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| to make sweet sweet love
rolling up and down in the sheets covered with smells of evening grass and
nestled with rough patches of
snow and boulders.
and we gasp at the height of
elevation.
as the peaks reach the sky,
and topple over the clouds, and keep penetrating the fading
sunlight.
to create shadows in our lives.
and crevices in our landmasses.
each wrinkle a mark of beauty and sorrow.
but those wrinkles are hidden now.
or masked, only revealed under the eerie glow of moonlight.
it is only at dawn that we can once again see
each imperfection crafting our shape and illuminated
as sunlight rises to greet us in the morning.
the light dances against our flaws.
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| http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/01/business/worldbusiness/01vogue.html?_r=1&no_interstitial&oref=slogin
Three weeks ago, I pick up an Indian Vogue magazine to occupy myself on the train from Mumbai to Udaipur (via Ahmedabad). Just five minutes ago, on my facebook minifeed, I see a note called "Vogue India" with a link to an article (above). Yes, Heather Timmons at the New York Times decided to write about the very Vogue magazine that I had picked up on that trip.
The shoot she addresses features poor and toothless Indian wearing very elite brands such as Fendi and Burberry. When I came across this article in my travels, I thought, "How strange and disgusting. Are they really expecting to target the Indian poor in this shoot?" At the same time, this seemed to be a good opporunity to introduce common Indians to the limelight, but, I noticed as the article also pointed out, those in the shoot were not credited.
The article points out something I failed to realize: the middle and lower classes are rising quickly, and this was a perfectly exploitative way to target them. These new-money Indians are willing to spend, spend, spend. And show it too.
Which sets the stage for several musings I have.
One of my observations about India is that it comes in bubbles. Of course, every country has its pockets of different social stratifications and ethnicities. But in the US, the upper-middle class 85% Jewish suburb in Cleveland, OH is very well insultated from the ghetto. In fact, you're very well insulated from the daily struggles of life, death, poverty, sickness, and hardship - aside from the occasional tragedy. In India, everything is thrown together. As soon as you step outside one of the most elite malls in the Mumbai suburbs, you are exposed to the chaos of streetfood, rickshaws, and a whole bunch of smells and dirt you'd prefer not to be exposed to. On the local trains, the middle class is sardined between the working class and street vendors. Children outside the Grand Sarovar Premier hotel tap your legs endlessly for just a couple ruppees and then go home to defecate on the road outside the slums where they live. It rains and the streets flood, stopping the cars, cabs, rickshaws, cows, businessmen, beggars, ambulences, and policemen in their tracks and spreading the dirt and feces all around.
Indians clad in Ralph Lauren and Armani stand right next to those with clothes from the street. So maybe it's only appropriate that one of the most exclusive brands is shown on one of the poorest people in the world... as long it's in India. Who knows when the tables will turn? When karma will flow in the opposite direction and mix things up a bit and impoverished Indians will rise up - perhaps to surpass their American counterparts. And the bubbles will no longer be so distinctly contrasting as they are now.
But what right do these foreign companies have to come in and establish themselves as "superior" brands? As of yet, most people in India seem to have no concept of brand loyality or superiority.
And what's the point of spending $200 on Dolce and Gabana sunglasses if they are of the same quality, use, and "statement" as $10 generic ones? What right does any company tell anybody in any country that they need to buy something to prove they are "cooler" and of higher social status? To flaunt what they have for acceptance by the vain and socially elite? Why do humans buy into this stuff? Do we have nothing better to occupy ourselves with besides social and economic superiority, now that we have all of our basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing met? How silly! And yet, nearly everyone in developed countries goes with it, allowing ourselves to be psychologically manipulated by the marketing department at major corporations into wanting something we simply don't need. So, perhaps, we are the ones who are worse off, those Americans and Europeans who are depressed by the fact that we just can't afford that fashionable Versace dress while there are people in the slums of India but are happily striving for the most basic needs.
But will they rise up? Does India currently have the infrastructure to carry everyone to the top? Should the West be afraid of what's to come?
Something needs to be done about the ridiculously corrupt government of India. Smart people should start going into politics and law instead of engineering, medicine, and business. Because doctors and engineers and companies can only do so much when there's not enough government structure to drain the water from the monsoons, enforce basic laws, control traffic, or rush people to the hospital in time. There needs to be some sort of major cultural uprising, and the government needs to start providing for its poorest citizens. You can be as critical to the US welfare system as you want (and I am too... it needs to be reformed), but at least it doesn't allow people - hardworking people - to be as poor as the people I saw there. And so many people are so poor that their condition becomes a part of daily life, and you grow cold to it, taking away part of your humanity (or the sense of "humanity" that's been instilled in me by my Western upbringing).
How can you develop a country if there is just pure chaos? I'm afraid that the wealthy pockets of India will continue to advance, leaving the poor behind to deal with inflated food and fuel prices as well as other economic issues. After all, the wealthy are starting to insulate themselves from the poor - for example "new superluxury malls, where guards are often stationed at the doors to keep the destitute outside (see NY Times article)." What if there will be pockets of companies doing research and making progress - but won't open their doors to those below? I would comment on the issue of caste, but I feel as though I don't know enough about the situation to do so, but I suspect the problem is a major one. How can those poorer people rise up if there's no education or
structure to do so - and there's an effort to keep them down?
So, yes, the West has to tremble, anticipating the economic momentum that India is gaining. But they can only take baby steps until they clean up their act. And I can only hope that more than just the top benefits from the growth.
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| so i've decided to, instead of ranting and complaining all the time, actually try to make this a legitimate blog in which i express my ideas and opinions, mostly because i missed the deadline for being a school columnist and i want to practice for my application over the winter. so... i dont quite have an idea right now and im feeling kinda lazy from the drugs that the dentist gave me after pulling out my wisdom teeth, but im gonna start soon! whoooooooooohopefully ill get insightful comments when i start giving my insightful opinions ^.~ | | |
| what have i been craving in india?
pancakes. chocolate chip with warm syrup that melts the chocolate. mmmm.
pho. i have no idea why, probably the meat (i definitely went through meat withdrawal one week).
bubble tea. obviously.
chinese food. i mean real chinese food. not indian chinese food.
mexican food. this one's strange because some indian food is similar to mexican food.
i was craving jew food but i had a tuna melt that semi-subdued the
craving. but a nice large piece of lox on a bagel with cream cheese
would be amazing. oh, yes, and bruegger's bagels. mmmm.
(was also craving chocolate but my parents brought me some)
SUSHI!!!!!! i have no idea why but i think i would kill someone for a piece of sushi.
hawaiian pizza. weird.
capagiro's. obviously.
italian. this ones also strange because i never eat italian food.
surprisingly, not caribou (too badly ... but i'll be happy to have some when i get back). there's plently of good cheap cold coffee here
im going to have to eat so much when i get back : P
i knew i was gonna crack like 2 months in. i knew id be okay eating one cuisine for a while ( i did it in china, after all) ... but ive just really wanted different food recently
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