲伤变成了自豪，因为我的印度正在改变。

Thanks Pune Police for the prompt response.

After coming back I have seen so many changes just in 2 years from the point of view of infrastructure, IT, politics, people's love for country, cleanliness etc.

Trust me guys, India is changing! So don't believe the people who spread false news that nothing has been done in India under Modi Government. We have to believe in the Government and the Change. With this mindset, good leadership, hard work of people and direction towards development India will be the Greatest Country again.

感谢浦那警方的迅速反应。

回国后，我在两年时间里看到了许许多多的变化，从基础设施、IT、政治、人们对国家的热爱、清洁等方面，不一而足。

相信我，印度真的正在改变！所以别再轻信那些散布虚假新闻的人，他们说在莫迪政府的领导下，印度一事无成，举步不前。我们必须相信政府和改变。有了这种心态，有了优秀的领导，再加上人民的努力工作和正确的发展方向，印度将再次成为最伟大的国家。