00:10ladies and gentlemen welcome to the mind
00:12of Buffalo podcast this is your host
00:14ravikant the Buffalo intellectual I
00:17usually open the show with like some
00:19kind of a uh copyright free uh
00:22royalty-free music that is there but
00:24like YouTube keeps giving me these
00:26strikes saying that oh this video can't
00:29be monetized because you've used this
00:31kind of a song and then I have to get
00:34into them I have to appeal it it's a
00:35whole thing so I just thought I'll just
00:37like like stum my own guitar and like do
00:40that for a bit and maybe like when I
00:42have more time I'll probably try to
00:44record something nicer so it like
00:46doesn't just sound some kind of
00:48like couple of sards I've just hit
00:51together but maybe I'll just do that
00:53maybe maybe this will just not have a
00:56opening intro who cares who cares why
00:58are we talking about
01:01opening intro to a podcast our cities
01:03are falling apart that's the big news
01:06that's what we're talking about stuff is
01:08just going off the rails uh there's all
01:11kinds of uh you know complete Anarchy
01:15going on um uh Delhi which till a couple
01:19of weeks ago was just like burning up
01:22like um this news coming out 50 50 plus
01:26degrees celi temperatures uh
01:29unprecedented Heat Heatwave like uh
01:31there are some sources which are
01:33speculating on unofficial uh basis that
01:35like over uh you know 5600 people have
01:40died and now it's the opposite situation
01:43because monsoons have come into the City
01:46and uh like you know uh now whole city
01:49is under uh under a flood situation um
01:54it's it's it's completely off the track
01:57it's completely bizarre all manners of
02:00of things are going on
02:02uh and it's not just like the uh the
02:06city of Delhi it's just uh almost
02:09everywhere like you know I think some
02:11ridiculous piece of news I saw some five
02:14Bridges have collapsed six Bridges have
02:16collapsed every other day every few
02:18weeks you see like uh some kind of a
02:21railway disaster happening uh you you
02:25see like trains are falling off the
02:27tracks and even when trains are actually
02:29not just like upending and falling apart
02:32like you know the the structure the
02:34systems capacity has gone uh there two
02:38many people too few trains uh everything
02:41is overcrowded uh you know passengers in
02:43air conditioned AC boots uh AC birs are
02:47AC uh coaches are complaining that you
02:50know uh all kinds of people are getting
02:52on the train because too many people who
02:54can't travel there's not enough seats uh
02:57the the air airway Airline thing is
03:00itself a disaster um Delhi jabalpur
03:03rajot like three airports in the last
03:06few uh uh days weeks have had like you
03:10know structural damage roof has started
03:12caving in there's stuff leaking across
03:14the board um and this is not counting
03:18the overall delays in generally how the
03:21airlines are conducting every every two
03:23three weeks there's a small piece of
03:25news in the Indian Express or something
03:27like that which will talk about oh major
03:29air disaster just averted like one
03:31flight is just getting off the other one
03:33is just coming in or there's somebody
03:35some confusion like everything is
03:37running hand to mouth okay everything
03:39just feels that it's about to fall apart
03:43okay um I've already done like the last
03:46episode on the the education system how
03:50it's all completely falling apart three
03:52or four major national exams have been
03:54postponed report like everything is
03:56happening simultaneously the City Civic
03:59INF structure is falling apart Railways
04:02Airlines um you know Bridges exams and
04:06public policy Environmental Policy
04:09everything is just like completely just
04:12crumbling down and it's it's it's hard
04:15not to feel like I tweeted this out like
04:17it it's it's like early stage failed
04:21State uh Vibes which are getting and uh
04:24I just remember like when I started this
04:26podcast about a year and a half uh ago
04:29and that's how long it has been it's
04:30it's been over a year and a half I've
04:32been doing this podcast um and uh I
04:35think it was a second episode
04:38right it was about um and I was just
04:40listening to it like um because I was
04:43like am I am I going to repeat the same
04:45things I've already said this before and
04:47then I realized that like you know in
04:48that episode I was just
04:52seeing like it's almost like I'm
04:54predicting where we are right now
04:56because if you go back and that period
04:59in Jan AR 2023 like there's like
05:03everybody was talking I I made this
05:05point about how everybody till last year
05:08or even you know was talking about these
05:10Grand things and you know this ideology
05:13that IDE like everyone's talking like
05:15it's business usual okay like
05:18nobody is understanding that
05:21fundamentally under our feat the base
05:25the infrastructure the foundation upon
05:28which we stand has just shake it it's
05:30collapsing right these are systems like
05:33you have to nurture systems you have to
05:35maintain them you have to grow them you
05:37have to strengthen them and if you don't
05:39do that uh then they'll start collapsing
05:42and You by the time you notice by the
05:44time things start going off the rails
05:47and crumbling it's too late to fix them
05:50so the time to fix some of these
05:52problems is actually 3 four five years
05:53ago and here's the thing I won't
05:56entirely just blame you know oh BJP is
05:59like like this it's not just the BJP
06:02because the if you really think about
06:04the section of society which has truly
06:07bought us to this absolute dead end okay
06:11this absolute precipice the absolute
06:15Edge Beyond which there is like
06:17impending collapse that section of
06:20society is not Congress BJP it's not
06:22political party oriented it is this par
06:26Slayer this this cohort of incredibly
06:29educated Urban Elite wealthy sers like I
06:33I have that's the point I was making
06:35even back then like um if you look at
06:37like a country like the US you know like
06:40they have the they have the baby boomer
06:42generation and uh what a monster
06:45generation that was there they benefited
06:47from the post Second World War uh boom
06:51and uh like you know their parents had
06:53fought the War they didn't fight the war
06:54they were born to parents who would come
