 Okay, we're back. We're live. It's a two o'clock block. Maybe we'll after that here on a given Wednesday and we have Kartiki Mishra. He joins us from Varanasi, India, which is the northern part of India. Welcome to the show, Kartiki. Thank you for having me. Yeah, it's great to see you. We sent photos, but now I get to see you in the flesh. And that's much better. And I have many questions I would like to ask you. For first, I want to I want to know about Varanasi. I understand from looking at a map that Varanasi is near the northern border of India. It's a couple of hundred kilometers from Nepal and Bhutan. Yeah. How far is it in fact? Varanasi is much far from Nepal. I believe 800 kilometers. Okay. And from Bhutan, it's much more. Okay. Are you near Delhi? 700 kilometers from Delhi. Oh, so you're really and you're not it's not that big a city, relatively speaking. Me, for example, Honolulu is less than a million. You're 1.2 million is what I understand. Is that right? It's on the record, but officially unofficially, it's nearly four million unofficially. That's the the the the outskirts now? Yes, including the outskirts. And it's famous in the sense that it's a very old city, maybe the oldest city in India, maybe in that whole part of the world. It's got some very old buildings. And it's right on the Ganges. Do you bathe in the Ganges, Kartiki? No, I'm far from the carts and the banks of Ganges. In fact, I'm living near Sarmath, which is a Buddhist city or a Buddhist town in Varanasi. Okay. Are you Buddhist? Are you Muslim? I notice you're you're a Hindu. I'm a Hindu. Okay, okay. So you must be concerned about what's going on in Myanmar. Yes. What I personally believe is that any issue related to the security of the state of a nation like India, and the issue of the secure internal security of Myanmar should be dealt with by them, not by India, because there are security threats, our international agencies, and our own national security advisors have said that Myanmar can be a problem, the Rohingyas. Yeah, it's really tragic what's happening there. And you wonder if anybody is going to go in and stop the stop the rape and slaughter. Are there any sounds within the Indian government to say that India might go and do something? Yes, Indian government might provide all the facilities to the refugees until and unless the things calm down in Myanmar. Very tragic. So what kind of a what kind of a city is now I've lost the name. Varanasi. Varanasi. I mean, what is what is your major industry, for example? You have a lot of tourists. I understood with a tremendous number of tourists came to see Varanasi. What's going on there? Basically, Varanasi is the spiritual capital of India. It is called spiritual capital of India. And it is having all the major major religions, all the major beliefs in that city. So all the and one Hindu temple which you can call Kashi Vishwanath is in Varanasi. Many devotees, lakhs of devotees visit Kashi Vishwanath. And you talk about industries. Varanasi is famous about silk sarees, special silk sarees from Varanasi and carpet industry is near them. Interesting. So you're a student. What school are you a student? You're in a college student there. What school? Yes. School of Management Sciences Varanasi. I study in Varanasi only. Okay. And what what year are you studying? What year is what year are you in in college? Second year management. Is that a is that a graduate degree or undergraduate degree? Undergraduate degree. Okay. So what is your what is your plan? What is your occupational plan? What do you want to do after you graduate? I have aimed for doing a cat, which is a national exam, which takes place throughout India. And through that cat, we get admissions in the colleges, best colleges of India IIMs through them. And I am planning to do cat after completing my graduation. Could you spell out for me? I didn't understand that. Tax, did you say? Cat, C-A-T. What is what is C-A-T? It's a comprehensive and admission test of what is said. It is basically like entrance exams, compiled entrance exam for all universities in India. Okay. And what do you do more school after that? I believe I will do the MBA and I will try for civil services. So in the same school or would you go to another school for the MBA? Another school. I believe another cities are much better than Varanasi in this aspect. I did notice that Varanasi had a tremendous number of schools. Yes. I suppose that's all over India, but you had some famous schools as a matter of fact in Varanasi. A BHU is one of them. In fact, the Asia's largest residential universities, BHU, Banaras Hindu University. So how is life in your program? What kinds of courses are you taking right now? Basically, I'm graduating in management. So all the facts and relating to that subject is somewhat interesting for me. And I like to do C-A if I could. And all the aspects of corporate India are rising right now. I can't explain it. Very bright future for India. Yeah. So is India healthy now? Is economy good? Everybody likes it. Indian economy is going at 7% per year. Oh, that's terrific. And so what about Premier Modi? How do people like him? People like him three years past the government. He took the oath in 2014. But there is some dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister due to the decisions he took. Demonetization on 8th November, two years back. And GST, which is a very issue, all the political parties, especially opposition, is trying to say that Modi government was failure in implementing GST. What's GST? Goods and services tax. It's basically a kind of tax in which you compile all the various taxes. There were many taxes, service tax, toll tax. Many thousand, hundred types of tax were compiled in one tax that is called GST. Basically, compiling the whole of the Indian economy, converting them into one market. Well, I remember it was maybe a year ago when he decided