Obesessing Over the Poor? Yeah, I'm OK Being Accused of That.

A week ago, Vivek Wadhwa wrote up this review for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which focuses on the policy implications for the book. A snippet:

"In her new book, Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky: How the Top 1% of Entrepreneurs Profit from Global Chaos, former BusinessWeek staff writer Sarah Lacy shows how similar entrepreneurs in Brazil, Indonesia, and Rwanda are to their kin in India, China, and Silicon Valley. She vividly illustrates how the American Dream has become America's most significant cultural export. Each of these countries faces different obstacles and is taking a different path to economic success. But in every case, it is the entrepreneurs who are propelling their nations forward."

I got to know Vivek during the reporting of this book and like him a lot. We agree on issues like immigration, but fervently disagree on most other things. I even convinced him to start writing guest posts for TechCrunch. Our audience loves them and hates them, but they always drive traffic.

I was grateful for his amazing review and kind words to me about the book, but I was a little taken aback that he wrote this about the book in his weekly newsletter days later:

"In her book, Sarah is overly critical about India. She mocks the Silicon Valley execs who told her that India “is getting better every year”; Indians who take pride in their country; and even the U.S. government for wanting “India to be a super-power…badly”. She obsesses over India’s slums, poverty, and pollution.

I was with Sarah on her first trip to India and witnessed her state of shock on landing in New Delhi; her delight at riding camels and elephants in Jaipur; and amazement with Naren Bakshi’s 10,000 sq. foot vacation residence in Jaipur (Naren is a good friend of mine). That’s India. A country of extremes."

I know Vivek read the book quickly to get the review out, but I was shocked that anyone would think I "mock" anyone in the book, least of all people who showed me their country. I do try to make sense of the clear disconnect between people saying things have gotten better, who also complain bitterly about India's problems. And this isn't subjective. I cite hard statistics that show the quality of life across most metrics in India is improving at just 1% per year, while more than 2/3 of the country lives in villages with no access to basic roads, water or electricity and less than 1 million people-- out of $1.1 billion-- benefit from high paid R&D and call center jobs.

Those are just facts, Vivek, I didn't make them up. And Indians and India's American boosters have to face them if India is going to unlock the economic potential of its huge population. Just talking up the good of India would have been highly dishonest as a reporter and wouldn't help the entrepreneurs trying to create real change in the country.

Vivek was with me for a few days, but he didn't witness anything of my "state of shock" because my time with Vivek was spent mostly with the privaledged, in nice restaurants and in cars with drivers-- not how I normally travel by any stretch. It was later in that trip, once we'd parted ways, and on subsequent trips to India that I spent time in villages and slums, taking rickshaws not chauffered cars to meetings.

Spending time with people in villages who feel cut off from their country because of the non-existant infrastructure and spending time with people in urban slums who are pushed to the point of suicide because of a lack of safety net was eye-opening. Spending time with entrepreneurs like Ravi Ghate and Rajiv Mehrotra who have devoted their lives and in some cases their fortunes to helping those people were some of the most inspiring days I spent on the road, and I think some of the most inspiring passages of the book. Sweeping their mission under the rug in a mantle of blind patriotism disrespects what they've accomplished.

And, frankly, if Vivek thinks it's possible to "obsess" too much about India's poverty, I wish he'd been with me for that portion of the trip. Given how many Americans only see the Eat-Pray-Love touristy side of India and look away from the rest, I'm happy to be accused of that any time.

As a side note, it's interesting that Vivek's reaction is the polar opposite of Michael Arrington's, who was shocked at the conditions in many of the places I write about. Either way, I'm glad it's sparking these kinds of discussions.