QUESTION:
How are India’s people handling the country’s transition into a growing world economic power? Do they feel any change in their status in the world? Is there more economic equity among the people as India’s economic performance grows?
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ANSWER:
If I would put the majority of discussions about economy I’ve had here in Mumbai into one, the person I would be talking to would look a lot like a well educated teenager. He is sitting there smiling, confident and uncertain at the same time. He knows the basic about stock-markets and finance which more than once makes me blush because of my lack of knowledge. (I seem to have forgot everything from my high-school days). On the other hand I can’t help my self smiling back at him when he goes on about India’s economy. He is jumping between black and white in a split of a second. From high to low and back again. He is dreaming of becoming the richest man of the world and has the confident that he will. But in the same time he seem petrified of life’s lack of guaranties and bumpy road. He is powerful and both ignorant and amazed over his newly founded strength. And so am I.
As a guest in this country it is hard not to notice the optimistic breeze that circle around in the middle class, especially in the upper middle class. Shiraj Siddique is trading with timber and metal all over the world and is currently living in Mumbai. “Ten years down the line India will be the superpower of the world, he says confident. THE superpower, he adds”.
Mr Siddique have reason to be confident especially since he is working with steel, one of the fastest growing export industries in India. “If you want to make money in this country you will make money, as long as you step out of your house, he says. The problem in India is that 70% of the population doesn’t pay a penny in taxes. They just eat, sleep and gossip. The rest of us has to pay for them.“
I ask Mr Siddique if he thinks people from every class of the society notice that India’s economy is growing. ”Oh yeah! he shouts out. Just look on the infrastructure here in Mumbai, new roads everywhere. Or look in peoples homes. Only fifteen years ago people lived four, five families in one house, now almost every family has their own apartment. Things are moving so fast. Everyone benefit from the economical growth.”
There are people who doesn’t agree with Mr Siddique though. As my new friend Pitrish describes it; ”The rich will always stay rich and the poor will always stay poor. It is only the once in between, the middle class that actually can feel the change.”
Raju P, the owner of Carlton Hotel in Mumbai goes even further; “The richer is actually getting richer, and the poor poorer, he says.” Raju talks about how life is getting harder when India’s economy performance grows. “My salary stays the same even though everything is getting more expansive.” Raju is worried. He has a hard time keeping up with the raising prices. A lot is to blame the raising prices of oil. The stronger economy the more oil is needed for building, transportation, constructing and so forth. The oil consumption is consequently raising enormously in India. Not only that, the prices of oil all over the word is higher now than it has been for the last 20 years.
Raju agrees however that some things are getting better in India. Like Mr Siddique he talks about the infrastructure. “Nowadays there are great roads everywhere and that is a big change compared to ten years ago, he says. And almost everyone got their own phone.”
‘Almost everyone’ is a bit of an overstatement. There are around 30 million phone lines for over a billion people and but in perspective Sweden has around 7 million phone lines for 9 million people. But he does have a point. The telecom industry is growing with 20% each year and compared to only a couple of years ago when having a phone was a great luxury things are really changing. Every other person passing in the streets have a cellphone and it is not unusual to have two-three different phone lines if you can afford it.
I am looking at this teenager on the other side of the table flashing with his newest Nokia cellphone while stirring more sugar in his milkshake. He is restless and wants our discussion about economy to be over with. At least for now. He wants to go out, be free and have fun. Responsibility is boring. And I guess he would have told me to back of if I had given him any advise. “Let me make my own mistakes, he would have said.” And I would have smiled, secretly petrified and said ‘sure’. Who am I to give him advice? He needs to find his own way. I can just cross my fingers that he will do good and be all right.
Foto: David. 
