According to the National newspaper, India gets Starbucks and IKEA. Now they too can sit on unnecessary furniture while drinking sub-par coffee instead of the amazing coffee houses in the villages that have served sublime affordable food and hot caffeine for centuries. The National also reports, “India is ranked as one of the world’s most lucrative markets for retailers because of increasing consumption by its growing middle class.”
All this food for less than ONE US dollar per person at the Barath Coffee Shop in Tricur, Kerala.
When politicians and economists speak of undeveloped countries, they refer to the business climate, possibly infrastructure, insinuating the United States and Western culture is more developed. Does consumerism make humans more developed? Or, does a civilization that has prospered for millenniums dating back to way BC have more experience than a 235 year old insolent toddler? I remember a time in the 70s or 80s when India put an embargo to western imports such as soda. As a teenager, I’d NEED the Coke or Pepsi, and they’d serve up a Thumbs Up or Limka. In a selfish way, I wish it would go back to a local economy, where the bottle is worth more than the liquid inside.
