Ahmedabad - Progress through collaboration

Ok so here is my promised blog on Ahmedabad trip that I recently made. Most of it will be about Ahmedabad rather than the trip (just a convenient filter for some users who might want to carefully choose what they read). A bit of a history here - I have grown up in Ahmedabad, went to three different schools there and spent almost 8 years in that city. So I used to use IIM Ahmedabad as a landmark to give directions long before my fellow-IITians made it their ambition, goal and all that. Not to say that its value as a landmark is anywhere comparable to its value as India's best B-School but thats just how useful it was to me back then.

Not only had I demeaned the status of IIM Ahmedabad by using it purely for the purpose of giving directions but also I had sinned against other great institutions such as PRL (Physical Researc Laboratory) set up by Vikram Sarabhai, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) frequented by Abdul Kalam and what must have contributed to the success of Chandrayan mission, Blind Men's Association- a one of its kind institution in the whole of India and visited by Prince Charles during his India trip and a few more. So you see all of these were located within a 5 K.M radius from my house and it was just impossible to resist the tempatation of using them to guide my relatives home. (Now some of you must surely be interested in knowing the property prices near my home - try 40 Lakhs for a modest 2 bedroom appartment).

Enough of history! So I went back to Ahmedabad after a long time (about 3 years) and although I had prepared myself to face many surprises in the city (was lucky to have been forewarned) but none of the preparations came handy when the shocks begun to hit me. Here was a city with all possible signs of good even excellent governance written all over it. Well planned roads, big plush shopping malls, none of the usual urban obscenity hitting you etc. and things had only changed for better.

Everyone seemed happy and very proud of their city. The natives still form a large part of Ahmedabad's population something which is not true for many of our other modern cities. Take for example Bangalore - less than 25% of the population would be localites and this sort of leads to lack of any sense of pride or interest in city's development.

Development has taken place at all levels. So on the one hand there are these nice luxurious malls with best brands and on the other there are these basic "Call an ambulance in 20 minutes" sort of services which are all running great. A largely organic growth has ensured a fine balance between infrastructure supply and demand. And the best of all is the underlying philosophy that guides the whole deveopment process - one of collaboration.

What I was amazed to see was that most of the new shopping complexes, food courts etc were now inhabited by those who used to have road-side lorries or small shops. So the conversations did not go like - "Oh you see that five star restaurant - there used to be a sandwich shop which was bought over and demolished" rather - " You remember that small sandwich shop here, well the man went on to build this nice hotel right there". And there were far too many such examples to be discarded as exceptions. There had to be some mechanism which ensured that the growth was a win/win everytime it occurred. When I first went back to my old neighbourood I was not expecting to see many of the old shops but I did find all the old shopkeepers owning bigger better shops largely in the same business.

As many of you would know Gujarat is a dry state - ok some of you might want to point out that it still has maximum liquor consumption in the country and I would not contest that, but the thing is that by banning it in public the social life is much safer, roads are much safer and still those who drink are made to realise that they have to do it in secret and that it is not the right thing- something they must be ashamed of. Unlike in other cities where drinking is cool and people have even forgotten to be ashamed of it.

Talk of simple things such as eating out in a restaurant. What a pleasant experience it is when you shell out some money and go back home satisfied that you have been delivered the value. A delicious, pleasant meal in Ahmedabad made up for all the futile attempts that I have made in Bangalore over the past year or so to dine in peace.

Turning to those readers who might be interested in real estate. Again a perfect place to invest your money or plan for your settlement home. A genuine market driven pricing ensures that the fundamental laws of real estate are not violated - although you wont find promises of becoming rich overnight but you would also not run the risk of investing in a completely futile venture. As mentioned before personal housing is developing very much in line with the infrastructure. Unlike in Gurgaon and Bangalore where exiting glass palace- like bulidings will lead you into unpaved roads and unmanned crossings.

Also since multinational companies, IT sector etc form a limited share of Ahmedabad's economy it is slightly more immune to the current financial crisis. So loss of a few thousand jobs overnight in the city is unheard of - yet.

Combine this with a strong corporate face of Gujarat and no one will doubt that it is indeed a place to consider when you are deciding on which city to live in.

I am not giving any credit to Modi (which actually might be unfair) and neither am I taking anything away from him. I simply do not have enough information to reach any such conclusion. But if progress is a performance indicator of the government than Modi's government has got it right.

The only thing that worries me is how long can Gujarat sustain this. Some of these brilliant BPO companies etc would soon be thinking of bringing in their large scale, quick money making operations to the city and with it all the associated vices such as large scale immigration, lot of wealth in young hands without enough maturity to spend wisely, an imbalance in supply demand destroying the customer mindset which is Gujarat's greatest strength. But then may be Gujaratis are too smart to be corrupted like this. Otherwise they might have already given in to these things by now.

The same warmth which I felt many years ago still resides in the heart of people there. I am glad I made this trip and am very happy to look for oportunities to go back again.

Well done Ahmedabad!

P.S. - I am not a Gujarati.