Everyone, the proverbial everyone, is saying these days that India’s biggest agricultural problem is distribution. There seems to be no good way to move food around the country. If I know anything about what “everyone says these days” it’s this:
1) The problem is always more complicated than “everyone” would have you believe. I’m just beginning to root around in that which is India’s agricultural distribution system, but I’m inclined to believe this premise holds true yet again.
2) There’s always some truth to what “everyone” is saying.
And while I’m not ready to go about labeling things as problems, I’m constantly in awe of the myriad of creative ways in which people here manage to get things to market. There are trucks, buses, bullock carts. My favorite is the ubiquitous auto. I see them on my way to school. We’ll be stopped at one intersection or another and an auto will pull up next to us. Instead of being stuffed with people, however, it’s brimming with agricultural produce. Bananas are common these days. My personal favorite though, is fish. Baskets of small, shiny, slippery fish. The baskets and the auto are stuffed so full I’m amazed they don’t leave a trail through Vizag. Yet some how they all stay in. I don’t know where they’re going, and I’m certainly not sure that an auto is the all-things-being-equal-(which they’re not)-best way to get there. It’s a stunning feat, nonetheless.
No comments:
Post a Comment