A Flexibility With The Truth

 I have spent the majority of the past two years in India. Considering the uncertainty of my final departure date, I have gradually had to confront issues which normally would not affect the transient visitor, or aren't too much of an irritant on a short visit. Trivial things like preserving my gas connection, getting around, dealing with problems of electric and water supply, and the never-ending sewage issues. In dealing with these issues and more, I have come to the conclusion that the biggest single problem I encounter is the tendency of just about everyone I deal with to, let's say, be flexible with the truth. Sometimes they are little white lies, sometimes they are just deliberate omissions, sometimes they are flat out untruths which conceal fraud and deceit. Failing to tell the entire truth, or projecting fibs as the truth, is one of the top "cultural" problems foreign IT managers face with their Indian employees. Indian employees will rarely, if ever, admit to errors, or allow that they cannot meet a deadline or even acknowledge that a particular task is beyond their skill-set. It comes from a national mindset, in my view, of kicking the can down the road, and making bad compromises when the road ends, as we have just seen in the Khobragade episode. When all is said and done, I am deeply disappointed by the ubiquity of the practice in India.

 Some of you might find that a bit harsh, but if you were in my shoes, and admittedly I am more accustomed to at least a degree of transparency in most transactions, you would be just as frustrated and annoyed as I am. Even more so, when it's a question of legal liability, if the person you have a transaction with willfully misrepresents something to you, and you are not aware of that fact, it could put you at considerable risk. I recently encountered that situation, when I was told that a legal document had been processed. I was by now somewhat accustomed to the "flexible truth" in India, and asked for a hard copy, and got the run around. Finally, I was told that the courier company couldn't find my address, which was a bunch of baloney, since I never had a problem with that before. Turns out the document was not processed by the date represented to me, and that could have put me in trouble if I had trusted the other party.

 Recently, I decided that it would make more sense for me to have a vehicle to drive, instead of relying on cab services and not having the flexibility of traveling at will. So I started looking for a used car(which makes sense for a temporary resident) and began perusing classifieds online. First off, I realized that there was a difference between my idea of "good condition" and that of the sellers. Then I learned that a fair number of sellers were selling vehicles that, technically, they didn't own, mostly because they were keeping under the tax radar(that is, avoiding paying taxes) or because they were actually selling someone else's car. Of course, they wouldn't tell you this up front. They wait till you ask to see the title, and then launch into complicated explanations, ending with "But it's no problem!". Of course, it would be less of a "no problem" if you had proper title. The paperwork involved is another matter altogether, typical of the byzantine Indian system and worthy of a separate post by itself. Then there were sellers who claimed that their vehicles had not a single scratch or ding, and when you got to see the car, it looked like it had been through some sort of demolition derby. "But you can fix that cheap!". No, I don't think that's the issue. There were also sellers who claimed the vehicle was insured, and it wasn't. Then it's "I just got it day-before, and I will be getting the certificate tomorrow", which is Indian-speak for "It hasn't been insured after the first year". Or "Oh, everybody drives without insurance. You have a high comfort level!". No, I just want to drive a vehicle that is legal on the road. And then there are the "accident-free" cars. I checked out one that actually did look like it had never been in an accident, but when I really inspected it, it had all the tell-tale signs of having been in a severe front-end collision- misaligned hood, broken washer jets, cracked plastic bits behind the headlamps(they don't replace those because they don't think you'd see it), evidence of re-wiring and so on. I did not encounter a single vehicle that was exactly as represented.

 In a previous post, I had ranted about how people lie about appointments, or don't think it's a big deal to keep you waiting. As an extension to that rant, I find that they also lie about potential hurdles. If it means squeezing more money out of you, they exaggerate the possible problems. If it means their getting a contract, there are no hurdles, everything can be done by next Monday, if not sooner. When I had my sidewalk relaid, I explicitly asked that the ground be concreted before the pavers were laid. Unfortunately, I did not oversee the work, and now I have grass and weeds growing between the pavers. I had issues with my cable company, who began billing me before giving me the converter box(which was apparently on back-order),  even though I had pre-paid for six months of service of whatever premium service it was, but which necessitated a converter box. And after I had sorted that out, I started getting bills which claimed that there was a prior balance, which of course there wasn't, because I wasn't a "prior" customer. Then there was an issue with the electric company, which changed the meter. Of course, they didn't document the old reading, or the start of the new reading, so when I got the first bill, they charged me for four times my normal consumption. Well, not right off, because they actually sent me a bill with a credit because their system couldn't reconcile the low reading on the new meter with the high reading on the old one, but I knew that was an error, so I went to them to get it straightened out, and ended up getting clocked with a ridiculous bill. I tried getting that rectified, including making the reasonable argument that I could not possibly have suddenly begun using copious amounts of electricity just because a new meter was installed, but got such a runaround that I decided to let it go for now, but I will certainly let off some steam when I meet a senior BESCOM executive. [As I write this, I received the current bill from BESCOM, which claims I did not pay last month's bill. I double-checked my receipt, and I find that I had paid the bill three days after receipt, well before the due date. Now I will likely have to spend at least a couple of hours at the local BESCOM office trying to get this straightened out.]

