Dil Se

As the Government blows hot then cold on including the lower bureaucracy into the Lokpal Bill’s ambit, my widowed maid bringing up a family of six on an anorexic single income, has been running from pillar to post to get her son a Government job in compensation for her husband’s death on duty. It has taken her 14 years, yes that’s equal to a life term, to get the DDA to finally send her the letter of appointment in her son’s name. Many in queue after her got similar jobs in the department by allegedly paying off the officials a sum she could never gather due to her hand-to-mouth existence. When the letter came after 14 long years of her husband’s death, she was overjoyed enough to burst into tears of joy — only to realise sometime later that these would soon turn into tears of sorrow yet again. Besides, of course, the fact that the official at Vikas Sadan made her run for papers (when she would give one, he would ask for another and so on, not giving her the full list of the ...

So Wal Mart and the like are finally coming to India. What  does that mean for me? Personally, as a consumer, I dread the days when I would be driving some kilometers out of the city to shop at Wal Mart, possibly on a weekend. Here's why: First, I will be spending many more litres of petrol, the price tag of which is already asphyxiating my small little pocket. Second, I will have to beat the traffic which will only grow beyond nightmarish; next, the roads will be potholed and if I am lucky I will be able to pay my shopping bill at the counter before the day, or the night, is over.  Other than all that hassle, the problem is, I associate shopping with a lot of crazy factors none of which qualify for need-based buying. If I am depressed, I go shopping; if I have nothing better to do, I go shopping; If I am happy, I go shopping; if I am hungry, I go shopping; if I am on a friends' day out, I go shopping; and, if I see an attractive packaging to a product I totally don...