"I have just come back from China and am amazed at the scale of everything in the run-up to the Olympics. For instance, one evening, I saw almost 200 people playing ping pong simultaneously, 200 tables laid out side by side. They are much more open and the government is giving permits to all kinds of businesses and restaurants to come up in time for the event. In fact, all kinds of restaurants serving cuisines from all over the world, including many Indian ones, are opening. For us, Mainland China was supposed to start in Beijing now but that will have to be delayed and we will start in Shanghai first since in Beijing, no one wants another Chinese restaurant! We had a tough time convincing the authorities in the first place that here was an Indian chain serving Chinese food. They couldn't believe it. After they tasted our food, they were convinced. Mayors of various cities have been helpful."
(As told to Anoothi Vishal)
Vijay K ThadaniCEO, NIIT
I always agree with author Gurcharan Das's statement, "India has the law but China has the order." NIIT entered China in 1997 and today, has presence in over 170 locations, in 65 cities of 24 Chinese provinces. Both the countries have opportunities but the difference lies in the way the two countries tackle issues that affect them. Our biggest challenge in China was to create a large pool of well-trained IT professionals through our programmes offered in English and Mandarin. We continue to strengthen our presence in China and have signed a MoU with Shui On for state-of-the-art training facilities inside the upcoming Tiandi Software Park.
I remember a time when I'd accompanied a minister from India to China. We saw a nine-lane road with hardly any traffic. When the minister scoffed and said a two- lane road was enough, our friend from China said, "The vehicles will come." They obviously plan everything well in advance.
(As told to Abhilasha Ojha)
Patricia UberoiInstitute of Chinese Studies
I was brought up in the late '50s and early '60s, when the biggest peril was the Red Peril or Yellow Peril. Australians had our own miniature McCarthy campaign. Some of my family were Left-wingers and came under scrutiny. Learning the language is really absolutely necessary when dealing with the Chinese for social and business contacts... Language teaching and learning have improved since I was young. Now, they have so many applications (at JNU), there's no exam board big enough... The output of research (in Chinese studies in India) is, and remains meagre... India is so pennypinching (that, when asked for resources, the government says) Chinese studies is better endowed than any other area studies programme