he wanted to require everyone to, he wanted to get off a cash economy. He wanted to get onto an economy that he could have records on and require transactions to be reported. And since India is really a cash economy, that was a problem for a lot of people. Are we talking about the same thing? Yes, but it's the same thing. And 85% of the currency wiped out from the economy from the 8th November. The very same night he took the decision, 85% of the cash currency was out of the Indian economy. Well, you know, the problem is once he did that, it was very hard to reverse it. You know, from a political point of view, I suppose, for example, if he had pushback from the electorate, and they said, no, Modi, don't do that mistake. That's going to be a problem. I think he was in a place where it was hard for him to reverse his decision, no? Yes. Basically, his decision was hard. But the way he gave the people confidence that this decision would help them, this decision is for each and every citizen of India. And so people were standing beside him and praising the decision, even it was difficult for them. So are you saying that he's still reasonably well liked? Yes. Well, how do people see him as a foreign policy? Are they pleased with the way he's handling relationships with the US and with China? The Modi government is mostly successful in the foreign policy in all the aspects of the government, that foreign policy is something which Modi is successful at. India is having better relations with each and every nations right now, far better than the Manmohan Singh government. And especially with the United States, your Secretary of State Rex Tillerson talked about the Indian policy, 8th October, I think, something. Yeah. I suspect that you would be familiar with what's going on in Washington, because everybody here is watching what happens in Washington every day and usually in amazement. And I'm wondering how people in India, how you feel about Donald Trump. What are your impressions of him? It's okay to speak freely. Basically, Donald Trump was a problem for United States. But when we see Donald Trump from Indian perspective, there are quite a few things that I like about him personally. The way he speaks about terrorism, and you and I saw his speech, so he was very clear that radical Islamic terrorism is a problem. And that is something India is aligned with. India agrees that terrorism is a problem. Secondly, United States is now concerning about Pakistan. Pakistan is an ally of United States. But yet, United States is trying that Pakistan must take action against the terrorists which are residing in Pakistan. Yeah. So, I mean, how do you feel about it? Are you worried about terrorism in Varanasi? Yes, there have been terrorist attacks in Varanasi. It's something that all of India is worried about. In Varanasi 2004, there is an attack on Varanasi, terrorist attack. Ah, that's not so good. You think it's getting better or getting worse? Is India doing the right thing to contain these terror attacks? Yes, India is doing better. It's gradually increasing. India is focusing on its internal security, having maintaining relations with nations like Israel, which are training Indian forces in dealing with internal securities and terrorists. How does the average Indian feel about Israel? You know, Israel is somewhat controversial these days, and I wonder how you feel about Israel. Israel isn't this. We don't look at the Israel in the very same manner as the rest of the world thinks. I believe nobody in India is concerned about Israel. Israel, we feel, is a nation which is a friend. Our Prime Minister is getting a special attention there. They're premissing, visiting India, talking in Hindi, doing everything what a possible country or friend country can do. So Israel isn't the kind of nation having a Jewish image. That isn't the kind of image we are having about Israel in India. It's a nation of innovation. It's a nation of development. And how a nation can grow from nothing to everything. Ah, you know, it makes me want to ask you whether you have plans to leave India when you have your MBA and go to another country and try to do business there. Yes, I can. I'm trying to do. If I get an opportunity, I will definitely do that. But I would serve India because I'm an Indian citizen. I'd like to serve India first. And that makes me ask you about your relationship with the government. You know, since Vietnam, since the war in Vietnam back in the 60s and the 70s, the relationship of the citizen and especially draft age students and draft age kids in general has changed. And they don't feel any sense of loyalty. They don't feel any sense of many of them don't feel any sense of patriotism. But in the case of India, I suspect you like your democracy. You're proud of your democracy and you're proud of your country. Am I right about that? Yes, you're very right about it. And we are the largest democracy in the world. And I believe average Indian is patriot. Each and every Indian I know is a patriot. Though there are some philosophical differences of ideology, but each and every Indian I believe is a patriot person. That's great to hear. So if you might work overseas, you might get involved in a company that's international, but you would always be patriotic and loyal to the country of India, I take it. I would be serving India if I'm in a foreign country, for example, say United States only. So I would be sending the dollars to my country. Indirectly I'm helping the Indian economy by providing foreign exchange to India. So there are many ways, but I believe personally, first we should serve India and then I would do to the world. That's a lovely thought. What do you think about China? China is a neighbor of yours. China is very aggressive. And I guess you've been following Xi Jinping and his national people's Congress the last few days. What are your impressions about