 When I had my fiber-optic broadband put in, the company installed a box on the outside wall. This is what is called a Network Interface Box, and is standard practice for fiber-optic service . What they didn't tell me was that since I was the first on my block to get the service, my house was going to be used as a node for nearby connections. So periodically, they come and stick a line into the box, and throw the wires as usual through the trees and over rooftops to other houses, so now my house looks like it's being held up by strings. When my housekeeper questioned this, she was told that I get a discount for allowing this, which of course I don't, and was never offered one. A little white lie to cover a lie of omission.

 Sometimes, when I see something interesting that I want to buy, I will sort of hover around and listen to other people haggling over the price. Let's say the vendor wants a thousand rupees, and the buyer begins with a counter offer of five hundred. So they settle somewhere in between. Others come, and follow the same routine. I open my mouth and ask the vendor how much the item costs, and without batting an eyelid, he will say "Two thousand", even though he's been telling everyone else "One thousand"("ondu savara"). The presumption from my odd accent that I am a clueless outsider, and therefore ripe for a rip-off, really annoys me. I don't bargain much, if at all, so he would be likely to get a better price from me anyhow, but he gets nothing when he lies to me about the price, even when he becomes more truthful and says "Sir, for you, special price, thousand five hundred!". Yes, that's a special price indeed, just for me!

 Late in 2013, I bought a "handi"(copper pot) of biriyani from an outlet belonging to a chain that purportedly specializes in "dum" biriyani. I've always understood the primary ingredient of biriyani to be basmati rice, also known as biriyani rice. After it was delivered, I discovered that the "biriyani" was made, not with basmati or even premium long-grain rice, but regular short-grain rice. We had to make do with it, because it was too late to order from elsewhere. When the delivery guy returned for the handi, I complained about the rice, and he told me that this is what they make all their biriyanis with. My view is that when you make a dish with short-grain rice, the most you are entitled to call it is a pulao or pilav/pilaf. And you do not charge a premium price for it. When people ask me to suggest a biriyani joint, I tell them to stay away from this place. The next time around, I ordered biriyani from a place I recalled from my debauched youth, when we prowled late at night looking to satisfy ravenous appetites after a night on the town. It was a place known then for its kebabs, biriyanis and the famous "chops"(broiled bone-in cuts of goat in gravy). The kebabs are still pretty decent, but the biriyani, wouldn't you know it, was also made with short-grain rice. Needless to say, I will not be buying biriyani from them again, nor will I recommend it to anyone. Most recently, on New Year's Eve, I got biriyani from a takeout place nearby, which was actually cheaper than the others, and was made from fragrant long-grain basmati. That'll be my go-to place for biriyani from now on. These days, pigskin is passed off as leather, but I refuse to consider anything made from other than cowhide to be leather. And I refuse to consider a rice dish made with anything other than basmati to be biriyani.

 Often, I have people tell me how close India is to surpassing the US in economic strength, how India is practically a superpower, how the US is dependent on India to prop up the American economy, and there have been comments in online fora calling for "sanctions" on the US in retaliation over the Khobragade issue. I'm not sure how they arrive at these conclusions, or even if they believe it themselves, but the reality is so disparate from their claims that it is really hard for me to accept their words as indicative of their belief. And yet they will argue with a passion that bespeaks belief, and I look out my window, walk the streets, read the news, study the statistics and wonder, "Do they ever actually see what they are looking at?". I'm all for ambition and striving toward goals, but what I hear is an encomium that is at dramatic variance with the truth. It's really no different than calling Bangalore today a "beautiful city", or "the air-conditioned city", which it clearly isn't any more, and hasn't been in decades. If people continue to delude themselves with these sewn-out-of-whole-cloth fables, it isn't very likely that any serious efforts will be made to improve the state of affairs, and indeed the complacency induced by this mindset could allow for further deterioration.

 Every day, almost, brings me more examples of this ubiquitous economy-with-truth habit, and I find I must anticipate it, and indeed assume it, or else become the proverbial patsy. I'm uncomfortable with that, because I am not a distrustful person by nature, and it feels like a violation of my self when I take on that role.  And it's unfortunate for the country as a whole, because bad habits feed on themselves, and become addictions. If a certain level of honesty isn't the norm, it becomes very difficult to strengthen the fabric of society, and to focus on progressive activities. A good part of this, I realize, is the fact that the rules and laws have always left room for both motive and opportunity for being less than honest. Re-discovering India has been a tortuous process for me so far, but I cling to the hope that sometime, sooner rather than later, a new breed of effective leadership will emerge to make the changes that will hopefully lift India to middle-income status at least. But in order for that to happen, people have to stop being flexible with the truth.