India has Malls all over the place; the "Nukad ke Dukan" is now Big Bazaar.
The Toothbrush free on Toothpaste offer is now, buy one get one free or get two for the price of one. The wooden doll with a string head, the one that kept moving when you touch it with just a finger, has been replaced with "Barbie doll princess set". Cooking rice is available in at least 16 categories and 26 rate classes. Asking the newspapers vendor, to get you a English or Hindi paper from tomorrow does not suffice, you have to tell him which one would you like, from the 16 names that he will read out in one breathe, like the waiter in a Udipe restaurant. After which he will retrial 3 to 4 offers for you to choose from. Try sending your kids in the bus or train, for a week, to college. They will come with a pamphlet showing you how you can get them a bike by tomorrow, and only have to pay 500 per month. They will have to form filled and ready for you to sign.
Watching television does not mean looking at the watch to get the news. Watching Television is a 16 minutes surfing activity to find a channel that is not playing ads. Well you can buy the latest model of mobile phone, only to realize its outdated in a week, the model has been replaced by a new one with 2 extra features and a extra number in the cost. Watching movie in a theater is not a family outing; it is the temptation of a multiplex, and the timing of the cheapest show or the most affordable movie. Picnics don’t exist because there are theme parks that can be visited, and paid services can be availed. Going to a restaurant is a ritual every teenager performance religiously. Temples are visited on examination basis, to bribe god, or to make our guilt of not having studied. There are online Pooja’s that can be booked and the blessings will be couriered to you, you can sit at home and have your rituals performed. You can buy flowers and good wishes online. You can order your weeding dress and husband online as well.
Why would you not shop when you can do it all without breaking a nail, without having to move an inch. Why! Would you not shop, when you can have a moving trolley to bear the weight, which other wise, would be carried by your precious hands from the ration store.
Well you are earning more than before and spending more than before, then how did you grow. Did the debt make you bigger or is your credit card bill your improvement history.
When will Indians actually think about this?