06:56back from the war and real wages were
06:59Rising they could buy property for very
07:01cheap and that generation got very
07:03wealthy and by the time ' 80s and '90s
07:05hit and the economic stagnation started
07:08and then eventually the collapse started
07:11um they were like the the boomers are
07:13really wealthy and there are very
07:15selfish generation they're very
07:17narcissistic very self-
07:20involved in the context of India it is
07:23the Millennials it is my generation we
07:27Monsters uh like especially the
07:29intergenerationally educated wealthy
07:31sers like they have benefited with no
07:37true Talent of their own like I was just
07:39seeing this somebody send me this real
07:41of uh like I people keep sending these
07:45someone was like you know uh so this
07:49girl this woman she's like you know I'm
07:50in my 30s and I don't fear getting old
07:54because I'm accepting myself it's okay
07:56to not adult it's okay to be a child
07:59first of all when the has this
08:01generation Our Generation ever adulted
08:04okay this is something that people don't
08:06understand my generation the Millennials
08:08people in their 30s and 40s early
08:1240s truly one of the most spoiled
08:15Generations ever this is a generation
08:18which uh like you know so here's the
08:21thing even if you are bramman upper cast
08:25educated your parents who were living in
08:29their 70s in the 1970s 1980s they still
08:33lived hard Frugal lives because the
08:35times were just harder everything was
08:38just more difficult was scarce there
08:41about 7 800 families uh across India
08:44which ran India like you went to Delhi
08:46there was some of these really old
08:47families Doom School mayo and all stens
08:51like their fathers are Ambassador uncles
08:54are Judges like the 7 800 families after
08:57that even if you're upper clast like
09:00your life was not easy even if you had
09:03property even if you had a flat like you
09:05know it was a it was it was a time of
09:07scarcity and if you're a ban if you're
09:10like you're coming from a marginalized
09:12cast background if you're scst OBC it
09:14was much much more difficult you go back
09:16and see the cinema of the 1970s
09:18especially you know like there's mass
09:23unemployment unemployed you know like L
09:26unemployed everybody doesn't have a job
09:28you know everybody's either you had the
09:31amitab bachan films in Bollywood where
09:33like young people are angry or you had
09:35like the amul films which is like
09:38you know you develop like a sural sense
09:39of humor like we we we up you
09:43know there's nothing to be done it was a
09:46period My Generation my era all the
09:49people in their 30s and 40s now they
09:52have never been like that this this
09:56whole thing uh I don't want to adult
09:59shut the up please Adult please do
10:03it nobody in my generation has actually
10:06adulted okay like you'll go into a tech
10:09job it job and then they're like oh
10:12stress now I need to go to the pub I
10:14need to drink I need to destress I need
10:19sabatical like what is this like this
10:22thing like I'm saying this in a humorous
10:24way it's unpopular opinion I know I'll
10:26get a lot of push back because here
10:29thing it's a generation of grownup
10:31babies who refuse to accept that they
10:35are truly soft and pampered okay they
10:40itation you go to anybody like you know
10:43Elite Urban you know Wy sa you go and
10:46ask anybody they will say that their
10:48parents um you know never faced as like
10:53parents have no idea how much I'm
10:55suffering and then they look at the
10:57younger Jen Z and J Alpha people and
11:00they're like you guys don't know how
11:01good you are what truly Uncle Auntie
11:05vicious generation of mine and the
11:07reason why I'm I'm I'm making this point
11:10is because this is the generation which
11:14completely narcissistically self- served
11:19know truly totally like they um
11:24benefited from some changes in the
11:26market economy so competitive exams uh
11:28became a route to you know engineering
11:32MBA there's a high salary uh High salary
11:35comparatively low fees uh if you had
11:38some amount of money some
11:40intergenerational advantages you could
11:42very easily go from a lower lowincome
11:47house uh low income lifestyle to like a
11:51wealthy lifestyle in a top Metropolitan
11:54City within four five years by your mid
11:5720s you could you could have that that
11:59lifestyle and and lacks and Crowes of
12:03people most of them sa but also sc's and
12:07SS and obcs a small section but a large
12:09section of the SAS truly benefited from
12:12this they all entered like these jobs in
12:15like you know Bangalore and gooda and
12:18parts of Bombay all of this this is
12:20built on this wave which emerged in the
12:23early 2000s and um you know this
12:27section all they did was they made so
12:32much wealth for themselves and never
12:35asked any questions about what they were
12:38participating this is a section which
12:40will say I pay my tax I follow the rules
12:42and look at all these other like you
12:44know Sak pay there is chaos and traffic
12:46police uh is there and there are no laws
12:48in India there are no rules in India uh
12:51bu like like the housing Colony that
12:53you're in this gated community that
12:55you're so proud of hiding behind um
13:04uh where did the land come from who's
13:07the real estate developer that real
13:10estate developer which built that
13:12housing complex do I you are you sure
13:16he's the clean cleanest most
13:20professional uh no Shady deal person do
13:23you know anything about that or what
13:25about the upkeep of your entire uh uh
13:29gated community or your office complex
13:32you know the staff who come who clean
13:34who maintain are they employees are they
13:37contracted out Labor uh who's in charge
13:40of are they getting paid Fair wages are
13:43they not being exploited are you sure
13:45about all of these things but that's not
13:48important see that's the thing this this
13:50cohort feels that thinking like
13:54this is not their job it's too much I
13:59not supposed to do that oh I'm such a
14:01busy executive I am such a busy busy job
14:04man there's so much stress in my life I
14:07barely get up in the morning I barely
14:09able to feed myself and reach work can't
14:13hard and like I go to the work and I
14:16work there for 12 hours and then I come
14:18home all I can do is get drunk and text
