We talk about wealth inequality as a gigantic problem in western societies, and it really really is. I’m not downplaying that. Its, in my opinion, our most important short term problem we face today (well besides the fascist takeover underway in the last month or so).
However, my visit to India showed me a different version of wealth inequality. I saw firsthand multiple generations of a family living in 100 square feet of handmade tent with a dirt floor. Cooking, bathing, and sleeping were essentially open-air activities for this family with grandparents, parents, and children all next to one another. Multiple this by hundreds of tents holding similar contents and situation. Entire streets were like this. Meanwhile about 2km away there were rich neighborhoods with what we in the USA would call something close to mansions. Marble columns, black iron security gates, and walls surrounding the yards 10 to 15 feet high. Essentially luxury, right next to abject poverty
Close to my hotel were two banks both with ATMs. I went to get cash out of the first one, a dated building with faded tile lining the entry way, and the ATM itself looked like it was out of the late 80s or early 90s with the green screens and no graphics. The largest denomination of currency it would dispense was a 100 Rupee note. This is the equivalent of $1.15 USD. I think it would dispense as many as 5 at a time in one transaction, so $5.75 USD equivalent
I wend across the street to the modern looking bank with its updated ATM, nice carpeted interior and flashy modern decoration in the lobby. That ATM would dispense the largest note the 2,000 Rupee bill. This is the equivalent of $23 USD for one bill, and it would dispense 5 at a time for a total of about $115.
This ATM experience was a huge eye opener that even retail banking was divided into groups whose largest needed bill was $1.15 vs someone else of higher wealth that needed $23.
Thanks for your insight. I’m currently a 3-hour drive outside of one of the top 8 Indian cities (by population). I stuck to the highways and didn’t notice such a drastic dropoff in wealth, but I definitely saw it in less than an hour.
To add to your bill denominations, I’ll add the prices of things I’ve seen for context. Current conversion is about 1usd to 85inr. Dinner in my industrial rural hotel has been 350-500 INR (<$7USD) and it’s 5,000/night ($70). 1L of Tata Copper water in the hotel is 50 (<1). I stayed in a VERY nice city hotel overnight where a beer was 600 (<8), an excellent dinner buffet was 2400 (28usd), and the room was about 11,000/night (126) - not far off in price from my experience with, say, a suburban Hampton Inn in the US. My colleague tipped the city bellhop 200 (2.30) and the rural one 100, but I can’t guarantee that’s the proper amounts. My entire trip through a museum with all the add-on attractions cost 300 (<4)
If you have the opportunity there was another eye-opener from my western perspective that isn’t as flashy, but profound in its own way.
Go to a neighborhood market. Look how small it is compared to the supermarkets in the west. See how few processed foods are on the shelves, and look how inexpensive staples are like rice, chickpeas, and lentils are. I remember something like a 2kg for something like 30 INR (34 cents USD). You can get a reusable Gillette razor for 100 INR ($1.15 USD) I picked up one of these when I was there:
It really puts it into perspective how much worthless and needless junk we have in western our stores. What is needed to live is surprisingly simple, and inexpensive.
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We talk about wealth inequality as a gigantic problem in western societies, and it really really is. I’m not downplaying that. Its, in my opinion, our most important short term problem we face today (well besides the fascist takeover underway in the last month or so).
However, my visit to India showed me a different version of wealth inequality. I saw firsthand multiple generations of a family living in 100 square feet of handmade tent with a dirt floor. Cooking, bathing, and sleeping were essentially open-air activities for this family with grandparents, parents, and children all next to one another. Multiple this by hundreds of tents holding similar contents and situation. Entire streets were like this. Meanwhile about 2km away there were rich neighborhoods with what we in the USA would call something close to mansions. Marble columns, black iron security gates, and walls surrounding the yards 10 to 15 feet high. Essentially luxury, right next to abject poverty
Close to my hotel were two banks both with ATMs. I went to get cash out of the first one, a dated building with faded tile lining the entry way, and the ATM itself looked like it was out of the late 80s or early 90s with the green screens and no graphics. The largest denomination of currency it would dispense was a 100 Rupee note. This is the equivalent of $1.15 USD. I think it would dispense as many as 5 at a time in one transaction, so $5.75 USD equivalent
I wend across the street to the modern looking bank with its updated ATM, nice carpeted interior and flashy modern decoration in the lobby. That ATM would dispense the largest note the 2,000 Rupee bill. This is the equivalent of $23 USD for one bill, and it would dispense 5 at a time for a total of about $115.
This ATM experience was a huge eye opener that even retail banking was divided into groups whose largest needed bill was $1.15 vs someone else of higher wealth that needed $23.
Thanks for your insight. I’m currently a 3-hour drive outside of one of the top 8 Indian cities (by population). I stuck to the highways and didn’t notice such a drastic dropoff in wealth, but I definitely saw it in less than an hour.
To add to your bill denominations, I’ll add the prices of things I’ve seen for context. Current conversion is about 1usd to 85inr. Dinner in my industrial rural hotel has been 350-500 INR (<$7USD) and it’s 5,000/night ($70). 1L of Tata Copper water in the hotel is 50 (<1). I stayed in a VERY nice city hotel overnight where a beer was 600 (<8), an excellent dinner buffet was 2400 (28usd), and the room was about 11,000/night (126) - not far off in price from my experience with, say, a suburban Hampton Inn in the US. My colleague tipped the city bellhop 200 (2.30) and the rural one 100, but I can’t guarantee that’s the proper amounts. My entire trip through a museum with all the add-on attractions cost 300 (<4)
If you have the opportunity there was another eye-opener from my western perspective that isn’t as flashy, but profound in its own way.
Go to a neighborhood market. Look how small it is compared to the supermarkets in the west. See how few processed foods are on the shelves, and look how inexpensive staples are like rice, chickpeas, and lentils are. I remember something like a 2kg for something like 30 INR (34 cents USD). You can get a reusable Gillette razor for 100 INR ($1.15 USD) I picked up one of these when I was there:
It really puts it into perspective how much worthless and needless junk we have in western our stores. What is needed to live is surprisingly simple, and inexpensive.