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By Rajkamal Rao
Go back to Comparing Life US v. India
Public Libraries
Indian families resident in the US are major patrons of public libraries and appreciate all the conveniences that these institutions offer: a clean, safe environment; plenty of choices regardless of medium (books, videos, audio, games); a fair system for borrowing including an ability to borrow from other libraries or reserve current titles; automatic reminders and other electronic management of their library accounts; early-reading and other programs for children; and in the last few years, an impressive collection of ebooks that can be downloaded. And the best feature of all is that there is no cost at all, only requiring proof of residence to gain access.
Returnee families are likely to be shocked at the poor library infrastructure available in India. Yes, a few libraries do exist in major metros but these pale in comparison to even a rural library in the US.
There are some workarounds. The Indian book market is vibrant and returnee families can simply buy the books they would have otherwise borrowed from a US public library - because Indian editions are significantly discounted by publishers. The used book market is vibrant too. New books bought can be easily resold to used-book vendors for a discount. And thousands of used books can be bought from street vendors at incredibly low prices (INR 60 - 100).
And if returnee families continue to maintain residence in the US, they can borrow e-books from their US public library in the comfort of their India home. Powered by a company called Overdrive, books can be downloaded in a variety of formats. Advanced Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology automatically returns a borrowed book to the library at the end of the loaning period.
Public Parks
Zoning laws in most US communities require a certain amount of public land spared for the development and maintenance of public parks. This is the reason that even in New York City, with some of the highest real estate prices in the world, there are plenty of public parks for residents’ enjoyment. Most people don’t realize that New York’s Central Park occupies 843 acres of prime land and offers nearly 35 million visitors a year the opportunity to enjoy peace and quiet amidst the hustle-bustle of the city. US suburbs, which is where most migrant Indian families live, generally have even better facilities for parks and recreation than the big cities.
India has a long way to go to offer similar conveniences to its citizens. Land is scarce and the demand for land is so intense that local governments have caved into pressure from big developers to release previously designated “Civic Amenity” areas to private development. The result is that there are fewer public parks now in a major metro compared to about 20 years ago while the population in these metros has doubled or even trebled. More children now play on public streets than in public parks.
Larger public parks are often as much a place for personal recreation as they are for vibrant street commerce. In Delhi, the beautiful parks all around India Gate have numerous vendors selling everything from homegrown snacks to toys. In Bangalore, Cubbon Park, the erstwhile park set right across the street from the seat of state government power, the Vidhana Soudha, continues to be a conduit for busy vehicular traffic connecting it to points south west.
A workaround for the returnee family is to settle down in upscale villa and apartment communities because these typically set aside space for such amenities such as manicured lawns, hedges and flower beds.
Go back to Comparing Life US v. India
Public Libraries
Indian families resident in the US are major patrons of public libraries and appreciate all the conveniences that these institutions offer: a clean, safe environment; plenty of choices regardless of medium (books, videos, audio, games); a fair system for borrowing including an ability to borrow from other libraries or reserve current titles; automatic reminders and other electronic management of their library accounts; early-reading and other programs for children; and in the last few years, an impressive collection of ebooks that can be downloaded. And the best feature of all is that there is no cost at all, only requiring proof of residence to gain access.
Returnee families are likely to be shocked at the poor library infrastructure available in India. Yes, a few libraries do exist in major metros but these pale in comparison to even a rural library in the US.
There are some workarounds. The Indian book market is vibrant and returnee families can simply buy the books they would have otherwise borrowed from a US public library - because Indian editions are significantly discounted by publishers. The used book market is vibrant too. New books bought can be easily resold to used-book vendors for a discount. And thousands of used books can be bought from street vendors at incredibly low prices (INR 60 - 100).
And if returnee families continue to maintain residence in the US, they can borrow e-books from their US public library in the comfort of their India home. Powered by a company called Overdrive, books can be downloaded in a variety of formats. Advanced Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology automatically returns a borrowed book to the library at the end of the loaning period.
Public Parks
Zoning laws in most US communities require a certain amount of public land spared for the development and maintenance of public parks. This is the reason that even in New York City, with some of the highest real estate prices in the world, there are plenty of public parks for residents’ enjoyment. Most people don’t realize that New York’s Central Park occupies 843 acres of prime land and offers nearly 35 million visitors a year the opportunity to enjoy peace and quiet amidst the hustle-bustle of the city. US suburbs, which is where most migrant Indian families live, generally have even better facilities for parks and recreation than the big cities.
India has a long way to go to offer similar conveniences to its citizens. Land is scarce and the demand for land is so intense that local governments have caved into pressure from big developers to release previously designated “Civic Amenity” areas to private development. The result is that there are fewer public parks now in a major metro compared to about 20 years ago while the population in these metros has doubled or even trebled. More children now play on public streets than in public parks.
Larger public parks are often as much a place for personal recreation as they are for vibrant street commerce. In Delhi, the beautiful parks all around India Gate have numerous vendors selling everything from homegrown snacks to toys. In Bangalore, Cubbon Park, the erstwhile park set right across the street from the seat of state government power, the Vidhana Soudha, continues to be a conduit for busy vehicular traffic connecting it to points south west.
A workaround for the returnee family is to settle down in upscale villa and apartment communities because these typically set aside space for such amenities such as manicured lawns, hedges and flower beds.
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