that? Personally, China is a kind of bully to India. Not I would say a rival, but a bully. As a matter of fact, we have joke long standoff, 70 days standoff months before bricks held after that. Things come now. Now the relationships between India and China are fine. Everything is fine. But there is a kind of tension always between China and India. United States trying to stand with India to counter China in Asia. And China kind of having supporting Pakistan, knowing that Pakistan does not have good internal security or terrorism supporting them in CPEC. And we have a kind of objection with CPEC because CPEC passes through Kashmir disputed Indian territory. It's Kashmir occupied by Pakistan. Mm hmm. Karnaki, we're going to take a short break. Forgive me. We'll be back in one minute and then we'll resume this conversation. And I want to ask you what I should be doing about India. We'll be right back. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Imagine the possibilities in your life. Hello, I'm Michael North, post of Asia Pacific Business Strategies. In this program, we'll look out across the Pacific from the center here in Honolulu to meet the most interesting people and understand more deeply the most important business strategies that shape our world. We look east to the mainland USA and the Americas, and we look west to Asia, seeking a breath of the trade winds that affect our business lives in Hawaii. We also examine the extraordinary people, technologies, and companies based here in Hawaii, which inspire the world with our unique spirit of Aloha. So please join us here every second Thursday at one p.m. Wait, Karnaki, wait, wait. Okay, we're back. We're live. It's Karnaki Mishra on the other side, and he's in Varanasi in India, northern India near the border, a few hundred kilometers from the border and not too far, 700, I think it was, kilometers from Delhi. It's a very old city. It's near the Ganges, and he's in the outskirts. He's a student at one of the schools there. I guess you'd say he was about a sophomore or a junior, a sophomore, and looking at an MBA, hopefully, and looking at going into business, possibly international business. And we so enjoyed talking to him, yet a view of the other side of the world. So let me ask you about the women. Can I ask you about the women? Yes, definitely. You're not married, I suppose. You're a student, right? I'm 20. How I can get married. Too early for that. You have to have a certain amount of spare cash. So but, you know, we read in the U.S. about all these rapes. And in fact, there's a popular movie here on Netflix which depicts rapes on buses, you know, by people who jump the girls on the buses. That's very tragic because I think it's probably one in a million. It doesn't happen very much, and yet it gets the press interested all around the world. So is it a serious problem? What do you know about it? How do you feel about it? How do your friends and relatives feel about it? Basically, it is a kind of problem. Whole of world is dealing with crimes as something which is happening in the United States, crimes as something which is happening in India. The question is, is that thing reported to the international media? Is that thing reported to the Indian media? There are far more worst cases in India of rape or any other problems, but they're not reported. Only one single of them were not supported. And it became an issue. But there are problems which occur in India daily, and people don't report it. The women don't report it. Yes, women don't report it. Media doesn't give it coverage. Media leaves the news after some time of getting the TRP and getting the publicity for a particular period of time. Very interesting because I get the feeling, especially with the Harvey Weinstein case, and I'll ask you about that in a minute. You must have heard about Harvey Weinstein. That if you shed light on it, if you make it public, if the media does report it, that tends to control it. It tends to diminish the effect because then it becomes everybody's business, so to speak. Now, in the U.S., over the past week or two, we've had a huge scandal over Harvey Weinstein, who is a film mogul in California and Los Angeles and Hollywood. And he was making a front, doing sexual harassment on a number of movie actresses and other people in the movie business. And now he is the object of derision all around the country. And I heard this morning that he's the object of derision in the U.K. And in fact, the U.K. is having its own kind of issue about sexual harassment in the legislature, in the parliament, believe it or not. So you know how these scandals kind of spread, and they go from one target to another target. And before you know it, the whole world is involved in the discussion. And I wonder if you've heard about Harvey Weinstein in Varanasi. I didn't heard about it, honestly. You are telling me. But what I get to know, what I personally believe is any kind of molestation, whether it's on film stars, normal person, it's something which should be stopped, punishable crime. After the rape in India in Delhi, the government of India passed rules and regulations that death sentences can now also be implemented on the rapists. Yeah. So I mean, are people being punished? Are they being prosecuted? Are they being imprisoned over these issues? There are significant steps taken by the government, but I believe there is less impact on the people, even though there is a death sentence in the worst cases, but people do not fear it. The minimum age of sentence or the period of sentence is seven to eight years. Well, let's skip to how it would be, how it is for American tourists. A lot of people in this country do visit India, and they like India, and they see the Taj Mahal and all that. In fact, my goddaughter spent time in the streets of Mumbai working for a non-profit, and that was really interesting for her because there was no