14:21the wrong people and like make bad
14:23choices in my life why why why now
14:25you're supposed to make me also think
14:27about whether like you know the
14:28sanitation workers and the Watchmen in
14:30my housing complex and my office complex
14:32are they not being exploited too much
14:34too much Ya Allah I can't do this
14:37yeah this is exactly the kind of
14:44children like they they they've grown up
14:47but they children in their head
14:49they're soft they have wealth they are
14:54the most boring unimaginative people
14:59and they have directly and indirectly
15:03been part of large amounts of uh
15:08businesses corporations policy directly
15:11and indirectly which has led us into
15:16position politicians you can blame yes
15:19but politicians are one piece of the
15:23puzzle understand this one thing always
15:26a politician has one skill and one skill
15:29only which is to win an election they
15:33know that so whatever policy impulse
15:36that they have comes from this idea of
15:39what is an election winnability right so
15:42you know even like if you see Modi
15:45sarcar uh you know one of their core
15:48promises is the AAS yoga building
15:51housing or giving ration or in madhya
15:54Pradesh the BJP government there gave
15:57the LLY BNA scheme which they have by
15:59the way just a couple of days ago
16:00imported to uh Maharashtra because
16:02they're struggling in Maharashtra and
16:04Maharashtra elections are coming very
16:05soon so they're like okay it seems like
16:08a scheme which influences uh voters it's
16:12basically giving a lot of stuff to women
16:15uh on state funding so politicians have
16:18an instinctive impulse of figuring out
16:21what they can give their main skill is
16:23okay if I have 100 rupees I can't solve
16:27all of the world's problems with those
16:28100 rupes but which are the things that
16:31I can do in this 100 rupees which will
16:33get me the maximum amount of votes
16:35because people are just in in such
16:38scarce precarious vulnerable environment
16:42that something is better than nothing so
16:45they will they will they will take that
16:46ration they will take that benefit
16:47they'll take that scheme they'll take
16:49that you know Farm loan VOR and they
16:51they'll vote for you right so that
16:55is but when you create a government a
16:59state government or a national
17:00government you also have like this
17:04mandate and a job part of the job is to
17:06have like long-term policy Vision part
17:09of the job is to try and the politician
17:12finds himself or herself in that role
17:15where they're also responsible now for
17:18putting things into motion which will
17:20take 15 20 30 years to kind of mature
17:24right that's not what the politician is
17:26really equipped for okay some
17:29politicians have a natural lack and they
17:31have a vision and everything most of
17:33these guys don't they're very regionally
17:35located they're very locally rooted
17:38their their skill primarily is okay in
17:41my constituency in my chra in my region
17:44uh you know who are the important
17:45figures how do I manage these important
17:48opinion leaders Community leaders uh you
17:51know who's Rising who's falling uh they
17:53they very they're very they ear to the
17:55ground to that kind of stuff they're not
17:57very clued into to what should be the
18:00sustainability policy for you know the
18:03the city of gooda for instance you know
18:06like their their interest is okay G um I
18:09want to develop as an IT Hub but like
18:11how do you exactly develop it who do you
18:13bring in which companies come in how do
18:16you incentivize a Amazon or a vipro or
18:22somebody you know to come and set up a
18:24campus or an office or something like
18:26that like how do you how do you like you
18:28know how do you do that what is the
18:30nties of operationalizing that and then
18:32you realize that's not the politicians
18:34doing it it's a lot of people in the
18:37middle it's a lot of intermediaries it
18:40is a lot of lobbying B2B Outreach a lot
18:44of stuff like that which is going on and
18:47those spaces are majorly
18:50majorly um manned by this exact cohort
18:55that I was talking to you about like
18:58like smart cities is is one of my
19:00favorite examples for this uh smart
19:03cities Mission uh I've I've talked about
19:06this I've tweeted about this it's a scam
19:09it's a it's an it's an actual scam what
19:11they did was it's very interesting like
19:14uh and and I'll tie this back to what
19:17breaks our cities um if you look at the
19:19Smart cities mission for instance uh
19:22when Modi just comes to power in you
19:26know uh 2014 2015 and he says that okay
19:30I want to make Indian cities future
19:33ready and I want to make them smart like
19:36smart cities smart cities Mission like
19:40I'm not a Modi fan like okay I don't
19:43like ideologically i' I think I've made
19:46it very clear I'm not a fan of this guy
19:48or that regime or that party or that
19:52thing but when they come and say urban
19:55renewal we want to make smart cities I
19:58can disagree with that because does
20:01need a strong Visionary Urban policy yes
20:06do is there need to make our City's uh
20:09quote unquote Future Ready yes right so
20:13when you announce something like smart
20:15cities Mission immediately for me it
20:17doesn't pass the smell test like you
20:19know you smell you're
20:21like like immediately it doesn't because
20:23the I hear the word smart and City and
20:26in my head I'm like this is some
20:27technocratic some tech bro type person
20:30but okay like let's see what will happen
20:33right and here's what happened they
20:35didn't have a plan basically okay now
20:40you announce something like that big and
20:43you don't give out the details right
20:46there can be two reasons for it either
20:48that means you're absolutely inefficient
20:50and you just you're like a child you got
20:53an idea and you jump and you announce it
20:55which could also be the case or two
20:58which I I think is more likely you leave
21:01the specifics vague for a reason because
21:05when you leave it vague it means you can
21:07fill in the details later as the whole
21:09thing starts playing out and you figure
21:12out what are the best ways to benefit
21:14from this so you leave it open for that
21:16and I think that's what happened here uh
21:18I think a few years after that there
21:20there's hardly any data in the public uh
