Back in Bombay

I am on the road again. For my emails I have turned my "out of office" on and the phone on my desk has been diverted. On the Company Global Telephone directory I am listed as "working from another office". The roaming function on my Blackberry is enabled.

I have re-routed my cyber world. 

I have activated deviation from my home base from every technical angle. It took only a tap on a keyboard. A few clicks on the mouse. 

It was child's play.

At the moment I am back in Bombay. Not of the Sapphire variety. Not the Gin. Those bottles of tears. I'm in the city. It is called Mumbai now but it will always be Bombay to me.

If I glance out of my hotel room I can see the beach side mansion that belongs to Shahrukh Khan. The Prince of Bollywood. 

I don't think he's home. 

There are no lights on. 

I have an open view of the Arabia sea. If I stretch my neck I can see the Rajiv Ghandi sea link. It is the bridge that connects Bandra to Worli. The bridge took 10 long years to build and it cost more than US$300 million.

I am in Bandra. Worli is the other side of the water. Worli is the main Finance and Business district for Bombay. It is where the big boys work. Bandra is where they live and play. Bandra is also one of the expatriate commune centers of Bombay. It has been for 400 years. Bandra was occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th Century and then by the British through the 19th and 20th Centuries. 

They both left their stamps.

Bombay is a new generation city. So is Delhi. There are massive technology and business parks expanding in cities like Chennai and Pune and Bangalore. India is on a roll. The medium age for India is twenty six. 

Twenty six! 

The new generation of Indians are very well educated and they are very technologically savvy. 

Exceptionally smart Indian women are emerging in business and in politics. They have been unshackled after generations of gender based suppression. Dare I say it oppression. Those that I have met are ambitious. They are the real deal. 

The young adults of India are excited about the prospect of greater global opportunity. India can compete big time with the multi-national giants that are already in the machine. 

If they get their shit together. 

They may in fact dominate. 

Look out world.

Here they come.