It's always a pleasant and adventurous trip to India. The anticipation of meeting family and friends, good food, laughter, and bright sunshine gives away the usual hiccups of travel. Thanks to my bad planning, I had to wait at the airport for a long. It was an opportunity to observe people, notice new and improved things, and appreciate the hustle and bustle for the onset of Diwali. The first thing I noticed was the advancements in digital adoption. Every shop and counter had a QR code displayed for payments. The first payment I made after landing felt so fast and smooth. It's another matter that the food price was higher than the data packages at the airport. I soon realized that one would go hungry if one can't use Digital payments despite having money. The next thing I noticed was how immersed people were in their phones. There were very few looking up to see the surroundings.
While waiting, to my surprise and shock, I had a chance encounter with none other than the Digital legend Mr. Nandan Nilekani. He was in the city for a conference and was on his way out. I have been a huge fan of his for a long. In the past, I had seen him from afar at Infosys. However, I had never dreamt of meeting him in person, that too at the airport.
I felt blessed to talk to him in person, an otherworldly experience. His simplicity, humility, wisdom, and intelligence were enthralling in our brief interaction. He was so kind and humble to reply to my simple 'Hello sir'! I had a shiver in my spine leaving me stuck for words. After our brief talk, he wished me well and walked away. That's it. And I stood there thrilled to see him go with such poise and humbleness. It is hard to find people like him, these days in any part of the world.
Hesitantly, I took a few pictures for memory. To my surprise, I was the only one doing so. Maybe many didn't notice or were clueless that he was the 'Nandan Nilekani. The man behind setting up Infosys. The man behind implementing Aadhar card and UPI payments, and the man behind the Digital adoption and innovation in the country. I was annoyed with the onlookers and other travelers who paid no attention. I understand not all businessmen are on the front page, like politicians or film stars, to be identified easily. Sadly, we don't appreciate people like him and others who keep a low profile until they are gone for good.
I took a road trip on a newly built green expressway for my onward travel. It was my first road trip in a decade and a chance to witness the growth up close. Leaving the initial city traffic behind, I was greeted by ultra-modern, smooth, and wide roads, keeping me glued to the ever-changing face of India. I was proud to see the progress made in a very short time. I was impressed by the green expressway spanning 6 lanes and plans for expansion to 10 lanes in the future. It was a long wait but worth the effort and patience of the citizens. I noticed how it has helped the villages, towns, and cities on the way. Remarkably, land on each side of the expressways is reserved for future bullet train projects. It's my dream to travel on a bullet train in India. Like many others, I will wait patiently for that time to come. That will be the real ice on the cake for Indians and even foreign tourists who want to visit remote parts of India.
It's wonderful that millions of us can now meet our loved ones conveniently, thanks to the growing transport and infrastructure network. We could see many heading home to celebrate the festival of lights. Another thing I saw during my stay was the increase in people's purchasing power. The markets were filled to the brim for festival shopping. However, the prices of goods looked steeped to me compared to last year. There was no stopping people from splurging. It's good that people are earning more and getting wealthy but it also concerns me the amount spent on unnecessary things is growing.
At times, I sensed the modern, sitting on the sofa, algorithm lead way of thinking is taking over the sense and sensibility of the citizens. Especially the kids as young as a year old glued to cell phones instead of toys. It's hard to blame them as they are digitally born and bred and yet to notice reality. It will be interesting to see how they and us (born without phones) will cohabit in times to come. Overall, it was a wonderful trip with many fun moments and learnings. I am very proud and happy of the progress our country is making and leading the way in so many areas. I hope this glorious progress made on roads continues in all other areas. However, I hope people take time out of their mobiles to witness and appreciate this hard-earned prosperity.
Very well written Aditi. Keep it up!