21:23domain about what constitutes making a
21:27city smart what will happen how will the
21:30funding come there's very little data
21:32there's I think even now there is very
21:34little but at least it started putting
21:36it out in the last 5 years but till
21:38about 2016 17 18 there was hardly
21:40anything there so there was this smart
21:43cities um uh you know every Smart City
21:47they appointed a smart City CEO or
21:49whatever so India had over 100 smart
21:52cities I had announced so there were 100
21:54CEOs there was a meeting of all of these
21:57people in New Delhi okay uh and I had
21:59gone for that I think I was the only
22:01academic in that room because uh like I
22:05saw it I went for it I wanted to study
22:07what was going on I wanted to see like
22:09all of these people like what are
22:11they like I want to understand what this
22:13is like you know it was a research thing
22:15for me so I went to Delhi and I think
22:18the event was in the lth hotel if I in
22:22canot place if I'm not wrong and when I
22:24went there it was very interesting
22:25because when I went into the hotel lobby
22:27it's a five star hotel when I went went
22:30lobby I was greeted with like you know
22:33those job fair type of stalls you know
22:37of all these tech companies HP and all
22:40of that I'm like why are these tech
22:42companies putting up stalls here
22:44everybody has a brochure and thing of
22:47nature that didn't make sense to me
22:50because I thought it would have more of
22:51a government event kind of a Vibe but it
22:54was a very U campus placement Tech sort
22:57of a vibe and then I go into the banquet
23:00hall where these events are happening
23:01and I see on stage like one of these
23:04tech companies their representative is
23:07giving this presentation a very animated
23:10um sharp glitzy fancy uh video and it
23:15had all these buzzword you know I say
23:18sustainability future Tech I said they
23:21like these words are just leaping at you
23:23and um you know animation is City
23:26skyscrapers building up and
23:28it's it looked so cringe
23:33technocratic that like I just started
23:36laughing I remember I was laughing like
23:38everybody else was just kind of the
23:39audience was just kind of bored but like
23:41for me I was like who did this like what
23:44is this like you you hired like what
23:47first year second year uh design and
23:50engineering students to like make some
23:56futuristic uh kind of uh you know
24:01fantasy animation what is this so I was
24:04I was watching that and then I realized
24:06oh I finally get or beginning to get
24:11is because they did not Define what
24:16exactly quote unquote smart cities is or
24:19what needs to be done to make a city
24:23smart it allowed it opened the door for
24:26a lot of tech companies to enter the
24:29room like all the HP V Pro etc etc etc
24:34who came in and said by the way you want
24:37to make the city smart but you don't
24:39really know what to do we know what to
24:42do because we are a smart company we are
24:43a tech company so we will create
24:47customized products for you we'll create
24:49like a dashboard where all these
24:51informations will come you know all of
24:54those kind of things um
25:01so my my point is who's who's making
25:05those business pitches who's part of
25:08those projects who's who's doing
25:19Lum politician these are educated
25:23technical Elites these are MBA types
25:26these are uh people who whose kids go to
25:29you know these jindul and Ashoka type of
25:32sonipat colleges and who are going into
25:35you know uh who are studying public
25:39policy as a major and then they're going
25:41and working for ORF and then they're
25:44saying that we need to do this this is
25:46that cohort of people let's be very
25:48clear what this is and I have no issue
25:51with it like see I have no moral object
25:53objection to this I'm not a 20year old
25:58who has just started like you know
26:00reading Marxist literature and calls him
26:02or her like you know comrade comrade
26:05I've been through that I've done that
26:07timeline I teach people like that I get
26:09it if you want to be a scumbag that's
26:12fine you want to be a tech company who
26:14wants to like feed off the rotting
26:17caucus of this nation good I'm not going
26:20to morally judge you go make the weth do
26:25it earn money you know do whatever but
26:29then don't complain when your cities
26:33start falling apart when you live in a
26:37urban center where there are 17 micro
26:40breweries in your 5 kilomet radius but
26:45there are not enough storm drainages
26:47there are not enough public parks there
26:50are not enough Walking Pathways there's
26:53not enough Civic public infrastructure
26:56people are getting desperate when when
26:58uh you know funding for Public Works is
27:01cut when all of those things start
27:03happening when the Environmental Policy
27:06start going down the road you start
27:08prioritizing roads and flyovers over
27:11natural cover there's no vision of how
27:13to grow our cities how to make our
27:15cities ready for the next 50 years we're
27:19already overcrowded our cities are
27:21running out of water uh they're becoming
27:24heat Islands but you are building like
27:27you know these office complexes with
27:29glass and steel there is
27:32no ining through only your LinkedIn or
27:35some PR will say oh you're into
27:37sustainability zero carbon footprint and
27:39all that that's nonsense that's nonsense
27:42who who is that cohort which has which
27:46has allowed this to happen on their
27:48watch right and the problem is you can't
27:51talk to people in my generation my
27:54cohort because they'll be like what
27:55could I do like you know they they they
27:58they can't do anything individually and
28:01they refuse to accept any Collective
28:03responsibility right I get it like one
28:06person in one company or one thing can't
28:10anything but as a collective who do I
28:14blame who who is responsible for you
28:17know this real estate Mafia the coaching
28:20classes Mafia who is running all these
28:22who are all these mbas who are running
28:24these uh you know IV schools and
28:27international admission policies and
28:30admission counseling and all of those
28:31things who is doing all of this
28:35here these are like you know I know
28:37everybody likes to blame you know
28:39politicians are bad politicians are not
28:42doing this understand this very
