6.23.2004
The value of money......
My driver was telling me today that the construction men working on the road earn Rs. 100/day, which is $2. The women earn Rs. 60/day, which is just a little over a $1. In 30 days, that is $60. For me $60 translate to at least 6 cocktail drinks in one night at a bar, a pair of new Nike shoes, a nice designer perfume, broadband connection for one month, 1/3 of my groceries for one month, anyway you get the picture. I am still trying to figure out Bangalore and cost of living. So far, there are things here that are very cheap and very expensive. I have looked at various things such as refrigerators, televisions, bed frames, stereos, mobile phones, security deposit for apartment, and it just doesn't add up with what people here are making, even in the IT field. Almost everyone here has a mobile phone but the thing is, you have to pay full price for a mobile phone, either in cash or credit. For security deposit you have to pay a total of 10 months rent in advance. Where do people get the money? I asked my co-workers about debt and they said practically everyone here is in debt. I guess its the same back in the States too but after just getting out of debt it just horrifies me to rely on credit without any cash to back it up. Most people here would probably never be able to repay back their credit in a lifetime. Doesn't that scare them? I was constantly worried about money when I was in debt. I am so puzzled.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
It is not that bad, people in India like any other developing country are trying to come to terms with economical reality of the world. Yes it is cheap here, value of life is also less..... for everything that you won't do, someone else will do it for half the price. It is really amazing how people play around with other people's life.
It is like west in many ways, the only difference is that the rules are not so well defined, in west only a few can exploit, here everybody can ;-)
Interesting.
Actually the $2-$1 per day people you are talking about dont quite enjoy the lifestyle you enjoy.
Bangalore is not what India is all about.
You dont actually pay 10 months rent in advace anywhere else in the country.
Similarly, mobile phones are not owned by your $2 a day laborer.
Sad reallity is that manual laborer is not respected in this land. Hence the vast difference in wages and lifestyle too.
I remember when my sister wrote back from US (Buffalo- NY) that her plumber has the car that she was planning to buy but could not affort, i had a hard time arguing with my parents that there is no reason why it should not be so.
Your observation is very much correct. Most of the people here don't value money. They feel pride in shelling it out and shy away from pondering over "is it really worth this much". IMHO, what has made is worse is the "I want it, because he has it" culture.
I recently returned from US, and to my dismay I am also observing the same thing. When I earned in dollars there, I did not spend that much on things like - car, mobile phone, jeans, sneakers etc.. how much I find folks out here spending with 1/6 of the salary I made in USD..:-)
Just think, Toyota Corola here is costing around 12 Lac, which is around USD, 27000.00 (@Rs 44/$ 1.00), and in US you get the automatic version of this car for half the price USD 14,000.00. Same is the case for honda city and imported cars..but the amazing thing is roads are filled with them..:-(
What I feel, is we lack economic sense or may be we are neo-rich and will learn after 2-3 market crashes what money is really worth.
Post a Comment