luxury there, for sure. So I'm wondering what your advice is to Americans who would like to come, but maybe somewhat reserved about the food, the accommodations, personal security, just general cleanliness. How should they see India these days? I mean, I think one thing is clear, and you've made that clear, is it is a democracy. It is the largest democracy in the world, and we always have to give credit to India for that. In a funny way, against the context of what's happening in the United States, it may have a better handle on democracy than we do now, but what's it like for a tourist? What's it like for somebody considering coming to India, coming to Varanasi, and trying to see the essence of the country? Basically, if I have to explain that India in a few simple words, the only thing I can tell about India is always expect the unexpected for each and everyone. Either you will like it, or you will not. That's the kind of image, or that's the kind of definition I can give about India. Basically, I would talk about perception about India. There's a movie called the Slumdog Millionaire. Oh, sure, everybody's seen that one. That's been all over the world. That had an impact on image of India. It's not an accurate image? It's a part of the image. It only shows a part of the picture, not the whole picture. Well, what would you add to, what is it, Islamabotic Millionaire? I forget the name. What's Slumdog Millionaire? Slumlord Millionaire, yeah? What would you add to that discussion? Basically, if there is poverty in India like slums, there are skyscrapers in India like Mumbai. There are Bangalore cities like Bangalore flourishing rich in each and every aspect, much better in many cities compared to the United States. Yeah, we know some very wealthy Indians who have not only come here but bought property here, started businesses here, who are billionaires. So it's possible. I mean, maybe you see this for yourself. It's possible to become very wealthy in modern-day India, isn't it? If you do the right thing, start a business, you can really be rich. Yes. If I can give you a simple fact, if you can earn one dollar per day in India or one dollar by work per hour in India, you can be a millionaire in the United States because in India, population is too much, I should say, more than enough. And that's the factor. If you can't take decisions and make profitable decisions only by one single rupee in India, in terms of United States and in dollar, it would be in millions. So, yeah, I mean, that's, to me, that's very interesting. And maybe you can do that. Maybe you can find a way. Wouldn't that be nice, Karnaki? You have the thought of becoming a millionaire. Everyone dreams to be. Okay. What about, have you traveled outside the country yet? Have you, you know, you're a student, you're young. Have you traveled to any of the neighboring countries? No, I believe I have not traveled outside India, but inside India I have traveled a lot. Is that what people do, they get around? But where have you been? Indian cities, Delhi, Agra, Kolkata, and many other cities I have been. Yeah. Well, I suppose you go as just vacation, you go as a student, you go on business, you go for family. Why do you travel? Basically, I go on vacations because it's quite difficult to travel during the times of college. Sure. I know you were a devoted student. I knew that because we had some issues trying to schedule you. And in fact, it's what, six o'clock in the morning now. Thank you for getting up early for us. You know, one thing that people, one thing that people in the U.S. see India is for the, the, the call centers, right, and the technology, and the fact that Indians do speak not only English, but the language of technology. And, you know, I don't think people realize in this country just exactly how high tech India is. So can you tell us how high tech India is right now beyond the call centers and behind the fact that people know about it? Do they use it? Is it something that you study in order to, you know, get leverage in business? Is it, is it all around you or is it something that's struggling? I would say that it is something which is prospering or rising not now. People in India are aware about technology. They know how to use things, whether or how much typical it is. And if I have to explain the, in terms of technology, how India is, I would simply say there are only three nations in this world who have made their own supercomputer. One is United States, second is Japan, and third is India. Ah, good. Well, I must say, you know, we do a lot of Skype actually, Carnegie. We, we, we do Skype connections with the U.S. mainland. We do Skype connections with East Asia. We've done Skype connections with Russia and Africa. And sometimes we have good connections and sometimes we don't. Sometimes we go to the neighbor islands here in the state of Hawaii. We have terrible connections. But the connection we have with you in Varanasi is really terrific. You look great. Hard to believe you're around halfway around the world. You're looking so good. So what's clear to me is we have to do this show again. I want to check in with you and find out what the news is from time to time. And you can report to us if you don't mind. You can be our reporter on the street in Varanasi telling us what's going on. I can be. I can be. That's fine. I'm so looking forward to that. I'm so delighted to meet you. I'm so glad we connected. Let me add to our viewers that how we connected was, Carnegie just wrote me a note on email and said, hey, I'd like to, I'd like to talk to you. So okay, here we are. So I feel that destiny has put us together, Carnegie, and I am very appreciative that you wrote. Yes. Thanks for having me. Thank you for being on our show. We'll come back and we'll do this again. Carnegie Mishra in Varanasi, India. Tell us what's going on in India. Thank you so much. Aloha. Aloha and Namaste.