<p>Im a vegetarian-gradually trying to become a vegan</p>
<p>vegi on the weekddays and non-vegi on weekend...
& a jain, when mom's visitin me ... :(</p>
<p>Has anyone been to India recently? Are Mumbai and Bangalore starting to look nicer? There's a lot of news about India's economy growing fast and I'm wondering if all this growth can actually be seen or if it's just numbers. China has very nice coastal cities but our's are dirty and there are very few tall buildings.</p>
<p>gshine, it depends on wht time frame u tlkin bout.</p>
<p>about bbay - the biggest change in the last 3 years has been the conversion of public transportation from gasoline to cng, so far less pollution. Also, there are many many HUGE malls offering everything from marks&spencer, loius v.. to raymonds..
u get all cusines (well, u always did...but much more choice), u have hyatts and ritz, etc.</p>
<p>ofcourse, the poverty and slums are also still there. the beggars are still there, ...but again when u directing a titanic, it just dont move as easily...</p>
<p>check out what cia thinks of india and rest of the world
<a href="http://www.odci.gov/nic/NIC_globaltrend2020.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.odci.gov/nic/NIC_globaltrend2020.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks, adides. I saw the NIC report before. I know India is on its way to becoming a major economic power, but I was just wondering if people's lives are actually getting better yet.</p>
<p>Hey,they are,no doubt abt it</p>
<p>gshine - as i said it depends...the current economic development in India is very much concentrated in the urban areas of the South, West and some parts of North and does not have much of an impact on the rural parts and all of the Eastern India.
Life is improving in terms of people have hopes and people dare to dream now, unlike in the past. Has there been any substantial decline in poverty, etc. - unfortunately the answer is NO.</p>
<p>But, what every1 got to remember is that India started economic reforms in 1991, so within 15 years it has been able to get started on improvements (while maintaining a democratic govt.) It will take forever and Indian will always have poverty etc (coz of huge population) but again, there is a hope and people like me and akash dare to dream...</p>
<p>hmmm... i was wondering.... are there any desis that are not planning for a career in medicine / engineering? if so, what are you planning to study?</p>
<p>i visited mumbai approx a year ago..my first time after a 16 year gap, and well to me it depends on where u r. in andheri- next to the train station, there are buildings that look like they have gone through wars. as a person who has been born and brought up in NYC- to me, mumbai seemed like another NYC but with all the pollution. andheri is booming. now if u go to gatkopur- its seems more rural- in that life is slow, and there aren't as many people.....
on first sight of mumbai- i thought it was appaling. here in ny- or most of us have bathrooms in our homes, most of us have 24/7 running water...but living somewhere in india where such basic necessities were not met, really provided me with an incredible experience--i actually want to go back this summer..</p>
<p>I lived in Chennai for three years. I am in the US but visit every couple of years.</p>
<p>hmm i was in india, like a month ago.. delhi and whereabouts... its great.. changed SO much though.</p>
<p>i dont think i could ever be a vegetarian lol...i've heard new delhi has changed a lot and in the outskirts they are starting to have huge shopping malls and it's becoming really high tech and nice and expensive in that area...ill have to see it for myself though!</p>
<p>do all you malayalees know malayalam well? cuz, my parents didnt speak it to me very much when i was little, so now i can understand basically everything they say but i cant speak it at all. my brother and i sometimes try to learn it but its pretty hard to keep at it. my brother actually is visiting kerala for 3 months currently, part of the reason -to learn the language... we'll see if it works</p>
<p><<hey,nobody like="" khandvi="" khaman="" dhokhla="" shrikhand="" here?="">></hey,nobody></p>
<p>i love all of those! all indian food, let's just leave it at that...and my mom makes the best pau bhaji and idli/dhosa/sambhar!!! :)</p>
<p>i'm vegetarian.</p>
<p>i'm planning a career in medicine, but i really hope to do something on the side that has to do w/history, american, specifically</p>
<p>i've always spoken malayalam 'cuz my parents always spoke. what annoys me now is that i don't know how to read/write it. thats my mission for this summer though...</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, adides and sternie85.</p>
<p>little john, I understand Malayalam pretty well, but I can't speak it well. I have to mix in English very often. I also can't read or write it because I grew up in Uttar Pradesh so I used Hindi at school. After coming to the U.S., I completely forgot Hindi because I had no place to use it. Now, English is my main lagnuage.</p>
<p>GShine...where in Uttar Pradesh did u live?</p>
<p>Dehradun. Now, it's the capital of Uttaranchal but the state was still part of Uttar Pradesh when I lived in it.</p>
<p>"After coming to the U.S., I completely forgot Hindi because I had no place to use it. "</p>
<p>OMG! I can sooooo relate to that. I haven't completely forgotten it (thanks bollywood!), but i'm starting to forget a lot of it b/c there is no place to use it!</p>
<p>What the heck is an "IB course" ?</p>
<p>Please and thank you! :)</p>