India Rising?

Watched this documentary the other day, called "India Rising"
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/425/index.html...
It basically talks about the rising middle class in India and how consumerism is getting more and more rampant. Since it was from the American perspective, they added the reactions of a couple of americans who wondered how the global consumer goods demand will change because of these newly added users who have the money to spend and the will to keep spending it, causing rising prices for the rest of the world to deal with.
I had mixed feelings after I saw this piece. First the positive ones...
I'm really glad to hear about the advances the middle class in India has made in such a short time, thanks to the whole outsourcing idea and the surging BPO industry. People have more money and the will to spend it today instead of saving for the future like generations before us did. They're also exposed to a lot more consumer goods, whether its electronics, packaged foods, lifestyle providers, or just housing. People are going for bigger, better, healthier and have finally "arrived" on the global market. It makes me proud as an Indian to see these changes, and happy for me to know that we're considered equals by the more developed nations across the world... atleast in this category.
Now the negative feelings...
As a middle-class consumer, I resent being one among a billion, it was much better being one among 750 million. On a larger scale, it pains me to see that consumerism is on the rise, bringing with it the requisite lifestyle changes that is altering the face of middle-class India as I lived it during my formative years. Everyone has a cellphone that they don't mind spending Rs.15,000 on, they have two-wheelers and cars to replace their bicycles and scooters, they vacation in bangkok and singapore and thailand instead of goa and ooty and matheran. And when they get there, they go to retreats and spas instead of such-and-such uncle and such-and-such aunty's house. And I'm just talking of the college-going crowd, cause thats the demographic I was familiar with then and am learning about now through various cousins, nieces and nephews. And this is all because the "Americans" live like this. It hurts me to think that the american lifestyle is considered the superior one, the one to aspire to, as if there was something inherently wrong with the life we led for generations and centuries before the americans even came on the scene.
now for the hypocritical feelings...
I moved to the USofA almost a decade ago for the same reasons I outlined above... among other things. The chance for a "good life", the opportunity to work at a career I really like, the materialistic things I want and the independence to pursue all of these without the hurdles of social or familial pressures. But I'm more Indian now than I ever was when I lived in India (more in another blog on this one). But living here, I share the american feeling of "how will my lifestyle change if there is more consumer demand from India and China?". Sounds mean of me, right? but its true. The things I could easily get here (a house with stuff in it, a job, a car, etc.) will get more and more expensive if people back home start demanding the same things and then, where will I be? Considering the world is getting smaller and smaller with each passing day, will my competition go from being Indians (during college) to Americans (grad school and the job market) to everyone now(read Indians and Chinese)? Thats a scary thought, since I know first-hand how persistent and competitive the asians can be... I'm one of them, aren't I? So, in the global arena of fighting for goods and services, the Asians have a much better chance of winning, even if it is just due to numbers.
now for the relief...
I can always move back and get the best of both worlds. If there's going to be no difference in the lifestyles of India and the US, maybe its time to reevaluate what I came here for, and whether moving back home would mean no compromises too, along with an enhanced family life. I can get a similar job, a similar house, the same car, probably the same neighbours and friends, and all the same choices I make in my everyday life (I'm ignoring the commute for now). Atleast I'll be competing on home-turf. Win-win, right?
I just feel bad for the Americans who don't have that choice. :P

Lonely at work!

Walked to the canteen to get my lunch today and asked them to put it in a box to take with me. So continues another day of lunch at my desk. This is the third company I've worked for, since I had to leave grad school (they call it graduation!), and at the first two places, I made friends from the girls/guys around me within the first week itself. So lunch was a social affair where I could relax during a day of work and enjoy some good-natured banter along with the requisite tuna sandwich. At this new place, however, its been two months and even though I've made friends, the prevalent tone during lunch is, "am busy/having a meeting/have to get a presentation made, etc., having lunch at my desk". For those annoying readers who think I might be a pest and am being avoided by these people, YOU'RE WRONG! They really do have lunch at their desk. go figure!
I'm missing the camaraderie, the banter, the "friends" you can make just by sharing a meal together a few days a week. This is a large facility, and there are tons of lunch partners everywhere, people I see in the canteen on a semi-regular basis, who sit together, laugh/smile, eat and seem to repeat the experience every day, except not with me. Walking up to some of these people and asking to join them seems like a good idea when I'm heading out, but once there, the coccoon of familiarity all of them enclose themselves in, seems difficult to breach. There's also the social inertia and the personal fear of being considered a loser. So I haven't brought myself to take that step yet.
Every day noon rolls around, and I dread having to make the solitary walk to the canteen, grab a box and ask for my food "to go". Sigh!

Sleep deprived!

Welcome to my blog! This is my first attempt at getting people to listen voluntarily to me. Hopefully, some of you might return. This is meant as an arena for me to vent about anything and pretty much everything. As people keep telling me, I have no dearth of subjects on which I can monologue. So here goes...

Didn't get enough sleep last night, not through any exciting event that would've let me write interesting stuff here, but mostly because i was being a conscientious parent and had to soothe my kid through an ear infection. Consequence - my entire day has been slightly foggy, and I've found my mind wandering in weird directions. Its like living in water... wonder if merpeople feel like this all the time. I pity people with allergies, cause I'm sure they experience this every allergy season. But I believe I had intelligent conversations with people around me today, and for the life of me, i cannot recall what they were. I make it a rule during days like these not to send out too many emails for fear of one of them coming back to haunt me later. As a new parent, I'm seeing a lot of days that begin and end exactly this way. So I guess people with allergies make great parents cause they're prepared for foggy days. They should make a pill for sleep-deprivation, since they already have most of the symptoms covered by other pills anyway. Imagine the sales to new parents, globetrotters, businesspeople, party animals, etc.
I know thats not a great way to begin a blog, especially since a lot of you might not want to return if I continue in this vein, but I think venting on the net doesn't require a degree in journalism to begin with (thats for serious work that actually gets paid), and if my grammar is good, the read might not be too bad. what say?
Besides, some days I usually have tons of interesting things to say, and nobody to say them to. So I might as well chat with completely anonymous strangers as with uninterested, harried coworkers or family members. So this blog begins...As the name goes, Kuch Bhi!