“Why you spend so much money on hay?” I once asked Ramu uncle.
He was busy feeding the cows in his backyard. His overworked body was scarred but strong. He had no time for a pesky boy. I asked again.
He tuned to me with visible annoyance in his eyes, “What is that to you?”
Well, his spending habits were none of my concern, and when it came to economics, I did not even have the rudimentary knowledge. It was just that often I heard Ramu aunty complain about it to my mother. Like most of the people in our neighborhood they had constant money problem. On top of that, unlike most men Ramu uncle did not have a regular job. He used to toil day and night at the small patch of land behind their house. We would let us play in the field when it was empty in mid summer. In our childhood, we gathered in the paddy field and played football with ball of jute. So we liked Ramu uncle, and it bothered me that he would spent money on hay instead of his family. “His loves those cows more than his own children,” Ramu aunty often said.
But I could not explain all that while he was annoyed, and his stare made me nervous.
“You love your cows more than Ramu aunty, right?”
He laughed out loud. “Where did you hear that?”
“Everyone says so.”
“Do not listen to all the gossip.”
“Then?…”
He put some more hay in each big clay pot.
“I have to,” he said. “If they are hungry they cannot work. They cannot give milk.”
I listened.
“And if they cannot work or give milk, what we going to eat?”
I had no answer.
“If you are smart, you take care of the cows that give you milk,” he said. “You understand.”
I did not fully understand but nodded anyway. “Run along now, I have to finish feeding them.”
From that day on, his spending habits made perfect sense to me. He had his reason, I told myself. Without my knowledge, that was my first lesson in economy.
Few decades have past since then, but I still fail to grasp the intricacies of economics. A lot has changed in the mean time. Muddy farms of my childhood are replaced by multinational firms. The cow shades of yesteryears are transformed into call centers of today. India has matured from cultivation to capitalism. Some say the change has been slow, others say too fast. But we all agree things have changed – a lot. India has entered the millennium with a new economy.
India is not yet strong enough to sit at the great table reserved for big boys (Isn’t G8 Indian spelling for great?). But it seems everyone has heard the roaring tiger – it woke up from afternoon nap. This tiger is sleeping no more. I do not know what a roar sounds like, but I cannot deny that noise this tiger is making. May be it is the stomach growling: after a long nap it surely is hungry. After centuries of practicing spiritualism our hunger for consumption cannot be denied.
The noise can be heard everywhere: the main stream media, the crowded shopping malls, the omnipresent cell phones, the car packed roads, the busy call centers. Everywhere you look there is sound of consumption. The economy has woken up and it needs to be fed. Capitalism in India is not coming as an import; it is invading through infection. It has woken up the dormant consumers in billion Indians. The signs of infection are everywhere. New shopping malls are popping up each day. There is a new cell phone store at each street corner. Everyone has a new car. Every high school graduate gets a job at call centers. No one is just a bystander in the new economy. Everyone is a participant. Everyone is a buyer. That is the equality in a capitalistic democracy. Under socialist democracy we were a nation of beggars; under capitalistic democracy we turned into a nation of buyers.
That is the image of India: billions of buyers. That is what makes the rest of the world salivate. To emphasize the power of China, the other tiger, in the last decade a marketing mantra echoed in the halls of corporations of the developed world: How clever you think you are, remember billon Chinese do not give a hoot. I have a sense that the when it comes to Indian the corporate view is simply this: Whatever anyone says, there is a billon buyers in India. It is hard to resist the temptation. The economy is growing feverish pitch. India leads the world in the growth of cell phone users. India is the number one destination for outsourcing. Indian IT market is projected to reach the moon soon. Yes, India is a giant hive of billons of hungry buyers. The thought of the amount of green honey it can produce would make anyone salivate.
Does not that make you wonder: who is this honey for? Are the billions of Indians just the worker bees? Are those few fat queen bees leave when they are done with this hive?
I ask these not for the satisfaction of metaphorical completion. As recent as last year, four in five Indians were living less than a half dollar a day. That is worse then world statistics: half of the world population lived under two dollars in the same time. Four in five Indians: that is 80 percent. That is 836 millions people!
Not exactly the picture of a roaring tiger that we are made to believe.
Do not get me wrong. I do not want to take any shine off the new shopping malls. I do not want anyone to turn off their cell phones. I do not want anyone to get off their cars. I do not want the call centers to switch off their lights. We made great progress. Things are surely much better for me. I do not use jute ball to play soccer anymore. I play jukebox on my computer. I go to mega malls and drive Nano cars. I want all that to stay. But I cannot also stop thinking about it: the number 836 million.
With all the economic growth how can that happen? Are we doing something wrong? Is there anyway I can have my cake and the 836 million can eat too – not cake but two simple meals a day. Is it possible that the call centers can keep hiring, and teenagers can get an education as well? Can we not just be buyers in the present but also builders of the future? Can we just not consume things but create values? Can we not chase after comfort without sacrificing the community? Can we practise democratic capitalism instead of capitalistic democracy?
There are just questions. As I said, when it comes to economy, I am still stuck with Ramu uncle and his cows. I know for now India Inc. seems to be a cash cow. Everyone is milking it as if there is no tomorrow. But I have a suspicion there is one, and the milking cannot last for ever. At some point we have to feed the cow. We have to invest in those 836 million people. We have to invest in our future. We have to educate the next generation beyond the call centers. We have to sacrifice a bit, and buy the best hay we can find. You might ask why one wants to spend money on hay? I would say because we have to take care of the cow.
