Maybe not in Delhi. But a common sight in Kerala.

I agree with your criticism in spirit. But the first time I took my American-born wife to India, we did, in fact, see an elephant on the road that runs past the Santa Cruz local train station in Bombay. (I have a picture somewhere taken from the upper deck of a BEST bus.) Offhand I cannot recall a specific similar elephant sighting in Delhi, but I'm quite sure they aren't rare.

I couldn't bring myself to read the article after I saw the title. I immediately checked the byline and was even more annoyed when I saw it was by Somini Sengupta, whom I haven't exactly associated with this kind of snake-charmers-and-rope-trick style reporting.

Speaking of traffic, here's a fun video showing how it's done. Don't miss the white Amby that shows up at 1:19.

I can say this though: If indeed you find an elephant in public, it definitely is not a stray elephant - like those stray cows and dogs - a very important distinction

Also, while we're at it, here's a great Nike ad about the cricket craze in India, that aired before the world cup last year.

I agree with your criticism in spirit. But the first time I took my American-born wife to India, we did, in fact, see an elephant on the road that runs past the Santa Cruz local train station in Bombay. (I have a picture somewhere taken from the upper deck of a BEST bus.) Offhand I cannot recall a specific similar elephant sighting in Delhi, but I'm quite sure they aren't rare.

Ah, I was worried that there would be people who've seen elephants in big metros after all! (I'll at least be safe until someone chimes in that they once saw an elephant in blue jeans, smoking a bidi outside Narula's at Chandni Chowk... ;-)

Still, maybe I should add in a little poll or something.

see

http://files.blog-city.com/files/aa/32997/p/f/ker7053035.gif

At least this morning there was no elephant chewing bamboo in the fast lane, as there sometimes is.

There is, quite rarely, a temple elephant on the road, but it is by no means a normal or even semi-frequent occurrence. It's like saying "Cars zipped past on the highway, with the occassional rubbernecking for a car with a smoking radiator in the service lane, but at least there weren't any mattresses flying from truck beds, as there sometimes are."

The writer should've stuck to the more reliable (and true) tropes of cows and dogs. Of course, we don't let buffaloes on the road because they're black.

elephant is a code-word for republican. liberal bias again.

Speaking of traffic, here's a fun video showing how it's done. Don't miss the white Amby that shows up at 1:19.

Rahul, I'd seen that video before. The funny thing about it is the way it actually shows quite clearly that there are rules and patterns, though they happen to be different rules and patterns than in the U.S.

Cars crossing the flow of oncoming traffic do sometimes have the right of way (especially if there are a large number of them, or they've been waiting a bit).
Buses and trucks trump cars, especially when the former are moving at speed.
Pedestrians and cyclists can sneak across big roads when cars are turning. Etc.

elephant is a code-word for republican. liberal bias again.

And "chewing bamboo"? What does that mean?

11 · Rahul said

And "chewing bamboo"? What does that mean?

Well, at least there's no Republicans in Iran.

Someone is annoyed by somini sengupta's rambling farcicles? Join the line...

The funny thing about it is the way it actually shows quite clearly that there are rules and patterns, though they happen to be different rules and patterns than in the U.S.] Cars crossing the flow of oncoming traffic do sometimes have the right of way (especially if there are a large number of them, or they've been waiting a bit). Buses and trucks trump cars, especially when the former are moving at speed. Pedestrians and cyclists can sneak across big roads when cars are turning. Etc.

Rules, I don't know. Patterns, yes. And might is right usually. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, it might be the only system that will work with the volumes, diversity of vehicles, and infrastructure in India. And I also don't think it is interesting or exciting enough to write a story about, especially with this overarching tone of "Indian roads are anarchic, uncivilized, and dangerous places." There are various aspects about infrastructure, pollution etc. that are more reasonably discussed in a piece on the new middle class car, but writing those might require more than 10 minutes of thought while sitting on the can.

Though I must admit I am no expert either, I have never seen an elephant on the road in central Delhi…

A number of times I have seen elephant in Delhi.

Usually, with a holy man.

Elephants are indeed rare in Central Delhi...but one time, I actually saw one in Connaught Place. It was part of an advertising campaign...the elephant had an ad in the form of a drape that was hanging down its sides, and there was a dholi (dhol player) accompanying it.

Someone is annoyed by somini sengupta's rambling farcicles? Join the line...

The long, long... really long line.

Well, at least there's no Republicans in Iran.

Soon, there will be.

Headlines are written by NYT editor, not Somini. Thats what she said last time @saja when questioned about another article with stupid headline.

11 · Rahul said

elephant is a code-word for republican. liberal bias again.

And "chewing bamboo"? What does that mean?

An obviously dig at asian Log Cabin Republicans.

Never seen an elephant in Mumbai (Vile Parle and downtown) but the odd cow and quite a few dogs and lots of slum kids and street sellers. None will be adversely impacted by these little cars and they've got to be a hell of a lot safer than the helmet-less, wife-and-two-kids-riding-pillion, barely-balanced motor scooters that infect Indian streets at the moment.

