At the same time, most of them seem genuinely content with their life. In India, there is a lot less focus put on individual achievement compared with the U.S. However, there is a huge focus on family and the social network. Family's are usually large clans that, if wealth, also have a lot of power. The disparity between rich and poor is vast. If you are a wealthy family, you have servants, cooks, cleaners, drivers - you don't do any domestic labor yourself.
The caste system doesn't officially exist in India anymore, however there is a very distinct social hierarchy. This hierarchy does not seem to be challenged much by the lower classes, which I find interesting. I think this may have to do with the teachings of the Hindu religion. This may make it hard for the social gap to close.
Despite the hardships, there is massive, massive growth going on in India. The entire country seems like it is under contruction. Thousands upon thousands of trucks drive up and down the highways at all times of the day and night. There is a big need for infrastructure, but it is on the way. A two lane highway does a poor job currently of servicing Delhi from Jaipur, but a massive 6 lane elevated highway is under contruction. India will be a global economic power, they have a massive amount of people, and also now a huge number of highly educated workers. However, there is still a long ways to go. Wages are currently 10-20% of what we earn in the U.S. Most commerce is not organized at all. There are 1 billion people in India and probably 200 million businesses, 198 million of those sole proprieterships. It will be interesting to see what happens as businesses become organized and actual stores start to replace the 1 man shop.
India is fascinating and I highly recommend it. Go in the winter though, when it is very nice. Summer is brutally hot.
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