For me the question is simple. As Ramu uncle would say: Are we smart enough to feed the cow?
Thought provoking. But this is not the first time i am coming through such type of an article. In fact, many people see and hear these statistics occasionally. I was wondering why these data fail to sensationalize people.
You know 836 million is nothing in front of 836 points lost by Sensex in one day.
P.S.- “Everyone is milking it as if there is no tomorrow” – hah! I like this line…
To Chetan: Yes, these kinds of observations should be common. As to why more people do not see it, I think most of are busy living our life. In India, most of us do not have the luxury of the time and energy to ponder about things beyond our immediate need. Life is demanding as it is.
A drop in Sensex has immediate and direct effect on our thoughts; staving poor cannot compete with that.
Thank you for your comment and we are glad that you enjoyed it.
Its the Indian educated class making a big bang and the Indian enterpreneurs making even bigger, by catering to the educated class.
The poor are lost in this equation but democracy will play its role, lets give ourselves, and the democracy some time to sort this out. Its a slow process but a sure one!
To Anonymous: We can always be optimistic, and hope things would work out. In big picture, they always do.
It was a delight to read your post “Of Cow and Consumerism.” You successfully linked the story between Ramu and his uncle as a learning experience not only for Ramu, but also for the Indian people as a whole. Effectively, the moral of the story leads to your main argument of attending to the 836 million people living on half a dollar a day who will determine the future of India. You did a good job at explaining the effects of the new booming economy in India with many vivid examples of this new age of consumerism. I thought you did a good job at introducing your argument with concise and blunt statements such as, “That is the image of India: billions of buyers.” You discussed the overwhelming omnipresence of consumerism in India, whether it be in the media, in the shopping malls, on the street corners, or at the IT call centers. I enjoyed reading your short and to the point style of writing, which contributes to the strategic shift in tone from more nostalgic and humorous in the beginning to a more serious tone towards the end. Your assertion that capitalistic democracy results in a nation of buyers is well supported with punctual sentences like the following, “No one is just a bystander in the new economy. Everyone is a participant. Everyone is a buyer.” The opportunities for the Indian people to seek education, secure jobs at IT calling centers right after high school, and generate enough income to buy new cell phones and cars are all modern phenomena that few Indians could experience no more than a decade ago. You raised many good questions regarding the sustainability of India’s consumerism while you metaphorically predict the milk will soon run out and that we will have to feed hay to the future generations. I feel your post would have benefited greatly if you provided solutions to this imminent problem instead of leaving these questions unanswered. Personally, I strongly propose that India develop its infrastructure and manufacturing industries so that it is not so reliant on the success of its service-based economy. What are your thoughts to closing the social gap in India?
To KKI:
We are impressed with your detailed comment, and thankful for your kind words.
As for solution, we do not think there is any simple and quick one. It would take a careful balancing act. We want the growth as well as investment in the future. If our society separates along the 10 percent ultra rich and 90 percent poor, then the country cannot sustain itself. We have to integrate all. If everyone if part of the progress, then only it would be a success. That would take investment in education, infrastructure, and health. We need to make sure, there is opportunity for all, not just a select few. We are not talking about guaranteed success, but access to opportunity. We cannot just focus on a few big cities.
We need to attend to short term need as well as focus on long term goal. We cannot spend all the earning of today, we have to save some for tomorrow.
Thank you again for your comment.
I know there is no simple solution to this… but just a thought…. and speaking ur jargon, don’t u think the milking of the cow is not going to stop anytime soon? We have made progress. We are still Making progress. So when we think of the long term, the milking of the cow is not gonna stop anytime soon and somebody else is paying for the hay. So we now have to think about how to get a part of the milk and also buy little amounts of hay ourselves only to get a some practice for the future so that when they stop paying for the hay, we will know how to provide for the cow without their help.
Sounds critical enough as to provide a good food for thought.
The disparity has and will continue to exist as the days pass by but the main concern at this point of time should be at least arranging for provisions that would sustain a reasonable life style for all the people across the nation.
According to me the main area of focus should be Education. It is the knowledge which brings a perspective and then a wider and broader perspective to a person. I feel that even if each one of us proposes to invest 2 hrs 2 times a week for this particular cause then it solves the purpose to a great extent.
It may sound like drop in the Ocean but need to begin somewhere.
There is this vicious circle which is making revolutions comprising of Poverty, Lack / deprival of education, Social problems,
Just playing the blame game won’t help at all. There needs to be some resolute and some determination involved.
The Urban areas and cities are making head way v rapidly but the kernel is the rural areas which more often than not go ignored and the issues therein go unattended.
People are not even aware about their motto to exist let alone the PG education n citizenship rights.
The laws are passed and regulations stated but when it comes to implementation, who really cares?? Most of the times even we don’t!!
The country isn’t facing a single problem in specific that the solution can be found. The key needs to be found for host of bolts and its indeed going to be time consuming task if not impossible.
We can’t dream of making any country impregnable but the shortcomings which can be easily obliterated shouldn’t exist …..