If the roadways of New and Old Delhi are one's first into to India after arriving at Indira Gandhi International, yeah, it's a culture shock, no two ways about that!

The long, long... really long line.

You mean, like the ones they have outside rations stores in India where the starving masses get subsidized sugar and rice?

Actually, the accompanying slide show to the article does have a picture of an elephant on a road in Delhi.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/01/10/world/20080111INDIA_9.html

maybe she meant to write "chewing babu"

23 · Rahul said

The long, long... really long line.

You mean, like the ones they have outside rations stores in India where the starving masses get subsidized sugar and rice?

And like this one on Sepia.

Seen elephants several times in Delhi - both on the main roads and even the narrower residential streets. But the most exciting animal sighting was once on Delhi's Outer Ring Road, when a bunch of camels suddenly began racing, goaded on by their dashing and colorfully dressed riders. No, it was not a parade. And yes, that is a fast road.

I've seen an elephant in Delhi once, as well. I'm more suprised by the authors use of the phrase 'at least...' - elephants are very sweet, I'd rather have a few of them on the road instead of all those noisy autorickhaws and lorries...

Have to add, incidentally when I was in India last week I had asked my aunt about the prevalence of elephants in Delhi she replied that it is not uncommon, as Delhi is apparently surrounded by a lot of forested areas.

As long as the mahut gets 500 bucks for allowing tourists to pose with it, hail to the elephant.

Have to add, incidentally when I was in India last week I had asked my aunt about the prevalence of elephants in Delhi she replied that it is not uncommon, as Delhi is apparently surrounded by a lot of forested areas.

The only good use of the elephant-in-the-subcontinent trope, in my book.

I've lived in Delhi for most of my life, and although it is surrounded by a few bird sanctuaries, I've never heard of elephants in those forested areas.

Except when religious wives take them to be dunked in the river.

Dude, I said this a year ago. Somini is a blind coconut and perhaps depressed a bit.

The GOI may feel embarrassed by the greeting NRI and other foriegners such as tourists await them on the overcrowded streets of India, but let's face it, that is exactly what most people go to India for, the unusual experinences you won't get elsewhere. And it provides alot of literary material compared to the sterile blandness of other areas.

I have never been to Delhi so I don't know about elephants there, but I have seen an elephant on the road in Bombay several times. The elephant was not wandering but had a "mahoot", it was a rare occurrence and kids would line up to see the elephant, also this was on a side street not the fast lane of a highway.

If you do a Google search for images of an Elephant in Bombay you will find several such photos.

Amardeep:

What I do have a problem are silly non-observations, like “At least there was no elephant chewing bamboo in the fast lane, as there sometimes is.” In fact, you didn’t see any elephants, did you? Why report on what you didn’t see?

Well, maybe she wanted to say that elephants are disappearing in India at an alarming rate. So alarming that "I didn't see any on the streets of Delhi. They've all disappeared".

Dude, I said this a year ago. Somini is a blind coconut and perhaps depressed a bit.

I disagree with you. While I don't think Somini's articles are the most insightful or piercing, there is nothing wrong with identifying or writing about negative aspects, and I have no requirement of "balance" (equal number of "look, multiplexes and pizza parlors galore!" articles). I was actually surprised by the headline (elephants are by no means commonplace or routine on India's roads) and the obsession with the tired old nonsense in this article, especially when there is substantial stuff to write about, because I had not associated that with her reports in the past.

And making irrelevant and unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks does not exactly bolster your case, even if it makes you feel better.

The only good use of the elephant-in-the-subcontinent trope, in my book.

By the way, "Chewing bamboo in the fast lane" would make a great title for a blog on high-speed panda conservationism.

Somini, meet Gus Van Sant.

I have seen temple elephants on the roads once in a bluemoon, but I thought these Elephants preferred to chew Sugarcane rather than Bamboo?
I think NYT is starting to mix up its oriental stereotypes.

Don't know about the large cities. I grew up in a small (Small by Indian standards. It had a population of ~ 150,000) town in Tamil Nadu. There were three major temples in town, all of them near the town center. Two of them had elephants and it was customary for the elephants and their tenders (mahouts?) to take a stroll around town for an hour so every evening, collecting money from passersby. Probably served as an excercise for the elephants too, which are otherwise cooped up in the temples all day. Good times ...

Rahul:

I couldn't bring myself to read the article after I saw the title.

What's wrong with "Indians Hit the Road Amid Elephants"? It's a headline that covers a splashy event, as splashy as a jumbo bag of onion sambar hitting the sidewalk.

What's wrong with "Indians Hit the Road Amid Elephants"?

I guess it is better than "Indians hit elephants amid roads", or, worse, "Elephants hit Indians amid roads".

"Indians Hit the Road Amid Elephants"

Actually a lot of Indians have been hitting the road (quite literally) recently. At least in Bangalore (where I spent the last month), I heard an ambulance every day. Quite a lot of accidents. Given the way people drive, I am not surprised at the number of accidents. It is just scary to go out there, that's all.