28:45carefully these are people whose
28:48uh livelihood is very tied into the way
28:52system is running and the way system is
28:54running is you make cities where Health
28:58Systems all of those things for maybe 1
29:00or 2% of the population maximum 5 10% of
29:04the population nothing beyond
29:07that and the politician BJP Congress SP
29:11bsp whoever they are supposed to
29:13magically come and change all of this
29:16you know how to change all of this you
29:18have to think in a holistic way you have
29:21to uh make things in institutions more
29:25representative you have to increase
29:27public sector spending uh you know and
29:30then people like oh yeah he's talking
29:31about public sector spending we saw what
29:33happened before 1990 yeah that was bad
29:36that was pretty bad public spe sector
29:39spending doesn't mean it has to be like
29:41that it was a terrible way of doing it
29:44India before the economic reforms of the
29:46'90s was run I have mentioned this I was
29:50run by 7800 families Rajiv Gandhi's
29:54cabinet in the 1980s was called The Dun
29:56School cabinet because there's so many
29:58many people from dun school who were
29:59coming here dun School Itself by the way
30:02for those of you who don't know was
30:03established by this Bengali uh upper
30:07cast uh lawyer uh who went to UK in
30:111890s to study in Eaton and one of these
30:14you know big fancy English uh Public
30:17Schools uh there the word Public School
30:19means something else you know it doesn't
30:21mean open to they in UK because
30:24education was only limited to like you
30:26know the royalty so like you know to
30:28open it to other Elites they called it
30:30public school so Eaton Harrow these are
30:33like old um hundreds of years old these
30:36old um schools and some of the super
30:40wealthy people go there and those are
30:42the people who enter the politics end up
30:44becoming Prime Ministers and uh things
30:47like that so this lawyer this Bengali
30:50lawyer uh went to the UK in the 1890s
30:52saw that was so Charmed he was like
30:55India I also want this this is Factory
30:57of creating super Elites who run the
30:59country and uh he was actually so dear
31:02to the British he served them so well
31:04that they allowed him to do that so he
31:06goes to daa Dun and creates a Dun School
31:09the dun school is literally an attempt
31:12to uh and they proudly say it I'm not
31:14saying this you go to the dun School
31:16website they are proudly saying their
31:18history how it got created and so
31:21on it's not hidden they're proud of this
31:24and they've created this and everybody
31:28uh all of them went there like you know
31:30Rajiv Gandhi went and studied there I
31:31think Rahul Gandhi also went and studied
31:33there um all these like you know
31:36political Elites across the board they
31:38all went and studied there so till the
31:401990s like you went to Dun school or
31:43mayo or these super Elite uh you know uh
31:47schools and then you went to Delhi and
31:48you went to St stens or something like
31:51that and or you know and and and then
31:53you immediately entered the corridors of
31:55power you were in the policy decision
31:58Planning Commission God knows whatever
32:00and these were the people who who
32:02ultimately the public system ended up
32:06reporting to so no wonder it was a
32:08terrible system it uh kind of really
32:14um what's called the license Raj gate
32:16kept spaces and all of that I get it I
32:19get all of that I'm not defending any of
32:22but there has to be a way of
32:26creating capacity building like India in
32:29in India everybody keeps looking to
32:30China China has a lot of problems in
32:33terms of how they deal with descent how
32:35they deal with their population but
32:37China has also sort of managed very well
32:41to create sort of uh for a large section
32:44of their population opportunities by
32:47huge public expenditure you know
32:49Singapore is another example of this
32:51where uh you can see that the state has
32:55committed itself to provide
32:58huge uh you know they committed huge
33:01resources to provide all its citizen a
33:05dignified quality life are these best
33:09most democratic freedom of speech
33:12societies no not even close because
33:15somebody will be like now now some first
33:18year from some college will be like
33:22actually the GDP and this is micro
33:25Singapore did that according to this
33:27report listen just stop just shut up
33:29don't flex okay I'm not interested like
33:33yeah you what do you want you are more
33:34intelligent I'm telling you you're more
33:36intelligent I have no interest in
33:38debating policy Bros or history Bros or
33:41economic Bros I have studied enough I
33:45have worked enough I traveled enough
33:48I've done enough work to know what I'm
33:49talking about and here's the other thing
33:51if I'm wrong I'm wrong I am not hung up
33:53on that but this is how I see the world
34:01before and one of the key elements of
34:04that is that you need to
34:09increase opportunities in education you
34:14more quality employable graduates and
34:18postgraduates you need to be able to
34:20create more jobs of that and you need to
34:22create those jobs locally it doesn't
34:25help if the OWN only jobs which will
34:29give you like you know 1 lakh rupees a
34:33above are located in the five top Metro
34:38cities or the three top Metro cities it
34:43concentration uh of populations we need
34:45to we need to kind of have a strategy of
34:49how to make our smaller towns in
34:52Regional areas the less developed States
34:55uh where we could keep the population
34:57basic because this this is I know and
34:59this is like a personal thing
35:01like if you come from um like if I am
35:07working if I'm a young professional and
35:09I'm working in let's say Delhi or
35:12Bangalore I want to earn let's say 70
35:1580,000 rupees if you give me a job which
35:19gives me uh 50,000 Rupees 40,000 rupees
35:22in my hometown in chattis gar or in
35:26odisa if where I'm from uh I'm not from
35:29I'm just going by example like if if I
35:31am from odisa let's say and I get a job
35:35you know in a town which is 300 kilomet
35:38from my Village or town right so that's
35:40like four five hours of a bus
35:42Journey even if the pays 40 45,000
35:45rupees I'll take it as opposed to going
35:47to a city like Bangalore and earning
35:4980,000 rupees because the cost of living
35:51will also be that higher and whatever
