Part 5 – Yeah, India is Still Poor

by Beat The GMAT, Apr 28, 2011

HYDERABAD, INDIA Wednesday, March 2, 2011, 5:27 PM

When you see the Indian School of Business campus, it seems like paradise. The campus is an oasis of shiny new buildings and pristine gardens. But all you have to do is step outside ISBs guarded gates to remind yourself that you are in a developing nation.

This is poorest country that Ive ever visited. If youre a first-time visitor (particularly a Westerner), youre going to be taken aback by seeing barefoot children begging in the streets and huge colonies of tent slums clustered right by the city roads. It can also be dirty here with dust, pollution, and less-than-ideal water sanitation.

[caption id="attachment_31957" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Do you see poverty, or opportunity?"][/caption]

I think that ISB has a big challenge: it would like to attract more non-Indian applicants to its program, but international applicants from developed nations will naturally have to be more adventurous to feel comfortable thriving in a poorer country. For now, I think thats a limited pool of developed-country applicants.

I like one point that an ISB administrator shared with me yesterdayyou will see what you want to see anywhere you go. Some people may focus on the poverty that is still prominent in India. It is depressing. But some other people may see tremendous potential as well. The headroom for economic growth in India feels limitless.

For social entrepreneurs, India is particularly exciting. There are so many basic services enjoyed by the developed world that havent been fully realized here yet. Off the top of my mind:

• Wireless broadband internet service
• Mobile food refrigeration
• Affordable healthcare

So many services/products that exist in the developed world could be adapted for consumption in India.

But you do have to have clear expectations about being hereIndia is still a developing nation (rapidly developing) and life here is different and generally more difficult than what you should expect in the developed world.