"Chewing bamboo in the fast lane" would make a great title for a blog on high-speed panda conservationism.

"Indians **** on the Road Amid Elephants"

Methinks that deep down some people in the west are peeved at the Tata Nano and the attendant environmental externality the car will cause. The unenviable problem the critics/environmentalists face is how to critique the Nano? They can't just come out and order Indians to not drive, because that would be plain hypocrisy and may even be construed, by some, as, gasp! - racism.
Racism it is.
Any westerner who thinks that Mr.Sharma, Ms.Sandhu, Mr.Subramaniam, Ms.Sajid or Mr.Samson should refrain from purhcasing a four wheel conveyance should exchange places with an Indian citizen.
That goes for - Mr. Tom Globalization is great as long it's benefitting the West Friedman, too.

Btw - Thanks, Prof.Singh, for highlighting Ms.Sengupta's shocking lack of professionalism. Usually, bloggers of a certain stature are reluctant to point out the shortcomings, however, glaring [Zakaria/Neocon and the genuflecting Indian-American media come to mind] of south Asian movers and shakers, especially, when they are speaking on behalf of the grey lady.

ps - in case i haven't said this before - many thanks, on behalf my grandparents, parents and siblings for the excellent, india after gandhi series. if there is an award for blog post of the year......

What a load of crap. I'd the same reaction after seeing the headline. But I did see a few elephants (with their mahouts on top) while driving from Thrissur (in Kerala) to Coimbatore (in Tamil Nadu) -- and this was on the NH (the Indian version of the interstate). They were probably going from one village temple to another.

how come she doesn't mention the roadside sati and the roadside beating up of dalits as well? an india article without sati and caste? is she out of her head?

Amardeep, while nowhere near a common sight on the streets of Dhaka, I have seen elephants there a couple of times, during Eid. Since a very large fraction of Dhaka's denizens go "home" for Eid, there is hardly any traffic on Dhaka's roads then, and it seems that the mahuts take advantage of this opportunity to show their elephants the city.

I've lived in Delhi my whole life and I don't remember the last time I said hello to my neighbourhood elephant. Its frustrating to see a cliched, and in this case an untrue picture being painted in the western press. Did anyone notice that the story was triggered by how the cheapest car in the world has been produced in India. Instead of highlighting a technological breakthrough that meets a quintessential Indian need, the writer shamelessly falls in the trap of 'exotic' India, a mocking tone questioning how a country that has elephants on the roads of its capital city dares to come up with such an original concept.

3 weeks and 11 cities recently in India and saw several eleplants in random cities, and dogs, and cats, and chickens, and camels and goats, and pigs and monkeys ... but the best was a very very large cow who came up from behind me, walked past me and slightly bumped me making room for herself in the narrow alley!! Scared the crap out of me.

I've been going to India almost yearly for the past 26. While most of my time is spent in the big city, I have traveled within many parts of the country. When I was a child it was possible, on occasion, to take elephant rides in the middle of Bombay (like, the real middle, not Bandra). But yes, an exception.

Anyway, their photog managed to illustrate the idea quite well.

we should all be grateful that she chose to only mention the sometimes presence of the elephant in the middle of delhi and neglected to mention that people stopped to offer prayer, money and get blessings from the said elephant while he was ambling down the street.

this is exactly what i saw when i was in mumbai in this past april outside of the borivali train station. we will never get away from these cliches because they are true! but, how many people in the world have the opportunity to interact with so many different animals on a daily basis? it made me happy to see the elephant (although i did not pray).

Well, folks, the photograph people have been linking to definitely undercuts my point. Even if the author of the article didn't catch an elephant, the photographer did, and that's probably good enough to pass journalistic muster.

Still, it's gratifying to find that for most people elephants *in central Delhi in particular* are quite rare.

i think that line must have been a small inside joke on the writer's part understandable to regular readers of the magazine who had seen the photo essay with an elephant in traffic.

lurker delurking .. :)

I dunno, I wouldn't mind having a neighbourhood elephant...

Good post, Amardeep. Your points are valid. The NY Times and Somini Sengupta are far from perfect. However, I find it laughable that some people would even compare the journalism that appears in The Hindu, Times of India etc. with The New York Times, Washington Post, etc. It's night and day. Indian magazines are doing fairly well, but the newspapers have a long way to go to catch up with their American counterparts.

I'm miffed partly because of this piece of shoddy journalism from the TOI. To be fair, The Telegraph did better.

Go Seahawks!

I'm miffed partly because of this piece of shoddy journalism from the TOI.

What??? The TOI does journalism? Now, that is a news story I'd read.

You mean, like the ones they have outside rations stores in India where the starving masses get subsidized sugar and rice?

More like the ones in a Dept of Social Security office.

