‘India will be impossible to take for you if…’: Indra Nooyi’s word of advice for tourists, students
Indra Nooyi added that Indians have a ‘this too shall pass’ outlook and maybe India will develop more, but the cows on roads are part and parcel of life here.
- Jul 2, 2026,
- Updated Jul 2, 2026 11:35 AM IST
India is not everyone’s cup of tea, indicated former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, who was born and raised in the country before she moved to the US. However, if you love chaos, and see through the way of life in it, you will not be able to get enough of the country, said Nooyi.
Nooyi was speaking to Condoleezza Rice on leadership and innovation for the Hoover Institution. Rice asked her what she would say to American students to urge them to travel to and experience India, seeing as how they travel to China but not as much to India.
“I think the interesting thing about China is that it's relatively homogeneous. Okay, there might be different versions of Chinese but it's a relatively homogeneous country. As a visitor going there and spending some time, it's easier to do that in China than it is in India. India is a chaotic country. The beauty of India, India lies in its chaos. Absolute chaos,” she told Rice.
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“If you are familiar with India, you've traveled in India before and you like that chaos all around you, you go back. It's like a drug. You get addicted to it. But if you like order, if you like clean living, India is going to be impossible to take. When you see cows on the road along with the cars, you go, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ Hey, we know how to dodge the cars and keep going, okay? That's life in India,” she said.
Nooyi added that Indians have a ‘this too shall pass’ outlook and maybe India will develop more, but the cows on roads are part and parcel of life here. She said, in contrast, people in the US are very “spoiled”. Nooyi said she tells her children that they are privileged to have stores that are open 24/7, malls that are open seven days a week. “No other country has that. You go to Europe, they shut down half the time. So I sit here going, you have no idea how well you have it here. So just enjoy those freedoms,” she said.
The former PepsiCo chief said that she respects the Chinese system for pulling China out of the dark ages. “And they've become a world power because they did it centrally. India is still struggling to be a world power because democracy rules, and when everybody has a vote and everybody has a say, progress is slow. But I'm glad it is that way,” she said, underlining the stark comparison.
She said every decent-sized town in India has a courthouse, like there’s one in the towns of America. “There are no court houses in China because the government is your rule maker and your decider. And so that's where it becomes problematic. And that separation, the fact that we have a judiciary that's so visible, is what gives people comfort that they have a right in the country,” she said.
India is not everyone’s cup of tea, indicated former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, Indra Nooyi, who was born and raised in the country before she moved to the US. However, if you love chaos, and see through the way of life in it, you will not be able to get enough of the country, said Nooyi.
Nooyi was speaking to Condoleezza Rice on leadership and innovation for the Hoover Institution. Rice asked her what she would say to American students to urge them to travel to and experience India, seeing as how they travel to China but not as much to India.
“I think the interesting thing about China is that it's relatively homogeneous. Okay, there might be different versions of Chinese but it's a relatively homogeneous country. As a visitor going there and spending some time, it's easier to do that in China than it is in India. India is a chaotic country. The beauty of India, India lies in its chaos. Absolute chaos,” she told Rice.
MUST READ | 'You're in the wrong chair': When Gita Gopinath faced bias as IMF chief economist
“If you are familiar with India, you've traveled in India before and you like that chaos all around you, you go back. It's like a drug. You get addicted to it. But if you like order, if you like clean living, India is going to be impossible to take. When you see cows on the road along with the cars, you go, ‘What the hell is going on here?’ Hey, we know how to dodge the cars and keep going, okay? That's life in India,” she said.
Nooyi added that Indians have a ‘this too shall pass’ outlook and maybe India will develop more, but the cows on roads are part and parcel of life here. She said, in contrast, people in the US are very “spoiled”. Nooyi said she tells her children that they are privileged to have stores that are open 24/7, malls that are open seven days a week. “No other country has that. You go to Europe, they shut down half the time. So I sit here going, you have no idea how well you have it here. So just enjoy those freedoms,” she said.
The former PepsiCo chief said that she respects the Chinese system for pulling China out of the dark ages. “And they've become a world power because they did it centrally. India is still struggling to be a world power because democracy rules, and when everybody has a vote and everybody has a say, progress is slow. But I'm glad it is that way,” she said, underlining the stark comparison.
She said every decent-sized town in India has a courthouse, like there’s one in the towns of America. “There are no court houses in China because the government is your rule maker and your decider. And so that's where it becomes problematic. And that separation, the fact that we have a judiciary that's so visible, is what gives people comfort that they have a right in the country,” she said.