by Bob Van Leer

  (BANGALORE, INDIA, May 12, 1995) - Our stay at Delhi was over and we left the hotel at 6:00 a.m. for the two hour, 15 minute flight to Bangalore in southern India, the "Silicon Valley" of India.

  Much of the world's computer programming is done here or nearby. I was told 60-70% of this is for the U.S. Some of the big U.S. companies such as Intel and IBM have facilities here.

   The security at the airport was extremely tight. There is a problem with Kashmir and the Indians are blaming Pakistan. A 535 year-old shrine was burned and the Indians are blaming mercenaries supported by Pakistan for the blaze that also destroyed hundreds of houses.

  The Indian government sent a warning to Pakistan of the "dire consequences". The Indians feel the burning was done to destabilize Kashmir before an election scheduled in under three months. The burning was done on a Muslim holy day.

  Menus on the plane and other places feature vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian dishes. There was a smog haze over Delhi when we left, and another over Bangalore when we arrived.

  Our stewardess wore a diamond stud in her nose, a common practice here. She also had the spot on her forehead as many Indian women (and some men) do. The spot can be round (bindi) or tear drop shaped (tilak) and, for the reasons why they are worn, it makes no difference. The bindi are most often red, but can be other colors or metal.

  The reasons for the spot are not clear cut. From what we were told in several places, a red spot usually means a married woman. The spots also had religious and symbolic meanings and, sometimes, are used just for decoration. When we checked into the hotel, The Taj West End, we were given red spots.

  Bangalore is much cooler than Delhi. It is on a high plateau. When we arrived here the temperature was 24 degrees C. (75.2 F.), the coolest we have been in since we arrived in India.

  A guide took us on a tour of Bangalore, visiting parks, palaces and temples.

  In the late afternoon, we met with the state of Karnataka southern region committee of the Confederation of Indian Industry. Here also, members feel economic reform has so much momentum it will survive political changes. A general election is to be scheduled before April. The ruling Congress Party has been losing elections to opposition parties.

  I asked a local reporter the other day whether the Congress Party wasn't old, tired and vulnerable. His reply was Congress Party is all of that, but the saving grace for Congress is the other parties are worse off.

  H. R. Gupta, chairman of the CII committee, said, "Economic reforms have come to stay".

  Another industrialist sees the possibility of a separation between politics and economic opportunities. Another said workers whose jobs are threatened need to understand their jobs are made more secure by removing tariffs than indulging in protectionism. He said more jobs will be created this way.

  We were told India is catching up. The growth rate for industry was 6.5% and the population grew by only 2.7%.

  One industrialist told us the U.S. is going down the road to protectionism while India is opening.

  He said the U.S. is threatening putting quotas on Japanese autos. His opinion was a showdown over automobile and parts imports between being requested by Pres. Clinton will backfire. He said in a contest, he'll vote for the Japanese.

  Tomorrow we have scheduled a long meeting with the Citizens Forum of Bangalore.