Somini Sengupta is a hack. I've read an article she did on my engineering school in India. First she was never there. She did send two of her flunkies who turned up for the food and satiated, they promptly left. Yet she managed to write a two page article on the infrastructure of the place. Yeah that sounds like classy journalism. Incidentally she was very positive about the place. No doubt the biryani was very good. Oh and did I mention, they also wanted booze.

Let's be clear. I have no problem with criticism. What is not criticized cannot be perfected. This however is different. This is pandering to the bigoted imagery of a snooty audience. This is about being unable to praise anything without first looking for something, anything to criticize.

However, I find it laughable that some people would even compare the journalism that appears in The Hindu, Times of India etc. with The New York Times, Washington Post, etc.

You mean NYTimes and WP talking about America and Europe vs Hindu/TOI abt India? Maybe so, but I would hold Hindu a few years back comparable with NYTimes or WP.

But NYTimes/WP about India and TOI/Indian TV channels---long lost twins.

Many years ago, when I was on a photography kick, I was visiting my parents in Delhi and while roaming around Connaught Place I saw an elephant wandering down the street. After I took a photo, the mahout tried to get me to pay for that privilege ;-)

Somini Sengupta is a hack. I've read an article she did on my engineering school in India. First she was never there. She did send two of her flunkies who turned up for the food and satiated, they promptly left. Yet she managed to write a two page article on the infrastructure of the place. Yeah that sounds like classy journalism. Incidentally she was very positive about the place. No doubt the biryani was very good. Oh and did I mention, they also wanted booze.

If she was never there, but wrote the article as if she was, that sounds like very suspect journalism. That is a far, far more serious allegation than just saying that she views India through bleak-gray-tinted-glasses.

65 · Rahul said

If she was never there, but wrote the article as if she was, that sounds like very suspect journalism. That is a far, far more serious allegation than just saying that she views India through bleak-gray-tinted-glasses.

Not really. Her two colleagues appear as having "contributed reporting" for the article.

Not really. Her two colleagues appear as having "contributed reporting" for the article.

Can you link the article?

Can you link the article?

Am looking for it. Will post it when I find it.

Not really. Her two colleagues appear as having "contributed reporting" for the article.

Maybe that's code in the journalism biz for that kind of behavior, but to me "contributed" means that some of the legwork was done by the colleages, and that the major part of the work was done by the reporter under whose byline the article is. Maybe I'm misunderstanding roles? I'd be interested in seeing the article if you have a link to it. (Also, to see if I should do preemptive eye rolls whenever I see an SS article, because in general, I have not found her articles as pathetic as the one described in this post).

No luck so far. And I have work to do. Since it would be unfair of me to level all that criticism without proof I'll retract what I said till I find the stupid article. Seya tommorow

i have to add a bit here -- i was living in delhi from 2005 - 2007, in south delhi (east of kailash) if you take outer ring road or mathura road than you will regularly see elephants as there is a colony of elephants and their owners (who use them for parties and also for work). oddly enough, its my understanding the somini sengupta and other journalists live around this area as well -- so, it would not be a stretch for her to have seen elephants several times a month -- i know i did, especially in the springtime....

of course i can't say i've ever seen an elephant running around connaught place, or even on the western sides of delhi, but for that area, oh yes, you see them. the kids i worked with were often on the lookout for elephants on the ride home from school :)

for what it's worth -- i appreciate sengupta's writings.

sorry, amardeep, but I too have seen a couple of elephants slowly walking on noida roads, their little neck bells tinkling gently as they seem to vanish into dillis dusty haze...

sorry, amardeep, but I too have seen a couple of elephants slowly walking on noida roads, their little neck bells tinkling gently as they seem to vanish into dillis dusty haze...

I was right! Elephants are disappearing in India. That's why Somini Sengupta didn't see them.

Amardeep, I hope this is the first step in your recovery from Sengroupieism.

71 · theresa said

its my understanding the somini sengupta and other journalists live around this area as well -- so, it would not be a stretch for her to have seen elephants several times a month -- i know i did, especially in the springtime....

yes, but a reporter cannot distort facts to make it appear as if the pachyderms/sq km ratio is as high in all delhi as it is in her area.

63 · bytewords said

But NYTimes/WP about India and TOI/Indian TV channels---long lost twins.

I was pretty happy about the quality of reportage on CNN-IBN and NDTV , but then again, it is hard to say in the absence of reliable, non-corporate, independent news outlets about the sort of the stuff that is not covered.

Don't be too sure. I had a British friend visiting Chennai. He wanted to take some photos of cows 'interacting' with people on the streets. Despite my scepticism, he had 18 photos in 3 hours, including one of a cow inside a tea shop. From cows to elephants is but a small extrapolation.

I finally read Vikram Chandra's "The Cult of Authenticity" last night. Here are some quotes I pulled:

It apparently never occurs to Dr. Mukherjee that style is something that one feels in the pit of the stomach, that Narayan may be interested in a minimalistic representation because it grows from the marrow of his Malgudi bones, that perhaps when Narayan sits down at his desk with his pen and his paper, he is not thinking of his pan-Indian or international audience, not any more than Ernest Hemingway and Raymond Carver were thinking of their audiences in Ghaziabad and Vishakapatnam when they chiselled their laconic turns of phrase.