35:54Bangalore is giving you in your life Why
35:56can't your small town give you that why
36:00can't rajot give you that in in in
36:04Gujarat why can't uh why can't um jodpur
36:09give you that in Rajasthan why can't
36:12jalander give you that in Punjab why
36:14can't Dan Kuni or you
36:17know give you that in Bengal like if you
36:21have that if you have uh those kind of
36:24opportunities like it would greatly ease
36:27the migration internal migration
36:29pressure on some of the big
36:32city because that's the other thing
36:34people have to realize all our giant
36:39cities Delhi Bombay Bangalore Pune
36:43Hyderabad uh you name it Amad these are
36:46giant slum cities huge like half or more
36:50than half of the population lives in
36:53slums or lowincome housing uh because
36:56that's what happen s when you when you
36:59intensify economic distress and the only
37:02places where some work is available you
37:04have to go to these these these cities
37:07halfway across the country and live like
37:09an animal you know so like biar and
37:12Eastern up there you can't stay there
37:15you can't stay there and often the idea
37:19of economic Improvement is like uh I
37:22remember seeing this documentary many
37:24years ago uh about this bihari labor uh
37:28working in Surat if I'm not mistaken
37:31Surat or I think it was Surat and this
37:36look nobody wants to come 1,500 kilomet
37:40away from their home to work in a
37:42factory for 12 hours a day for
37:45like like 15,000 rupees a month if I'm
37:49here it's not because somebody's put a
37:51gun on my head I'm here because this is
37:55actually my idea of an improvement of
37:58what my other life was like it's much
38:01worse back home if I could make 15,000
38:03rupees back home why the hell would I
38:05come here I just can't there is nothing
38:07there so that has already told you the
38:10system has collapsed in huge parts of
38:12the country and it collapsed decades ago
38:16and there is no conversation in that and
38:20you know the the the generation the
38:22cohort which got educated in you know
38:25engineering MBA all of these things have
38:28no vision for this they are not prepared
38:30for it they were not trained for it they
38:33don't have it intrinsically and they
38:35have not worked towards it in their in
38:38their corporate career in their
38:40professional career in their wealth
38:42making career My Generation in the last
38:4420 years has shown no aptitude for a
38:48larger Civic Vision all they want to do
38:52is Liv in their dumb little like housing
38:55colonies and um you know they're
38:57obsessed with cafes they're obsessed
39:00with micro breweries and buying an SUV
39:04and driving off of on the
39:08weekend this is it this is it there is
39:11no other vision and actually the worst
39:14archetype of people is who are from this
39:17cohort who do all of this but they think
39:18they're a little different so what
39:20they'll do is like you know like this
39:2240y Old Uncle like I'm I'm almost 40 I'm
39:2538 like this I I've seen this like you
39:28know 40 45 year old Uncle will suddenly
39:30become a biker because he's so different
39:33no who say say Sunday sub as a uh 25,000
39:38rupee Royal Enfield biking jacket vet on
39:42his bike he will drive 80 kmers out of
39:45the city to have bun Muska or chai or
39:47something what nonsense is this right
39:51what is going on like you know like this
39:53Uncle is like 50 years old and uh he has
39:55a teenage daughter or a te son and they
39:58in their like like late teens and early
40:002000s and they want to create like a um
40:04performance art gallery and they are
40:06doing that because everybody thinks it's
40:08so different that's a
40:11vision narrow sorry to use the word 30
40:15Vision here it is so boring it is so
40:17onedimensional it has no depth it has no
40:21on it has it has absolute
40:24garbage oh my God this city is ruined
40:29ISU AC is not good enough now if you're
40:34Delhi temperature AC you are saying oh
40:39my God what has happened what has
40:40happened you're worried because
40:41Bangalore gets flooded it was a city
40:43with Lakes you covered it up with
40:45concrete nobody said a word
40:47because you're happy like going to cab
40:49Park and doing your little drama theater
40:52whatever you you know you're you're
40:54doing your whole tree Huger act you did
40:56that and now because of concretization
40:58and there's no groundwater seage and
41:00every time it rains it floods it
41:02up and now you're like oh the
41:04ruined our city dude just because you
41:07shared like some five Instagram stories
41:11on the save AR forest or save H doesn't
41:15mean that you're not complicit it's not
41:18one thing your entire wealth life your
41:22operations your entire company entire
41:27is based on the exact principle of
41:33the kind of world that we live in that's
41:36that's where we are this is why things
41:40apart ja who are the companies who have
41:45been contracted to uh build U these
41:50airports and bridges which are falling
41:52apart and then follow the money you know
41:54like you'll be like oh this was some
41:55Builder who's close to you know nitish
41:58Kumar's party or BJP or whatever you
42:01know great great what did it do with
42:04wealth where did that wealth get
42:06reinvested you follow that chain of line
42:09a little bit like some Builder makes
42:11like some uh infrastructure like a
42:13bridge an overpass or an airport or
42:15something which falls apart or leaks or
42:17whatever so like go and see their wealth
42:20what have they done with it if you
42:21follow that route down the line they
42:23would have built an IB School they would
42:25have built a college they would have
42:27Colony somebody you know you lives there
42:30you're directly connected one or two
42:32degrees of separation what are you
42:33talking about this this is a generation
42:37cohort which has which doesn't even
42:39forget taking accountability they fall
42:43from the sky if you tell them that like
42:45you are the reasons why we are here you
42:48don't think of your city like all of
42:50this like AB I'm so glad that whole like
42:54you know a couple of years ago there was
42:55this whole thing like you know
42:57Bombay versus Delhi Bombay versus Delhi
43:00which city is important my God that inan
43:03mind numbing I'm so glad that has
43:06died out because this whole Bombay
43:09versus Delhi is basically neither of you
