CULTURAL IMITATION

Why do we ape the west?

- Dr Veena Adige

Though the world is beginning to sit up and take notice of India and Indians, there is still a huge majority here of the educated upper-middle class who still ape the West. They feel that whatever the white man says must go. 'Tum din ko agar raat kaho to raat kahenge' seems to be their guideline.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the difference in the progress of India from the West was almost a couple of decades. I remember in the seventies, when I went to the UK and saw the ease with which potato peelers could make my tedious job less difficult, I even put it in my overcoat pocket when I returned and was caught by the security at the airport who thought that such a simple instrument could be part of hijacking! That I was heavily pregnant did not make any difference to them; they made me wait till it was confiscated and was to be returned when I landed in Mumbai!

For me, the potato peeler, so far unavailable in India and which I had used for my two-year stay in England, was a prized thing.

The people in Western countries, particularly in the USA, had a surplus of land with less population. Hence, helpers were few and they had to resort to machines and fast food for their daily needs. Houses were huge with few people in them. Hence, dishwashers, washing machines, and the like made their tasks easier. But we, in India, have a surplus of people and that too, below the poverty line, making them very useful in households that need their help. So, why do we still go in for these contraptions when we have cheap and needy labour?