How many years behind the average US are we… 20??? 50??? 100??

“Oh, it’s my apple iPhone that helped me reach here, you know! Its direction sense is much better than mine! Btw, which levels of angry birds have you cleared; somehow I just can’t get my hands off it.” “I am not into it right now, have registered for a marathon, got a new pair of Nike shoes too! Come; let’s grab a bite form McDonald. A burger and coke would be enough to give me a high. And dude, did you see that swanky stall where a bunch of young chicks are giving guys a shave and distributing free samples from Gillette.” “Ha, ha, I don’t have time for all that now; need to rush and google up to complete my assignment on some random rivalry between IBM & Microsoft termed -The soft rivalry!”

That could have passed off as a conversation between any two bubbly teenagers in the corridors of a plush suburban mall in San Francisco, or in its sister city 8700 miles across the globe, Bangalore, which had a minor unnoticeable shudder when it was re-identified as Bengaluru.

The reality does sink in, post protectionism, the economic liberalization & global economy has borne its first fruits. The top 10 brands of the USA figure not only in India’s ‘Most admired brands’ list but have become an integral part of life & conversations for a vast population. So does that mean that we are not way too far behind the average USA; that we might actually catch up with them in a decade or so?

With these thoughts filled in my mind, I was sipping a cup of tea when my 38 year old maid dropped a utensil with a cling in the kitchen. “didi, sorry” she shrieked from inside. That reminded me that I had to attend her daughter’s baby showers. I had visited their humble dwelling once.  They had a color television, a refrigerator & a couple of motor-bikes and not one but 6 mobile phones - the basic featured non-smart mobile phones that delivered on the basic promise of ‘communication’ perfectly. Their rented house was spacious enough for me to stage a dance performance. Her daughter had just then returned from a Hindi movie that she had gone to with her friends from graduate college. Her son was getting ready to visit the internet centre in the next street for the monthly browsing session. In those twenty minutes that I spent there, he blurted out his ambition to work for a call centre and earn as much money as possible possibly twenty times. My maid was cribbing to me about how her life-long savings was eaten up in a treatment of her brother. “I spent all my monthly salary in eating & educating my children. What was left was set aside as savings to be given away as dowry for my daughter. Do you even expect me to spend thousands of money monthly in insuring the 6 members of the family in anticipation??”

Looks like it is not an easy task -we still have a good distance to cover up, maybe a couple of more decades than what I expected initially, but I guess soon , we will catch up with the US & be at par with them in lifestyle.

I decided to get this out of my mind & take a leisurely walk along the Wadala Bridge that would take me to the shopping streets of Dadar. As I ambled along pointlessly, my vision rested upon the tattered road-side make-shift yet permanent structures which formed the homes for at least 100 million Indians. These are not peculiar to Mumbai though they are famed in the maximum city. A peep into their lifestyle and one would immediately laud their skilful space management. Surprised I was to see a Dish antenna decorating the household and a high-quality color television, the only article that adorned the otherwise barren living room which I realized would double up as a bedroom in the nights. I zoomed out and took the focus to a little towards the left, a man stood there soaked bathing. A little more disruption, further left, and on a cot popularly known as charpai, was laid an aged woman relaxing, breathing in the not-so-fresh air. Ladders for staircase, double floored structures decked with balconies made of corrugated tin sheets, dubious sanitary conditions, and huddles of uncouth muddled people smeared the ‘ground-line’.

Perhaps we aren’t even close to scaling the Everest. As long as we don’t get caught mid-way in the ‘death zone’, we should be fine.

India - A true Diversity

Estimates by various committees, from World Bank to Indian Planning commission put the number of Indians below poverty line (living below $1.25 PPP) at anywhere between 28% to sometimes even more than 37% . Assuming India’s ever growing population is at a standstill at 1.2 billion, at least 400 million Indians are deprived of basic necessities, spending only around Rs 500 per month on all bare essentials food, fuel, light, clothing and footwear. Well, putting it all in context, the size of deprived Indians by itself is a 1.3*USA (population of 312 million).

Let us make perspectives clearer by comparing apples with apples and not with oranges, papaya, banana or anything else.

A lot has been said about the evolution of the Indian middle class and the potential of the Indian consumer market in the long term. Let us take a look at how they fare today in comparison with the current economy status of the USA. When I say current, I actually mean at any point in time +/- 5 years from today.

Source : mckinsey report

There are a few important things that we need to interpret from the above ‘Quality of Living’ charts: Some obvious but important ones:

1. The total population of India is at 1.2 billion is 4 times the total population of USA which is currently at 312 million
2. There are more number of super rich Indians than Americans. So, here I am talking about the Business honchos Ambanis , Tatas, Birlas , the Bollywood artists, the controversial politicians and others who have amassed wealth to the tune of  $ 500,000. They form 1% of the entire country’s population in both the cases.
3. Though there are 5 categories in both the countries, the definition of their household income is slightly different in both cases. In PPP terms (Purchasing Power Parity), The Indian working class will earn close to $ 6000 less than their counterparts in the USA; similarly, the Indian lower middle class would earn approximately $ 11,000 less than their counterparts in the other part of the world. So essentially, the Indian population gets to eat, buy less than what their equals/ with whom they are compared to in the USA get to do.
4. While 50% of Americans earn over $ 30,000 a year, 78% of Indians earn less than $ 24,000 a year.  
5. But still there are 250 million Indians earning over $ 60,000 a year compared to 150 million Americans earning over $ 75,000 a year

This concludes to a singular point according to me; on an average India is far behind and its quality of living has to be improved dramatically but this definitely doesn’t offset the sheer strength of number of High Net Worth individuals. India does not have a particular quality of living but several; India is thriving in several centuries at the same time and that too in perfect harmony.

A stroll across any city of this country would prove this point; one would bump into at least 4 categories of barbers thriving simultaneously and making fine profitable business within their boundaries. The Nomadic barbers, who move around with their kit. Their shops are generally set under a shady tree or crossroads of a market/ station. A Dilapidated cloth supported by bamboo shoots serves as a shop. There is usually a big mirror and an ancient rickety chair on which his client is seated. Then there are these ‘Barber Shops’ which are shops with no doors which means that the talent and skill of the artists (barbers) are at a display for the general public’s attention & admiration.  There are two barbers working away to glory simultaneously. Typically the shops have a huge mirror and two cushioned rotating chairs for their customers. A radio can be seen blasting away regional songs in the background. The third type is what is called the ‘Hair Cutting Salons’. The names of these salons would have been borrowed from the famous Bollywood actors like Shah Rukh or Amitabh or regional actors like Rajinikanth, with their names royally misspelled in various ways to avoid copyright infringement. The name boards would also have stylized images of these actors too. A ‘welcome board’ hung on the glass door are characteristic of these salons. A head barber who employs a couple of other barbers and trainee-apprentices owns these shops. Rotating wheel chairs dons these salons too. The whirling of fans interferes with the music being played in these enclosures.  Then, on top of the ladder are the unisex salons or the male-only salons which have cool hair stylists imported from around the country hanging around. They are definitely air-conditioned and have mild English music floating around. Services from pedicure and manicure to hair re-bonding are provided Entertainment is on top priority with in house snooker pools and bunches of magazines. All of these salons thrive concurrently and attract adequate customers to keep the owners amused throughout the day. That is distinctive of India, a country that lives in numerous centuries at the same time.