AIESEC in India

Before I came to India, I had always regarded AIESEC in India very highly. What with a large amount of exchange, numerous LCs springing up everywhere, and a great party spirit. But what I've seen and heard here have shocked me.

Apparently, the selection process in AIESEC Delhi involves asking candidates what their parents do, and how much money they make. If a candidate does not have an influential family background or is not rich enough, then he/she will not qualify to be an AIESECer.

I have also met the company representative that is one of AIESEC Delhi's biggest clients. I have heard nothing but complaints from this lady, who has been doing most of the paperwork herselve, and has to constantly pester the TN manager to send her the resumes, or the appropriate AIESEC papers. The last time I spoke to her, she lamented that she might have to end the relationship with AIESEC. But the company currently cannot do without it.

Of all the AIESEC trainees that I have met here, none are happy or proud to be affiliated with AIESEC. Well, I am not surprised. These trainees have met with frustration dealing with AIESEC even before they come to India. And when they do arrive, most of them have not seen an AIESECer until months later. Whenever they speak of AIESEC, their voice is tinged with contempt and derogation.

And then there is the issue of money. Trainees get paid US$ 300, out of which $100 goes to rent. Some of these houses that AIESEC trainees live in, belong to the property of the TN manager's father. Others are negotiated directly by the company. When there are no trainees coming, the company has to cover all the rent. A similar organization as AIESEC has negotiated a US$500 salary for their trainees, and arranges all the accommodation for them, which the company pays. Once, some trainees in an AIESEC house made a small damage on a couch, which the TN manage claims to cost $125 in repairs. The trainees obliged. The couch till today is not fixed. Where does all the money go?

India & tha wto

i W-to-tha-izzent fo` a two day conference at ficci, tha federizzle if indian gangsta of commerce n industry. bitch a months heezeeless research by me on india n tha wto, going ta tha conference is like rhymin' a movie brotha mackin' tha book its based on in all flavas. sadly, tha perspectizzles fo` india as a net playa in tha internizzles trade regime is pizzle. n india is one of tha develop'n countries wit tha strongest influence . You gotta check dis shit out yo. tha stakes is high, n india wizzay likely lose unless it walks out tha negotizzles slamm'n tha doors behind, or jizzle meekly signs some meaningless contracts thizzay ten years lata would come ta mean mizzuch mizzle bad tizzy good where the sun be shinin and I be rhymin'. or it can say, F-to-tha-izzuck you, wto. but what then?

(Courtesy of Transizzlation)

India & the WTO

I went for a two day conference at FICCI, the Federation if Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. After a month's headless research by myself on India and the WTO, going to the conference is like watching a movie after reading the book it's based on. Sadly, the perspectives for India as a net winner in the international trade regime are poor. And India is one of the developing countries with the strongest influence. The stakes are high, and India will likely lose unless it walks out of the negotiations, slamming the doors behind, or just meekly signs some meaningless contracts that ten years later would come to mean much more bad than good. Or it can say, Fuck you, WTO. But what then?

Well, let's look at how things are doing now:

Agriculture: Being the main sector under negotiations, agricultural discussions have effectively come to a standstill. The developed nations will not lower their agricultural subsidies. If it is illegal to do so, they'll add a clause to make it legal. Hence the birth of the various colored boxes allowing for the subsidies and other goodies alike. It's like feeding chocolates constantly to extremely obese people, who care barely move around and may burst if you fed them anymore. And then there are the poor who need to have their markets protected with tariffs and what not, so that competition won't wash out their basic source of living. I do believe there's an optimum level of 'free trade', and that's at a 300% subsidy, and 200% tariff level, if that's what's needed to keep people alive. For India, that means 600 million farmers that need protection. But to gain better access in the services sector (aka outsourcing), India might make a slight tradeoff on paper, which will negatively affect 60% of the population.

Industry (Non-Agricultural Market Access): The Chairman of this negotiating committee in the WTO has declared a stalemate in the negotiations because no one can agree on the formula under which the tariffs should be cut. They are fighting over a Swiss formula, a modified Swiss formula, and a credit system. Yeah, nothing's going to happen.