[...]

Saintliness may have its temporary and ethereal satisfactions, but for any artist, it is finally a trap.4 But why this search for saints? And why this inquisition, this desire to fix and vanquish sin? Why, I wonder, this frantic searching for purity of purpose? I recall, now, E. M. Forster’s observation about "reformers who are obsessed with purity and cannot see that their obsession is impure." Perhaps, to extend Forster’s notion, the ones who see the anxiety of Indianness everywhere are in truth eaten at by this anxiety themselves, and the ones who battle the malign hand of the West in every action of every day are completely determined by the West. To be obsessed with defeating the devil is to be his servant.

I'm a little too spent to contextualize at the moment, but it's a good article and you'll see why it fits in this context if you read it.

One day I was in the BEST bus in Mumbai for I saw a big Jumbo in the road too....

I saw an elephant on the road in central New Delhi when I visited the last time, about 3 months ago. Just ambling along (as elephants do) with the mahout (mahawat) sitting on top. I used to see them on the city roads, infrequently, back in the 1960s and 1970s. These were typically elephants of religious mendicants and wanderers, but usually asssociated with some outlying temple or ashram.

Once, a jumbo expired right down the road from our apartment block. Much excitement/curiosity/revulsion amongst the population of neighbourhood kids. It took them about a day to find a crane to lift it up and take it away.

I don't know about bamboo, but a very special treat for an elephant would be stalks of sugarcane, which look pretty much like bamboo to the unacquainted. Sugarcane is the jumbo equivalent of a premier cru Bordeaux.

When I lived in Bengaluru this was my daily routine-

7:00 am Woke up to the sounds of the neighborhood widow committing Suttee
7:05 am Did my business in the sugarcane field
7:10 am Rubbed aloo roti on my teeth to give me aloo roti breath
7:15 am Had a bath in my house-well - carefully avoided soap in armpits to maintain body odour
7:30 am Breakfast of 1 nan-bread and a glass of mango lassi (without ice)
7:45 am Took out my camel and rode it to work (Macacasoft)
8:00 am-12 noon Became Bubba and answered calls at Macacasoft
12 noon - 1 pm More nan-bread, chicken tikka and 1 coke (without ice)
1 pm-6 pm Checked the status of my H1B application online at 0.5 kbps
6 pm Took my camel back to home. Had an accident with an elephant/cow
7 pm Watched some snake charmers and a dalit being beaten
8 pm Ate 1 tandoori chicken with Basmati rice
9 pm to 12 midnight Tried position #75432 from my Kamasutra manual
12 midnight Sleeping in my lungi and baniyan

79 · nvorb said

One day I was in the BEST bus in Mumbai for I saw a big Jumbo in the road too....

Jumbos in the road, Dumbos in the sky, what next? Columbo in the Skies Over Berlin?

76 · portmanteau said

63 · bytewords said

But NYTimes/WP about India and TOI/Indian TV channels---long lost twins.

I was pretty happy about the quality of reportage on CNN-IBN and NDTV , but then again, it is hard to say in the absence of reliable, non-corporate, independent news outlets about the sort of the stuff that is not covered.

CNN-IBN and NDTV? NDTV is a little better, I agree---but the CNN-IBN and several other channels were outrageously sensationalist. Remember the episode about Shakti Kapoor---the "sting"? It ruined the guy, but the reality was that there was nothing illegal there---not even any evidence of a casting couch---his crime was that he was seduced by the undercover operative. Not condoning what he did, but come on---if he cheats on his wife, it doesn't have to be on TV, and it is none of our business. And you don't have to look far for stories like this---in pretty much every high profile incident, these people run a similar spectacle.

Sometimes it doesn't even have to be high profile people if it is a slow news week. In Oct when I was in India, they had this pic and a short video footage about some thief being surrounded by a bunch of angry people and the police holding the guy. They spun an elaborate story about police brutality from it, saying the police joined the rest in beating him up. A few days later, it emerged that he was indeed a thief caught redhanded, and the police guy was escorting him out while the others were taunting him.

They had another story about a kid being beaten, not by a mob, but by a few people who caught him stealing: one old woman and a couple of men. Horrifying story---but wtf were the reporters doing? I mention this not as an attack on the story per se, but to highlight how the journalists see people---they are just actors for their drama, they will let the kid be beaten up for the story, heaven forbid the beating stops and they lose the story.

This irresponsibility is common to both NYTimes and CNN-IBN when reporting news on India---dont' bother if you are right, wrong, if someone dies, doesn't die, they are bit parts for the drama you will gloriously present. Like many of my friends joke---the news channels must come with the disclaimers movies come with: "these are dramatizations of actual events, any resemblence to real events and people is purely coincidential".

how come she doesn't mention the roadside sati and the roadside beating up of dalits as well? an india article without sati and caste? is she out of her head?