43:12 represent either Bombay or Delhi
43:14because like I said earlier in this
43:16episode both are slum
43:18cities your definition of what Bombay
43:21versus city is in Bombay we do local
43:25do you know we have this and and we have
43:27that and like Bombay food is this and
43:29Delhi food is that no you are like
43:31literally 2 to 3% of the Cities you're
43:35obsessed with your malls and your
43:37shopping complexes and your curated
43:40little book stores or comedy stores or
43:43Theater Stores or whatever and like you
43:46think you have culture and you think
43:47you're nuanced and you think you're deep
43:49because you write poetry slam or
43:52something like that you're you you truly
43:55don't understand what what a boring
44:03monstrous cooh hard this is you truly
44:07it and if there is a crisis today of
44:11urban infrastructure falling apart of
44:13everything falling apart this is where
44:15it is it's the exact kind of person who
44:18will go on Twitter and be like you know
44:21uh you you see like let's say the neat
44:24exam I was seeing this it was it it was
44:25so disgusting like let's say the neat
44:28exam and all of these exam crisis was
44:31happening and they'll go tweet these are
44:33the people who voted for BJP so they
44:35deserve this you what is wrong with
44:39you you know like in delhi now there's a
44:42flooding again I was seeing the same
44:43thing people have voted uh for Delhi you
44:47know loksabha they keep voting for BJP
44:49this time also they won seven last time
44:51also you know so they they keep doing
44:53that so they keep sending so they
44:56deserve this who are you to say
44:59this what have you done like I said you
45:01live in houses you work in offices J
45:05very land is built on
45:12that every who maintains your building
45:15do your security who stand guard on your
45:17ATMs who drive your cars all of those
45:20 people are under like you know
45:22contract labor they're not getting paid
45:24enough you're directly involved in this
45:28blame because they are getting like some
45:30Chi like you know like little trickle
45:32down policies which are designed by
45:34politicians because they need a word
45:36politician needs a v politician is more
45:38involved in their life than you are
45:41politician needs a word like so they're
45:43they're more committed in a way they are
45:45more committed to the community out of
45:48their self what self-interest then you
45:51are and you are like
45:57suffer this is you deserve this this
46:00kind of like mentality like everybody
46:03else deserves it but
46:05me everybody else needs to be punished
46:10me everybody else must take
46:12accountability accepting me this is why
46:14we are in this position this monstrous
46:17cohort has created like I in my I was
46:20mentioning earlier in the episode like
46:22my my earlier episode it's uh second
46:24episode or first episode I don't
46:28uh like Americans have the Boomers and I
46:32call the millenniums Millennials in
46:34India as the doomers like literally we
46:37have created Doom this is a generation
46:41which is supposed to take India by the
46:44year 2020 to develop Nation status we
46:47have actually done the opposite we have
46:49doomed the society and I'll tell you
46:52what will happen now from this point I'm
46:54beginning to now see tweets I follow
46:56that's how I got the elections right
46:58I've said this before uh I follow
47:01discourse very closely I follow how
47:03people things get talked about by a
47:05large variety of people and I'm
47:07beginning to see this uh Twitter uh the
47:11posts on Twitter and I'm telling you I
47:13had predicted this also now there will
47:15be a great Exodus not a single one of
47:19these Doomer millenial late 30s early
47:2240s late 40s cohort which benefited from
47:26these e e omic and educational policies
47:29of the early 2000 not a single one of
47:32them want to raise their child in India
47:35they're all trying to send their child
47:37abroad there's a mass Exodus happening
47:41pipeline all of these Sona colleges IV
47:44Le colleges uh um uh private liberal
47:47arts colleges uh IB School students
47:50they're all gearing up to go abroad
47:53there are agencies their placement
47:54agencies I I made some posts about it uh
47:58I was talking about it in the in the
48:00previous episode also who literally try
48:02to place your dumb mediocre child abroad
48:07um you know through curated counseling
48:09and all that like they're all leaving
48:11India they're leaving India they've
48:13sucked this my this this Doomer cohort
48:16this Doomer generation my cohort they've
48:18sucked India dry they've they've taken
48:22everything that was there to be taken
48:24and now they're going to go abroad and
48:26they're going to run away and they're
48:27going to come like once every once a
48:30year you know like in Diwali or
48:32something or maybe they won't even do
48:34that you know they'll sit in Dubai and
48:36they'll do like you know uh Diwali
48:39Bollywood Nostalgia night they'll play
48:41cha cha and they'll be like
48:46yeah and everybody will like shake their
48:48heads and be like oh sh what an era and
48:51then they'll T they'll be
48:53like what a tragedy India used to be so
48:59accountability they won't take that time
49:01also they will be like everybody else
49:03has to blame India was good we were
49:05growing these you know politicians
49:08ruined it people who voted for the long
49:10people what era they'll not take any
49:13accountability this is this is this is
49:15the thing of that but like uh there's
49:19some like I may sound I may be sounding
49:22angry or whatever but actually I find
49:23this very funny like this go hard of
49:27people like just their absolute
49:31shamelessness is now something that I
49:34find humorous you know like uh I find
49:37funny I find uh it gives me life so on
49:45uh I'll I'll probably wrap up this
49:48episode be prepared in the next couple
49:50of weeks of the monsoons have come now
49:53uh Chennai will flood Bangalore will
49:55flood we are waiting the obligatory
49:58annual Bombay flooding that will happen
50:02you know uh so so there'll be next few
50:05weeks will be about uh the Water Crisis
50:08one of our mountainous States will
50:11collapse almost every year alternately
50:15sometimes it's Himachal sometime last
50:16year it was Himachal a year before that
50:18it was utak even utarak right now you
50:21know like every year utak Himachal like
