Branded !!!

Economies around the world saw their worst nightmare come to life, when the defaulted mortgage-backed securities and other complex financial derivatives crushed the US economy and all other inter-mingled economies, causing a recession in several economies across the board. Inflation in some of the biggest economies of the world is running wild, interest-rates are being brought under control and almost all countries are sitting tight ready to tackle the slightest of economic or financial unrest. Yet, some lifestyles, especially in India, are far from affected. Its almost as if some people are unaware of the recession on Planet Earth or they simply passed on their losses to the Indian Government (which passed it on to the poor of India) and they continued on with their lavish, extravagant ways. On my recent trip to India, I got a feeling that the global recession almost never came to India's doorstep; despite US suffering from heavy unemployment (about 9.6%) and US citizens worrying about their future; and I witnessed that the rich continued making money in a global recessionary environment. Despite the benefits reaped from a robust economy and excellent services provided by the government the people in India keep bickering about the government being incapable of providing proper services. Now, I do acknowledge that corruption and poverty are rampant in the country, I mean you cannot travel 1 km in any city in India, without witnessing slums or paupers. But this makes me wonder as to what these high-society, wealthy, affluent people in India, think about the decisions they make in their daily lives, about helping the poor, about fighting for the upliftment of the poor and underprivileged, about fighting corruption and just about thinking about keeping the city away from poverty and corruption. 

To many, this seems so out of the ordinary as almost all those who read my blog come from a well-to-do family, and I say well-to-do because they are well-read and have access to a computer and internet. Now, for those living in developed countries like Germany or Canada, might feel that having a computer or being well-read don't necessarily define a prosperous background, but I would like to point out the fact that many laborers in India receive about Rs.20 (less than half a dollar) for an entire day of treacherous labor. For such economically disadvantaged families, education is only a dream and computers are far beyond their imaginations; this makes the others well-to-do. However, coming back to the point, think about this. I studied at Dr.Kalmadi Shamarao High School in Pune, and being a student of the Green house, our house motto was "Vidya Vinayen Shobhte" meaning "knowledge is adorned by modesty." I feel that the upper class in our society seem to have totally forgotten this motto and pay no heed to the poor and the lower class, and are deeply attached to material things in this universe. Charities have been replaced by social parties, fighting for the right of poor and the under-privileged has been replaced by fighting for tax breaks, so the rich can keep more money, and of course fighting corruption has been replaced by fighting with family over disputes regarding property and wealth. I study at Penn State and I see the amount of money some of the international students have and I find it hard to digest the fact that people of India have suddenly amassed so much wealth. I have a roommate from the city of Anand, in the state of Gujarat. Now, Anand is not a big city but the kind of lifestyle that he has is almost unbelievable. He has over 200 t-shirts, all branded, Express, Abercrombie and Fitch, Burberry, etc. he buys about 3-4 pairs of jeans from American Eagle every week, he wears Prada sunglasses, has a Louis Vuitton belt and vallet and Gucci shoes, and the list is endless. Now, Anand is not nearly as big a city as Mumbai but his lavish lifestyle is suggestive of the amount of money people even in small cities have. He always flies first-class and his father has a stable of imported cars. Last week at the library, I asked him about his father's income and he said, his father declared an annual income of only Rs. 1 crore (approx $ 200,000.) His father is a builder and a financier, and he makes ample money to provide a lustrous lifestyle for his 3 children but almost all the money he earns is under the table and is untaxed. Despite all of this, my friend calls India a gutter and says that it is unliveable. The government of Gujarat is providing Anand with every possible facility, like 24-hour electricity, good water, clean air and yet, people blame the government. The moral of this short example is that, if you are too selfish you can seldom be happy. I mean, you cheat the government, then you demand excellent services, and upon the government's failure to efficiently deliver those services, you cry foul. My friend went to an IB School yet he cannot help but admire the way his father earns black money. Someday, I wish to confront my friend and tell him that his admiration is foolish and his father is, I don't regret saying this, is a 'trickster' and a 'cheat.' My friend's father never donates to any charitable causes nor does he believe in paying taxes and despite having every luxury, my friend can only quibble about the negatives in India. I am not a spiritual man, though I do pray everyday but I don't like to bring God into everything but one true devotee of God once said, and this has truly inspired me, 'What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.' I don't want people to donate everything that they have simply because they have a lot of money or are very prosperous because I think most of us make money to ensure the happiness of our near ones. But then one has to learn to think beyond himself. Being totally absorbed in the material things around oneself, one loses the real reason behind existence, which according to me is, to strive for the betterment of other humans and animals. I went to India this past December and people have lost that aspect of love for those that are poor, even children, simply because they are all too absorbed in their own bubble. One does not want to be poor by choice, nor does any parent in this world want to see his children starve to death, and to help such a person in dire need is truly a noble cause. Next time I see a person cursing or unwilling to help the poor, I am going to muster the courage to go up to him and tell him that if he can't help a poor child then he himself needs help because if he cannot help the little child then he is poorer than that little child. I believe that the strong are born to protect the weak and that the rich are bestowed with excess wealth so they can give some to the needy. One does not have to be a total giver, but one must learn to give some to those who cannot afford food or water and we all know that poverty in India is one of the harshest statements life can ever make.Charity is an attempt wherein you understand the obstacles faced by others and help them cross those obstacles to make their lives a bit easy.

