I did write some of my regular columns from Bangalore, India. Here's a sample, from the January 2008 issue of Automation World.

"As I write my New Year_s column, I'm in 'booming Bangalore', India's software capital. This is a city of some 6.5 million people, which makes it India's third-most populous city and fifth-largest metropolitan area.

New technologies and tools abound. On a numerical basis, India is the largest growth market for cell phones, with 160 million already in use and about 6 million being added every month. Market penetration is still low (less than 20 percent), but projections are for more than 500 million subscribers by the end of 2010. I got my own local cell number, to connect with anywhere in the country for about 2 cents a minute, with incoming calls free. No one uses voice mail; you quickly get used to text-messaging as an effective alternative. But you also must get used to deleting lots of text advertising.

Broadband Internet is everywhere, and I connected quickly and easily with my wireless laptop. There are always some glitches, which take getting used to; but one quickly becomes tolerant of the interruptions. Internet cafes abound, with prices that are ridiculously low when translated to dollars.

And everywhere, there is the frenetic rush of traffic. Behind this rush is India's huge middle class_some 400 million_motivated for growth and success. The media is as hyped up as anywhere, perhaps more. On TV, car radios and cell phone media, the sales messages are constant and continuous, catering to that colossal consumer class in multiple languages, all mixed in with English phrases; it's called "Indglish". You witness the upwardly mobile middle-class just gobbling up the plethora of consumer products from Sony, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung and the like.

Apart from Bangalore being the headquarters of India_s software giants such as Infosys and Wipro, the large multinationals all have major R&D establishments here. GE_s largest research center outside the United States and SAP_s largest outside Germany are here. Many automation majors have hundreds of design and development employees here too, including Honeywell, Rockwell, Invensys, ABB and others.

Interestingly, the local thinking is not just aimed at how to improve outsourcing services, or play consumer catch-up. Strategic plans at many of the growing giants include major new developments where India can lead rather than follow.

Automation World - Global Competitiveness Generates New Directions: http://www.automationworld.com/view-3822

Automation.com - The flip-side of Techno-productivity: http://www.automation.com/sitepages/pid3224.php