Because those are not common sights. Animals on Indian roads are, and even elephants are not "uncommon", though perhaps not a daily sight.

85 · Horn OK Please

Use Dipper at Night

Because those are not common sights. Animals on Indian roads are, and even elephants are not "uncommon", though perhaps not a daily sight.

Elephants are not uncommon? Give me a break. In 22 years I lived in India, I have probably seen them on the road once? twice? and that as part of a procession. The way the article is written, I would think elephants were as common as stray dogs.

This is akin to saying "american tries to go to work, today he is lucky to avoid mattresses on the fast lane". what? didn't you know? yesterday on the 580, a mattress had fallen on to the road. and i have seen it happen twice in only 7 years in america. must be a local tradition.

But you are missing the point why people are pissed off---this is another in a long series of articles on India that exaggerate and add ridiculous references pandering to those who really wouldn't want nuance, just-give-me-the-snake-charmer-story-thank-you types. Unless you call these people each and every time, they will keep going at it and due to the distribution of wealth. And these idiots have a disproportionate say in life in India, directly or indirectly.

Here it is harmless. In many other articles, it isn't.

Unless you call these people each and every time, they will keep going at it and due to the distribution of wealth. And these idiots have a disproportionate say in life in India, directly or indirectly.

should read:

Unless you call these people each and every time, they will keep going at it. And due to the distribution of wealth, these idiots have a disproportionate say in life in India, directly or indirectly.

Punctuation error, sorry.

But you are missing the point why people are pissed off---this is another in a long series of articles on India that exaggerate and add ridiculous references pandering to those who really wouldn't want nuance, just-give-me-the-snake-charmer-story-thank-you types.

Do you get pissed off when Tom Friedman exaggerates and adds ridiculous references ?.

I got curious how many elephants there might be in India, and it turns out that the Indian Government has been carrying out regular (eventually to be quinquennial) elephant censuses - counting their number every five years.

In 2002, the elephant census reports a grand total of 26,413 wild elephants, and about 3,600 captive ones. Interestingly, and counter-intuitively, the number of wild elephants is reported exactly, while the number of captive ones is known only to within a range of about 200.

Delhi had 31 captive elephants in 2000, and none wild; while the entire state of Maharashtra had fewer captive elephants (20-26) and none reported as wild. Most elephants in India are in the South (13,000 wild, and about 1,000 captive; wild population grew during 1993-2002) and the North East (mainly Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal - about 2,000 captive and 9,300 wild, with the wild population declining by about 2,000 - 1993 to 2002).
India's elephants are about half the entire Asian total, and the Asian total is about one-sixth of the African total. The Indian total is declining faster than the Asian, and much faster than the African.

So between Delhi and Bombay, the chances of seeing an elephant on the street would seem higher in Delhi, unless the reported captive ones in Delhi are mostly in the zoo.

I don't quite agree that elephants are 'just a step up' from cows - they are much more exotic, and far less numerous than cows (about 400 million in India). Trunks and tusks and sheer size for three things drive a lot of the interest, especially from Westerners - since elephants are not native to Europe, Australia or America. Also they remind kids (and adults) of the woolly mammoth, now extinct, and indirectly perhaps, also of dinosaurs. Let's hope they don't meet the same evolutionary fate...

Do you get pissed off when Tom Friedman exaggerates and adds ridiculous references ?.

Amused, not pissed off. Friedman writes his columns as opinion, not factual news.

Amused, not pissed off. Friedman writes his columns as opinion, not factual news.

I think this can be passed as Somini Sengupta's opinion.. No ??

I think this can be passed as Somini Sengupta's opinion.. No ??

Ah there is the problem---yes, it is her opinion, but this does not appear in the opinion section. Her opinion has now been promoted to news.

India's elephants are about half the entire Asian total, and the Asian total is about one-sixth of the African total. The Indian total is declining faster than the Asian, and much faster than the African.

I think Asian elephants need need somebody like Colbert to do for them what he did to increase the population of African elephants.

I think this can be passed as Somini Sengupta's opinion.. No ??

Much as the 24 hour "news" networks would like to eliminate the difference between news and bloviation, most people still read the "news" section of a newspaper expecting a reasonable rendering of facts.

Do you get pissed off when Tom Friedman exaggerates and adds ridiculous references ?.

His facts don't irritate me, what does is the respect that is accorded to his "I am Tom Friedman, world traveler, international man of erudition"-laden inanities. Here's a brilliant parody of the greatest mustachioed pundit of our times, the educated man's Geraldo.

94 · Rahul Here's a brilliant parody of the greatest mustachioed pundit of our times, the educated man's Geraldo.

Brilliant is not an exaggeration! Thanks for the link!

Brilliant is not an exaggeration! Thanks for the link!

Glad you enjoyed it. You might also like this pretty enjoyable excoriation of his most recent mastercheese, as well as a longer and more serious essay, which also provides a very readable overview of economic and trade history.

95 · rob said

Brilliant is not an exaggeration! Thanks for the link!