Improving the lives of others is truly a noble cause and so one should definitely try to engage in this noble act. Buying branded clothes or accessories is certainly not wrong, infact one must indulge in such things because we work hard for it. But then there is a limit, a limit after which such indulgence should be sacrificed to help those who are in need of basic necessities and that is when you learn to live a happy life. 

my much-anticipated trip to India

The Kalmadi-scam, the Raja-scam, and amidst tons of other scams I visited India this December i.e. 2010. Every person that I met on my trip except my parents, asked me "So, how do you like it? Hasn't India changed? and I ask myself, are these people being sarcastic. If you think I dislike being in India or that I am too American, you are wrong. And I'll tell you why.
I was done with my exams in the second week of December and about three days later we boarded the American Airlines jet for London. Now, I hate flying international, because airplane trips over the Atlantic and Indian are just not my cup of tea and I get petrified. But in any case, we reached London and after an 8-hour layover, we boarded the Kingfisher Airbus for Bombay. The flight was pretty good and I was literally loving the view from the aircraft. I mean who wouldn't love the mountains of Europe and North India. But the closer we came to Bombay, the picture of real India became more and more shabby. Flying over Bombay, and I am going to be very frank, was absolutely pathetic. Its just the view of a city, in fact the financial capital of the world's fourth largest economy, that is choking with over-population, rampant poverty and endless slums. Its almost painful and saddening to see that the politicians are doing absolutely nothing to prevent this from growing and that their existence is known only through the largest and most corrupt of scams that they are involved in. Filthy politicians are shamelessly amassing wealth when the cities of the once beautiful Maharashtra are dying a now rapid death due to the utter carelessness of the people of world's so-called largest democracy. The day I landed, I attended the wedding of a cousin and the kind of extravagance I saw at the wedding shocked me. I mean people were loaded with jewelery and I think if the hindi movie 'Vastav' was to be remade the famous dialogue "Pachas (50) tolas" would have to be fabricated to "150 tolas." I mean, the kind of prosperity that people have experienced in booming India is beyond imagination, however, the economic inequality has grown to more alarming levels than ever before. Robbery, murders, rape and scams have become commonplace in the nation that was once the epitome of love and harmony and respect for others. After the wedding ended, the security became even more vigilant as incidents of robbers on motorcycles snatching away jewelery have also become very common. India has, and I regret this the most, undoubtedly become a city with two-worlds. Inside the wedding hall, affluence and prosperity are the new facts of life and noticeable to even the blind and right outside the wedding venue we see poverty and hunger among children and adults. This poverty is one of the harshest statements life can ever make and even for a person from a well to do family, the only advice I have is that spend wisely. I walked on the streets of Bombay, and the filth and dirt occupy more room than humans. Dirty roads, unhygienic living conditions, poverty, and almost no civic sense for cleanliness occupied my mind for the most part of my Bombay trip. When I met people at the reception, they asked me about how I like Bombay and the only answer I had was, Yeah! It has changed a lot. But whether that change is for the better or worse is anybody's guess. The city is dying at a very fast paced and the only thing that one can do to help it improve is by giving free education and advice. As for people living abroad, all you can do is hope, hope that the city gets better with time because right after the wedding, I left for Pune.
Pune's experience was not very different except for the fact that it was slightly better. I mean I did go home after 5 years and that was very thrilling but the courtesy and patience I learned in US did little to help me out. I must admit, that the 3 chickoo milkshakes that I had the very day I reached Pune did push aside all the negatives about India, but reality was not far away. When I ordered the bill, I was shocked to see a Rs.1000 plus bill. I still remember our meals at Vaishali. It used to cost us around Rs. 250 for our family of four and charging Rs.1000 for 8 people was a sure shock. I wonder, how prices for restaurant entrees are decided because there certainly should be some deciding factor, and some reason as to why prices are astronomically high. I got the answer the very next day. As I was leaving for a stroll, my mother asked me to buy some onions on my way back home. With Rs.33 in my pocket I was certain to have some money left for a small Dairymilk chocolate. As I approached the vegetable-seller, another shock, 1 kilogram of onions cost me Rs.63. I asked him to keep the onions in a bag while ran back home to get more money. With onions being exorbitantly high, I wonder how the low-income families manage since onions are a staple food and are required to prepare almost all home-cooked items. But these price hikes are not rare. On the contrary, this kind of soaring inflation is noticeable everywhere, whether you have a 'dabeli' at a 'laariwaala' or have expensive food at a posh restaurant. Even apparel and fuel have seen their prices sky-rocketing. My visit to the gas-station for refueling the car was equally shocking when my father paid Rs.4000 for gas. People call me a miser to my face, and I don't mind it because its frivolous and not true. I do save money because I feel silly spending obscene amounts of money on things that are not really worth it. But then, the fact that the society of India that I witnessed during this trip has seen such envious success and prosperity that people dont even think twice before spending such money.
But I dont want you readers to feel that the only topic of this epic was to bash India and Indians. I am an Indian myself and am proud to be one. One of the innumerable positives of this trip was the amazing marketing skills that sellers have. I had gone shopping with my brother and sisters and we ended up at a store selling jeans. The shopowner did look like a television actor, more so because of his stylish clothes but also because of the kind of language that he used. I mean he was praising me and my sister, who was also shopping, at every single opportunity that he got. My built is slim, very slim and I did try to convey this to my sisters when selecting my pair of jeans but they somehow were'nt convinced. But my friend, the shop-owner did talk my sisters into believing that I was slim and that the jeans that I had selected was infact a perfect fit. I could not help but marvel at his sales and marketing skills. I mean he literally could sell ice to an eskimo. Ya you can learn marketing at a college or institution but the kind of skills that the shop-owner displayed cannot be learned anywhere else because they come with experience. And one can only praise those kind of skills because I did end up buying a very expensive pair of jeans.
Well, all's well that ends well. The trip was a super success and I am glad that I visited India after 5 years because I really witnessed the change myself and it taught me a lot about the difference between the two worlds, US-the world of affluence and opportunities versus India- the land of poverty, adventure, excitement and ofcourse, the skill to succeed in the face of difficulties.