50:24they have massive Flash flood type
50:27situations because you
50:30know these states have not been prepared
50:33to handle you know anyways they're
50:35precarious mountain states are anywhere
50:38precarious but it'll get worse so that
50:41will happen odisa may get like a cyclone
50:44two like this will happen like clockwork
50:48it will just go on and then by after the
50:50Monon is retreating smog will come to
50:52Delhi again they will write things like
50:55oh you know farmers in Punjab are
50:58burning their you know whatever crop and
51:02all that and that's why you know this
51:04small then winter will come and then in
51:07Delhi like you know homeless people will
51:08freeze to death and people will write
51:11outrage tweets and things like this will
51:13just go on and on right it's now at this
51:17point a joke we just like deal with it
51:20and um it'll get worse it'll get worse
51:24uh I hope I'm wrong but at some Point
51:27there'll be a major airline disaster
51:29because the way things are going they're
51:31really not looking into it Airline
51:34standard civil aviation collapse has
51:37been an ongoing slowburn story for the
51:39last year and a half uh you know that
51:43clown from madha Pradesh cindia you know
51:46J cindia who was in Congress and then
51:49joined over to the BJP and they made in
51:50the civilization Minister one of the
51:52worst civilization ministers in India
51:55like there was a there was a situation
51:57where all these planes had all these
51:59issues uh you know uh planes have issues
52:03airports are collapsing last year in the
52:05winter you know planes like there were
52:09these crazy scenes coming out of uh
52:13airports where passengers were waiting
52:15for 15 17 18 hours don't worry that will
52:19happen again as soon as we hit winter
52:21again because nothing has changed
52:23nothing has changed again for those two
52:26three weeks in December January flights
52:28will come to a Hal there'll be like
52:3015-hour delays people will be fighting
52:32Indigo crew in the airports angry tweets
52:36will happen all of those things will
52:38against nothing will change um people
52:42will put out pictures of like 10,000
52:45people on a railway platform somewhere
52:48uh you know some kids might like you
52:50know kids young people who are appearing
52:52for competitive exams they might burn a
52:54bus or two and then some will be like oh
52:57this is so bad why are they burning
52:59buses and you know it'll just go on and
53:02on uh and then some people will go to
53:06micro Brewery and they'll be like I want
53:09IPA can I have a taste of your Stout you
53:12know and uh then over that IP the start
53:16and the in the music in these uh places
53:20is really loud that's the other thing
53:23it's something which is which is the
53:27like nothing is a bigger proof of how
53:30tacky this cohort is like they think
53:33they're the coolest people because
53:35they'll they'll dress nice in summary
53:37and go to like these uh micro breweries
53:41High ceiling Garden Greenery here and
53:44there brick wall layout and like they'll
53:46have like oh I'm an IPA Fado or
53:49something like that and like some food
53:51platter will come and like everybody's
53:53like uh everybody thinks that they're
53:55young and H and they're just nodding
53:57their head and all but the music is so
54:00loud that you can't even hear your own
54:01thoughts and you can't have a
54:03conversation so all of these places
54:05where like you know two or three people
54:08go and the bill comes for 6,000 7,000
54:11rupees places which are that expensive
54:13in that premium can't even like you know
54:16are not even secure enough in their
54:18offering that they turn the music down
54:21no everybody like like if you go to
54:23these places and say can you turn the
54:25music Low they look at you like you just
54:28ask them like can you stop serving food
54:31you know they look at you like that like
54:33what are you like an idiot like what the
54:34 is wrong with you so that's how
54:37tacky this cohort is like th I'll say
54:40they're sitting in bars and pubs where
54:42like the music is blowing their
54:43brains out and nobody has figured out
54:46that like actually this is this is not
54:48good this is actually not an enjoyable
54:50experience because they're brain dead
54:53they brain dead they'll sit there
54:54they'll drink their bit beer
54:57and uh they'll sit in the micr brewery
55:00and the music will have no theme to it
55:02it will jump from uh tayor Swift to you
55:08and that's fine they there'll be selfie
55:11points like these men and women they'll
55:13be like they'll take pictures and um
55:18outside planes will fall out of the sky
55:20and uh roads will you know sink into
55:24these spiral sink Hol hes and uh and
55:28there'll be General chaos and Anarchy
55:31but like you know when they go to the
55:33washroom of this micro Brewery out like
55:36you know in that urinal just above that
55:38there will be a sign like don't miss
55:41your target or something like that like
55:43some inan you know beer is the best like
55:46you're looking at it while you're like
55:48you're looking at it on the wall while
55:49you're peeing so it it'll be like that
55:57vision for India 10 years from now as
56:01Society is collapsing you're sitting in
56:03a micro gry sipping your IPA music is
56:07playing loud and you go to the washroom
56:10and uh if you're a dude like you go to
56:12the washroom and there's a urinal and
56:14you're standing there and like 3 in from
56:17your face there is a um
56:206s American Coca-Cola ad type of
56:24aesthetic May font me somebody has
56:26written beer is life agree or something
56:31like that and that's it that's it that's
56:35that's the last thing you will see
56:37before before everything else collapses
56:46bye-bye right if you like this episode
56:49please consider um following me on
56:52patreon uh where I do a second show a
56:55small half an hour on um The Weekly News
56:59and things of that nature the
57:00absurdities and the serial stuff which
57:02is happening around uh if you don't
57:04really if you've had enough of me and if
57:05you don't want to listen to me that much
57:07I completely understand I can't tolerate
57:09myself in that case I would would
57:11request you to go to buy me a coffee and
57:14please like support me or you can just
57:16keep listening to my free share I don't
57:18mind thank you very much J beam see you