For real, Rahul, that was some good stuff. I was tempted to go here and here, but your references are way better.

yes, but a reporter cannot distort facts to make it appear as if the pachyderms/sq km ratio is as high in all delhi as it is in her area.

Maybe it was just an honest mistake, like the one made by the six blind men of Indostan and.
prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen
Although, maybe in this case, the elephant is the state of Indian traffic, and the snake/wall/spear/tree/fan/rope are the elephant :)

Poor Somini, cows and dogs on Indian roads are so passe, and she was forced to work her way up to elephants so her article could get on the "most emailed" list. In two decades, I look forward to descriptions of an India where the great rhinoceroses can coexist peacefully with flying cars.

I believe that the number of elephants struck by automobiles is less than the number struck by trains or having unfortunate encounters with power lines and other elements of encroachment on their migratory routes. I's have to check, but in 2007 at least 6 elephants died in the Northeast.

Is the word "cacophony" now a cliche when used in regards to India?

are'nt we desis asked if we travel to office on elephants in India? so what is the big deal here? i always tell them i do, dressed like a maharajah no less...

and to think of it Somini will be NY times' asia bureau chif, this is appaling

Somini Sengupta is an exoticizing moron, we've seen such crass reporting form her in the past too. This news is everywhere - yahoo, the economist, CSM, Reuters, FT, NPR but people stuck to what's relevant - an inexpensive car. Only this beeyatch from the NYT could think of headlining elephants and not the car. Plus, while one may see an occasional elephant (once a year maybe??) , she makes it sound like it was interesting that she actually did not see the elephant if one goes by the headline, which is anything but the case.

On a completely unrelated note, Amardeep - did we stop doing the Indian After Gandhi thing?

Heh heh Somini Sengupta the outsourcer.
At the bottom of the page of the NYT article it says 'Hari Kumar and Saher Mahmood contributed reporting.'

Rereading the excerpt, well, yes, the pointless wisecrack about elephants is annoying, but worse is how it is part and parcel of creating the impression of incompetence, that these are people who have no idea how to conduct themselves as drivers, pedestrians, passengers; that urban life is essentially chaotic. In contrast, I think it's fairly orderly, just very crowded at certain times, in certain places.

Actually, at the TOP of the article it's listed under the heading of "New Delhi Journal" -- which indicates to me that it's not a news piece per se, but perhaps a hybrid that incorporates musings appropriate for journals or travelogues.

103 · bulbul said

Heh heh Somini Sengupta the outsourcer.
At the bottom of the page of the NYT article it says 'Hari Kumar and Saher Mahmood contributed reporting.'

It's not an uncommon practice at big-city newspapers and is quite common at magazines. What's egregious is when they don't acknowledge the other contributors. That's what got Rick Bragg in trouble.

Here's some more spot-on commentary on Ms. Sengupta's undying prose.

Look, in today's competitive consumerist world, whatever sells works. Exotica sells in India. How many millions of dollars are spent by foriegners touring India on that point alone? I say we need to milk this cash cow for all it's worth.

India shining or India whining?

Exotic India - feel the colors, smell the agarbati.

While the overall tone of the article is somewhat offensive, at least the literal elephant in the road has now been set at rest, having been spotted in the photog.

But there are figurative elephants in the room too, that bother me, and some of which the article correctly points to. For example, this:

New Delhi issued more than 300,000 driver’s licenses last year, which could be seen as either a feat of bureaucratic efficiency or Indian ingenuity. At one city licensing office this week, the test, which took about a minute, consisted of turning on the ignition and driving in a wide circle.

A chauffeur named Ramfali said he had obtained a license even though he cannot read. Mr. Sharma paid about $40, or five times the official fee, to an independent broker who fetched him a license in half an hour.

To call this tout an 'independent broker' intolerably corrupts euphemistic usage.

This kind of crass bending of the rules and petty bribery always always bothered me before, in the 'old India' of the 1970s and 1980s, and it bothers the hell out of me that it not only still exists but is flourishing in the 'new India'.

Just because it is the NYT or SS who is writing this, doesn't mean we should ignore these things.

108 · Horn OK Please said

Exotica sells in India.

That was a horrible film.

110 · Harbeer said

That was a horrible film.

Dude, I really liked it! Although I generally thought most of Egoyan's work till the late 90s was great (what can I say, misanthrope that I am, I'm a big fan of his explorations of dysfunctional relationships, and what is said and unsaid in those interactions), with the downhill trend beginning around Felicia's Journey (although haven't seen Ararat yet).

Chachaji, #109: See the following -

Does Corruption Produce Unsafe Drivers?