Services: India needs to stop being a corporate whore. So does China. And the rest of the world. Strangely enough, I think India's feudal tradition and its strong sense of religion have helped it resist a mass exodus to the riches of capitalism. China, on the other hand, is falling into the abyss that dear Mao has warned against. Well we'll see what happens. But I digress. The US and EU are likely to put harsh demands on the agri sector as a condition for allowing more immigrants into their country.

TRIPS (patents): India has stepped up its patent protection laws. Which is good in the sense that India's innovative force is growing stronger, and it's R&D can propel India into a resource-rich, and high-technology country, a position that no developed countries can achieve as most of them are poor in biodiversity. However, drug prices are rising, AIDS patients are deprived of the access to drugs, and the US and EU pharmaceutical companeis are grinning. Are life-saving drugs a commodity? Are lives a commodity? Ideally, no, but reality always disagrees.

Well that's about it.

Li'er and her friend Bao came to Delhi yesterday. She came to Gurgaon to visit, and we chatted until 3AM. It's hard to believe that in 20 days we'd be back in comfy little Ann Arbor and school would be starting.

Yesterday was in fact India's Independence Day. Our landlords took all 5 of us to their house in Delhi, and we flew kites for the entire day. It was a Sikh neighborhood, and so on top of the roofs all you can see are different colored turbans, and further up in the sky, small kites prancing around, trying to cut each other. Each time a kite is cut, people would yell AIIII-BHOOOOO, meaning Haha I cut your kite. or something like that. Soon we realized that none of the foreigners could actually launch a kite into the sky, and contented ourselves with eating sausages, chicken tikka, paneer, and drinking Sand Piper (good domestic beer). We also busied ourselves with "fishing kites" (pulling, cutting and stealing other people's kites) Finally, when the sun was setting, Nick and Carlston got around to trying to fly kites again, and their persistence finally paid off. Nick spent 2 minutes flying the kite, and when he finally managed to cut one, spend the next 10 min. running about and yelling AIIII-BHo.

Small Country Constitution

Bhutan is like a small, stubborn, baby teetering on the edge of democracy and dictatorship (literally, it's on the Himalayas between India and China). The problem is, you can't step out of a dictatorship and expect to land safely on the democratic lot. Usually, there's a fall, much screaming, and then ending up in a muddy pool full of junk. The monks should just stay where they are and be happy. Democracy really is overrated, especially in Asia.

The Last Shangri-La

When I first heard about Bhutan, I thought it was a resort island close to Singapore. The assistant director from the NGO asked me to read through its newly proposed consitution. But why would a resort island need a constitution? So I googled it (aha, the gateway to wisdom) and the Lonely Planet presented me with information that read like Terry Pratchett's description of the Disc World, with names like Guru Rinpoche (Rinpo?), and Tertons (treasure discovers in Bhutan).

I briefly played with the idea of going there, but I think for now I am contented with reading its proposed constitution, and goverment correspondence that includes fabled words like "your Majesty".

The King of Bhutan cared about what he nicknamed "gross national happiness", and ruled his country comfortably well through the ignorant submission of its hilly peoples, until the great evil that is the television arrived about two decades ago, and corrupted the people's minds. They now want something called democracy, and land rights. In '74, Bhutan joined the United Nations, and slowly but surely, will whore itself to the multi-national corporate world. One cool thing about the King is that he recently personally led a war against terrorists in Bhutan, in order to please India. Now that my friend, is courage.

This strange country also doesn't have an army, is dependent on India (by sending, for example, 1/5 of its population as refugees to India), and asks India for advice on all its foreign policies. Well, whatever works, dude.

Blurp

My research on India and WTO has been both fruitless and frustrating. And today, coming to work at 9AM, I realized that listening to Beach Boys, 50 Cent and Brandy can barely keep me awake (they usuallyd do). And the fact that India is getting screwed on all fronts in the WTO makes my research even less exciting. Well, I just want a chilled mango right now. Speaking of which, I have a recipe for eating mangos:

wash mango (to prevent blistering mango mouth)

peel mango with hands

eat it

On our bus trip back from Jaipur, we fed a mango to the monkeys on the side of the street. That's how they eat it :)