This image of "poor" slum dweller is out of touch with reality. Did you ever read the NCAER survey of consumers in India? Who buys the most expensive jeans? Answer: Slumdwellers. Why? It is durable. Why would they want to use banking services? Saves time that they can use to earn wages. If you are earning about Rs 100 a day and wasting time going to the post office to deposit the money or send a money order to your parents, you would probably save at least Rs 25 for your time.
I want to provide an 'outsider's' perspective in that I immigrated from India. I feel that it is unfair to blame college students in the USA for a lack of broad literacy. The culture encourages people to focus on their specific roles. All too often, people ask me "So what would you do?" when my responses seem to get lengthy. I realize that the preference is to be practical and productive, narrow one's knowledge and expertise to a specific area and work as a team for complementary skills. I came across a high school student who is passionate about mathematics so he decided to sleep through English classes!
On the other hand, Indian culture encourages holism, i.e., you gain broad knowledge before you begin to specialize.
The downside of a focussed approach is that a lot of time is spent on the basics. In one of my jobs, I was taken aback when my colleagues asked me explain how the Internet works. The Internet has been invented in the USA and this newbie from India was expected to explain all about it! Another common experience is that written communication bristles with errors (verbal communication is generally superb). The attitude seems to be that a copywriter will correct the errors. The reality is that I have to often struggle to understand the English! Come on, this is an English speaking country.
If you have already made the choice to remain focussed, then why be surprised if general knowledge is often not adequate?
Slashdot Mirror
This image of "poor" slum dweller is out of touch with reality. Did you ever read the NCAER survey of consumers in India? Who buys the most expensive jeans? Answer: Slumdwellers. Why? It is durable. Why would they want to use banking services? Saves time that they can use to earn wages. If you are earning about Rs 100 a day and wasting time going to the post office to deposit the money or send a money order to your parents, you would probably save at least Rs 25 for your time.
I want to provide an 'outsider's' perspective in that I immigrated from India. I feel that it is unfair to blame college students in the USA for a lack of broad literacy. The culture encourages people to focus on their specific roles. All too often, people ask me "So what would you do?" when my responses seem to get lengthy. I realize that the preference is to be practical and productive, narrow one's knowledge and expertise to a specific area and work as a team for complementary skills. I came across a high school student who is passionate about mathematics so he decided to sleep through English classes! On the other hand, Indian culture encourages holism, i.e., you gain broad knowledge before you begin to specialize. The downside of a focussed approach is that a lot of time is spent on the basics. In one of my jobs, I was taken aback when my colleagues asked me explain how the Internet works. The Internet has been invented in the USA and this newbie from India was expected to explain all about it! Another common experience is that written communication bristles with errors (verbal communication is generally superb). The attitude seems to be that a copywriter will correct the errors. The reality is that I have to often struggle to understand the English! Come on, this is an English speaking country. If you have already made the choice to remain focussed, then why be surprised if general knowledge is often not adequate?