In Paris during first and second week of December

I was in Paris for an exchange program at HEC Paris. I was thinking what to right about. About Paris, the Louvre, La Eiffel Tower or so many famous places in Paris, but the idea which struck me was the difference in life style between an Indian and French. The question was raised by one of our fellow classmate from France. He was telling about his life and the point was that his father lived a better life than him while he and his father both are engineers and according to him this is happening since the so called emerging countries are asking their share of the pie. Although it is very obvious that with a higher growth rate the lifestyle of people in emerging countries is getting better, it is nowhere near to the lifestyle of people in developed countries. And I wondered is the development is a zero sum game and is India's or China's development will bring degrade the development of other countries. And even if it is doing so it is justified to some extent. We are growing it is because of our own capabilities and competitiveness, if we are getting jobs it is because we have the manpower and capability to do that.

The other thing which was interesting was a lecture by Indian ambassador in France. He was also trying to answer the same question and according to him this is the transition phase and things will take some time to settle. I think this is a period where world is moving towards equilibrium and people are feeling the effects of disequilibrium.

The most positive thing I think is now people from other countries are very much open about coming and working in India. Most of the students with whom we interacted showed their desire to work in India.

Coming to what we enjoyed most in Paris. We traveled to Champagne and tasted best Champagnes in the world. Boat trip on Seine was awesome and going around Eiffel tower was lifetime experience. Another experience which I enjoyed most was when I have to take trains and walk for 2.5 Kms with my luggage after I missed the taxi which came to pick me up at Airport. It was slightly scary but quite adventurous to walk in the woods to reach HEC.