Policymakers and journalists refer to the "India versus Bharat" conundrum to highlight one of the country's great divides. Economists talk dourly of growing income inequality. But here is one disparity that rich and middle class Indians will instantly recognise: The lifestyle gap. This refers not to the difference between the urban rich and poor, which deserves theses all its own, but a curious widening gap in the quality of life.
Consider this: That generation of Indians that travelled to the US, Europe or Southeast Asia between the seventies and nineties would have noted the difference between the shops here and there. Indians travelling to these places today can't help but notice the similarities between the shops here and there.
Indians who travelled to the US, Europe or Southeast Asia between the seventies and the nineties were all too aware of the difference between their cities and ours. Indians travelling to these places today must notice - with growing frustration, no doubt - that the differences have widened.
In the seventies and eighties, it was impossible not to view with envy the breath-taking range of choice in clothes, cosmetics, accessories, gadgetry, food and drink available in foreign stores and compare it to the meagre selections at home. Today, one of the difficulties of travelling overseas is finding anything unique to buy, even with the relatively lavish annual foreign exchange allowance of $250,000 (compared with $100 back then). All the consumer goods that were goodies once for Indians are freely available in India and many are part of the ordinary shopping experience.
Admittedly, it's a not a bad problem to have. Designer jeans? Got 'em. Expensive perfume? Check. Latest iPhone? Yup. Stilton, Gouda, Edam? No problem. The wonder, perhaps, is that there is enough of a market for, say, a hair-oil, made in the US that retails for Rs 2,500. Adroitly labelled a "hair reconstruction system," it is easy to decode the application instructions as the common or garden champi. Cosmetics, one of the boom businesses, attracts a 39.2 per cent import duty, but no matter. If the "beauty bar" label says savon instead of the homely sabun, there'll be a buyer.
Whether Made in India, Assembled in India or Imported to India, poor consumer choice is a thing of the past. Malls have become the great geographical equaliser. Stroll through any upscale shopping centre and it would be hard to tell whether you are in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Singapore, Istanbul or London.
The shopping experience is but one of the many exposures for the average upper middle class and rich Indians to global standards in their daily lives. They can drive cars that match anything available in the West. They can fly through airports, some of which are a lot better than signature ones overseas, and access a wide variety of airlines and hotels that could teach foreign ones a thing a two about service standards.
This metamorphosis in consumption lifestyle has been one of the most dramatic changes that India has seen since the bad old days of licensing and controls. But here's the thing: Enjoying a "world class" lifestyle in India demands being reconciled to a schizophrenic existence.
It is possible to slip on your Jimmy Choos, step out of a gated community commanding real estate prices that vie with New York, into a BMW 7 Series - and then lurch and bump your way down rutted roads, extruded through an obligatory traffic jam to arrive at the office where a generator is compensating for endless power cuts and water is bought from a private supplier because of the absence of the city supply.
That represents the distance between public service provision, which has scarcely progressed, and middle class aspirations and consumption, which are converging towards world class. Fixing roads, providing 24X7 electricity, clean water (clean air is a separate issue altogether) and relatively safe environments are all services western and Southeast Asian cities take for granted. In India, paradoxically, these remain luxuries simply because they are in scarce supply.
The core reason for this stagnation is the lack of institutional reform in municipality administration that will enable cities to become hubs of world class dynamism. The Smart Cities project has suggested some useful structural changes, but it is worth wondering whether these will be enough when octroi, a major source of municipal revenue, will be subsumed in the goods and services tax.
But that's in the future. For now, here's one example of a world class solution to third world class problems: Some malls offer senior citizens the facility of a morning walk within their precincts. Their selling point: No danger of being mugged and no potholes and protrusions to trip you up.
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
