A Trip To Georgia!

“Travel is part of education” my grandfather always says. So I try to absorb as much as I can even while on holiday.?

Here are a few things I noticed about Georgia and the world through my annual vacation. Some of it resonates with all of us back home as well. People are the same everywhere, aren’t they?

Disclaimer: This isn’t some deep academic research, but anecdotal evidences based on my conversations with a few locals and general observations.

1.?????? Employment is the biggest driver for youth. The young people I spoke to there are frustrated with the lack of good job opportunities. Many were working remotely for companies based out of the US and other countries.

2.?????? Politicians are the same everywhere. The current government there is undoing a lot of things done/started by the earlier government for no other reason than political. Closing museums, rebuilding bridges etc. I remember a tour guide from Turkey once telling me, “to understand how corrupt a country’s system is, just look at how dug up the roads are”

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3.?????? War has a serious impact on the psyche of a nation. Georgia had 700000 people fighting in WW2 as part of the USSR. The country’s population now is 3.5 million so obviously everyone has a grandparent who is either a war survivor or knows someone who died fighting for their country. That’s not all, skirmishes with Russia over the years also led to a lot of lives lost. The average Georgian looks at Russia with disdain and their thoughts run a lot deeper than others their age around the world. Many even look a lot older than their average age.??

4.?????? The income of an average Georgian is much lower than other EU nations but crime rates aren’t as high. Kids, women and locals were walking, riding around alone, at all hours, everywhere. We too, felt very safe in Georgia at all hours and in all lanes and by-lanes.

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5.?????? There’s a big market for used cars in Georgia. We saw all sorts of American, German and Japanese brands in Georgia. What was unusual however was that no car was new or in prime- condition. Each had either a dent, a missing headlight, wear & tear or some patchwork. Conversations with locals told us, they bought all the damaged cars from other countries and repaired or re-assembled them to take them to the road.

Even though Georgia has a left-hand driving system, because these cars come from across the spectrum, you see both, left-hand steering and right-hand ones around too.

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6.?????? Poverty hasn't taken away their sense of fairness, respect or generosity. All our change was duly returned to us, despite hard bargains. Among all our transactions, the counter parties more than kept their end of the deal up. If we slipped in an extra bill/coin by mistake, it was always returned. No one forced us into buying anything from them. The locals bought us a snack or dessert at restaurants, if we struck a fun conversation with them. Consent was respected. ?

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7.?????? All street dogs were tagged. It tells you about the priorities of a Government. Animal protection and citizen safety through neutering and monitoring is paramount.

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8.?????? Love for Art: Every 50-100 meters, there was an art installation, sculpture or a statue which could’ve very well not been there. But the presence of these structures adds a distinct flavor to each country. Minimalism has made the world quite homogenous. There was no such thing on display in Tbilisi. All fences, public lamp posts and benches bore a distinct character. We must do some of that in here.

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9.?????? Public parks and open spaces. Georgia is bestowed with natural beauty like no other. Mountains, Beaches, Vast Plains and Forests with streams flowing through them you name it. Despite that abundance, they haven’t recklessly built cities. They’ve been mindful of keeping their urban centers green. There are many beautiful public parks and open spaces accessible to all. I saw sports and gym facilities at these parks being used by the locals and things were all kept back in place post-use. Their respect for public property is supreme. We can learn so much from a country that is 1/10th the GDP of India.

10.?? Real Estate: As a country develops, we see a lot of investment calls for real estate. Most billboards and public advertisements were for Real Estate Investments by prominent local builders, each promising attractive rental yields and financing options.

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11.?? CHINA IS EVERYWHERE! Most of their highways and large buildings under construction were done under the banner of one or the other Chinese company, one could see the kind of in-roads and investments China is making in all smaller countries around the world that have any access to seas or ports. While the jury is still out on what their endgame is, this omnipresence of a dragon is indeed scary.

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Let me know some of the coolest things or the most unusual things you’ve learnt about the world and your own country through your travels.

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