East becomes West… while West sips on Chai Lattes

Globalization is a phenomenon that has received a lot of attention in the past decades. Now, I don’t claim to know whether globalization will have a positive or negative impact on the world. However, I do know that it’s here to stay, we can’t fight it and that we might as well make the best of the situation. At the present, my limited observations of America and India seem to suggest that we are not doing the best we can. In fact, things must change if we want to reap the benefits of our shrinking planet, especially if we want to stop our expanding oceans.

Now for the purposes of these ramblings, I am going to use the terms East and West (also because I claim artistic license and it makes for a cooler title to the essay). And while my observations are from America and India, I am going to see whether I can apply them more generically to the two different hemispheres.

We will start with what the “East” has learnt from the “West”. The past decade has pretty much shown us that the East has learnt to do what the West does, except faster and cheaper. The latest example is a 35 dollar laptop, making it available to a much larger audience than ever before. I wonder how long it will be when the number of computer owners in India will surpass America. Not that I should ever talk about numbers and India (they seem to “win” in any numbers game). But they did surpass cell phone users a long while back. Speaking of cell phones, the number of networks and the ability of these networks to work even in the remotest areas is something that continued to surprise me. As I sat next to a herd of goats, in a village where there was no tar road or electricity, I was able to have a clear conversation with my parents in Washington DC. The East has definitely seen the advantage of a “mobile” network and covered even the most under-developed areas. Last example: call centers and outsourcing. Need I say more? However, overall I commend a lot of these adaptations as they have done wonders for the Indian economy.

But opening up the economy did mean an invasion of Coca Cola. I haven’t even begun to mention brand name fads and fast food chains in India. Because I was mostly in rural India, I didn’t have much exposure to cities. However, my few stays in metropolises and catching the latest Mickey D’s commercials (advertising Masala Fries!), I can pretty confidently say that the East has learnt how to make cheap and quick food as well, American style, which is necessary since pav bhaji stands have been on the streets for a while now. What that says for the arteries of city dwelling Indians only time will tell (I’m lovin it – NOT). But how far has this movement really gone: Kentucky Fried Chicken! (Ok fine, chicken might be widely eaten – but what Kentucky is may not be as widely known). But TGIF? Ironically in many places, there are six day workweeks. So “Thank God It’s Friday” doesn’t even make sense! Can they think before they blindly copy? Apparently not.

Ok, before I have a couple billion people up in arms, I’m not letting the West get off that easily either. Let’s see what they have taken from the East. For an area that came up with the most amazing astrological and mathematical discoveries, the latest things to come out of the place and into the hearts and minds of the West is… chai lattes. Yes, while I am glad that “chai” has become a familiar word in America, is that really all the East has to offer? I almost forgot about yoga! In the poshest parts of Manhattan, I see advertisements for Bikram Yoga classes. I’m sure the sages of the old are turning in their graves (metaphorically speaking of course) when they see the growing industry selling yoga mats, and yoga pants and yoga balls, etc. The word has lost its true meaning and is now done in quick one hour sessions after work and before happy hour. Can you really find peace in that hour to balance out all the stress and worry that fills the rest 23? Henna tattoos, shirts with Chinese symbols, hummus are all new discoveries that have slowly infiltrated the West. Quick aside: my favorite one is the genius of AR Rahman, because I can be an elitist and say that the world is discovering something I knew for ages. But as Amartya Sen put it in a lot more words (and bigger words), after colonizing, the West seems to be apologizing by trying to learn from the East. Unfortunately, all they have done is proceed to “exoticize” the East.

I believe that for the most part the West has taken all things exotic from the East and stopped there. But, the East has also played up its own exoticness. Neither side has questioned whether there is more. Being in villages in India, while I saw a slow infiltration of “foreign” ideas and objects, I saw that there is WAY more. I saw a way of life which is in harmony with the earth. Now before you say I’m going tree-hugger on all of you, please hear me out. As part of my project, we tried to get farmers to use LESS chemical fertilizers and pesticides: a practice clearly copied from the West. We tried going towards sustainable agriculture with the eventual goal of going organic. Ironically, the western “fad” of organically grown produce was being brought into in the area. The concept of organic farming, if taken back through time, was prevalent much more recently in the East than in the West. The elders in the villages would listen to our methods and talk about how they used to do things that way in the first place, before the existence of big fertilizer and chemical companies. While the younger farmers had to be explained how to make compost pits, the older ones knew and had done it themselves. How odd was it to teach a way of life to people who had only recently forgot it and introduce it as something “foreign”?

But farming is only one example, recycling is another. You know those cloth bags that every store seems to sell now. Go Green! They will say. And stop using plastic bags. Well, guess what? That’s been around in the East for YEARS. It was actually the norm, until recently. I can’t wait to find Go Green bags in Indian supermarkets. My favorite example is from a couple houses in Rajasthan. Now, with certain mobile SIM cards, apparently you get a free CD. Having no computer to play the CD and because it has no songs/movies on it, it has no use for the villagers. The next logical step is to throw it out, right? Wrong! The women make intricate wall ornaments from the CDs and decorate their houses with it. It sparkles and shows off different colors in the light and looks quite beautiful. Why would you just throw away something so pretty? I’m sorry, that’s just second nature for a lot of people in the world.

So, is the cup half full or half empty? My answer is always that it is half full. While I have commented on how both the East and West are doing things the wrong way, I do have a positive outlook on life. First of all, in the future, I believe the boundaries of East and West will fade and we will all become more homogenous. As this happens, I think it is important to take the best from each culture and make sure that culture retains it and that it spreads across the world. In the end, its great that there is a slowly growing “Go Green” movement in the west, regardless of where it originated! I think they have realized that in order to survive in this world, we will all have to go green. All I have to say is that I hope the east does not go through all the same stages the west did, in order to reach the “go green” stage. East: You don’t need a “Silent Spring” or “The Jungle” to get you back on track. Remember that you already know how to go green. Not only keep it alive, but also teach it to others. All I have to say is that we have so much more to learn from one another, other than chai lattes and TGIF’s. As a unique blend of East and West, and a true child of the globalization, I want the world to do what I have done in my life: take the best of both worlds and make the most of it.