Thursday, January 08, 2009

Human side of social development!

About a year back, I was traveling by train from Chennai to Cochin.

There was a group of youngsters around me, apparently working for some IT company. A team of young passengers around me, I overheard an interesting discussion among them.

"I gave him 10 bucks! Man, he has given back 7 bucks; a pack of biscuit for just 3 bucks!!". Converted into Dollar and Euro, 3 bucks is still low but it is still valuable in a country where poverty is still a reality!

I was amused! Are they not living in the same India that I am living in? Yes, indeed, we have tremendous progress over last two decades!

Our youngsters in middle class have money much more than they parents could ever dream of, and they and their lifestyle created envy, awe and respect among peers to the extent of creating an exodus from every engineering, science, and art streams!!

In our young days, taking loan was considered to be shameful. But for young generation, having multiple credit cards has become a fad. Now the same generation is reeling under an economic crisis emanating out of the same social lifestyle.

It seems what apparently seem to change does not truly change, after all!