MARIANNE BERTRAND
University of Chicago - Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
SIMEON DJANKOV
World Bank Group - Doing Business Team
REMA HANNA
New York University - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
SENDHIL MULLAINATHAN
Harvard University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) April 2006

Abstract:
We follow 822 applicants through the process of obtaining a driver's license in New Delhi, India. To understand how the bureaucracy responds to individual and social needs, participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: bonus, lesson, and comparison groups. Participants in the bonus group were offered a financial reward if they could obtain their license fast; participants in the lesson group were offered free driving lessons. To gauge driving skills, we performed a surprise driving test after participants had obtained their licenses. Several interesting facts regarding corruption emerge. First, the bureaucracy responds to individual needs. Those who want their license faster (e.g., the bonus group), get it 40% faster and at a 20% higher rate. Second, the bureaucracy is insensitive to social needs. The bonus group does not learn to drive safely in order to obtain their license: in fact, 69% of them were rated as "failures" on the independent driving test. Those in the lesson group, despite superior driving skills, are only slightly more likely to obtain a license than the comparison group and far less likely (by 29 percentage points) than the bonus group. Detailed surveys allow us to document the mechanisms of corruption. We find that bureaucrats arbitrarily fail drivers at a high rate during the driving exam, irrespective of their ability to drive. To overcome this, individuals pay informal "agents" to bribe the bureaucrat and avoid taking the exam altogether. An audit study of agents further highlights the insensitivity of agents' pricing to driving skills. Together, these results suggest that bureaucrats raise red tape to extract bribes and that this corruption undermines the very purpose of regulation.

Keralite, #112, thanks. I'm really staggered to learn the brazen extent to which this is going on.

I would have thought that, at worst, marginal drivers would fail at a slightly higher rate, but if the failure rate has no bearing on driving ability, and if the 'agent fee' is also independent of the driver's skills, then the whole thing is just one huge bilking machine, and really scares me - both because of what it implies about police ethics, and its safety implications for pedestrians and other drivers on the road. If this is happening in New Delhi, one can only wonder what might be happening elsewhere.

On a related note, Blue Line buses in Delhi have been killing pedestrians, bystanders, and passengers at an alarming rate for the past several years. Just yesterday, there was news of a citizen-activist who secretly filmed the cops extorting bribes from the Blue Lines, and presented the evidence to courts in 'Public Interest Litigation'. The bribes are for police to look the other way at Blue Line rash driving, which has killed so many. A former BJP Union Minister is taking up the issue with the National Human Rights Commission, believing it a human rights issue affecting the lives of millions of Delhi citizens.

111 · Rahul said

Dude, I really liked it! Although I generally thought most of Egoyan's work till the late 90s was great (what can I say, misanthrope that I am, I'm a big fan of his explorations of dysfunctional relationships, and what is said and unsaid in those interactions), with the downhill trend beginning around Felicia's Journey (although haven't seen Ararat yet).

You sound like you know what you're talking about and I've got it on my shelf so I'll give it another gander but I'm a Cafe Flesh kinda guy. Absurd, sci-fi post-apocalyptic political porn--it's even fun to say. (And that other great misanthrope, Jerry Stahl had a hand in it, too.)

It isnt an extraordinary event to see an elephant on the streets of any Indian metropolis (depending on which streets). But it certainly isnt a predictable event - and more to the point, unlike cows, elephants are *never* released to graze in the city (it would be havoc). You see them when they're being led to or from an event.

In Delhi, for instance, it is against the law to stable elephants within city limits, so all elephants are stabled in Faridabad (to the South, across state lines in Uttar Pradesh). They are brought into the city for processions or special events, and I would bet money that Somini Sengupta has never seen an unattended elephant "chewing bamboo" (maybe it was on a picnic) in the fastlane.

Another NYtimes/IHT reporter whose South India coverage puts Somini to shame is Anand Giridhardas, in his article covering the same car has this gem "Gandhi engineering" — a mantra that combines irreverence toward established ways with a scarcity mentality that spurns superfluities"

who knew elephants could bring out the indian pride in all!

Is that a Somini I see? Surprisingly, Fuller did not spot any white elephants, which, as we all know, originated in SE Asia.

Rahul, agreed, my name calling was uncalled for. It was just a quick burst of emotions. I certainly agree that pointing out negative aspects is not wrong. I whole heartedly believe that accepting that there is something wrong is the first step towards improvement. And India needs a lot of people looking at the bad things and focus on improving. And that is happening now, more than ever before. However, when you read Somini's articles, you always feel like she only focuses on the negative aspects refusing to see the positive leaps India is taking. If I were reading only her articles, I would feel like its a Banana republic out there and would never feel like visiting there, let alone living there. Don't you think?

37 · Rahul said

Dude, I said this a year ago. Somini is a blind coconut and perhaps depressed a bit.

I disagree with you. While I don't think Somini's articles are the most insightful or piercing, there is nothing wrong with identifying or writing about negative aspects, and I have no requirement of "balance" (equal number of "look, multiplexes and pizza parlors galore!" articles). I was actually surprised by the headline (elephants are by no means commonplace or routine on India's roads) and the obsession with the tired old nonsense in this article, especially when there is substantial stuff to write about, because I had not associated that with her reports in the past.

And making irrelevant and unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks does not exactly bolster your case, even if it makes you feel better.