The oxford entry for status is "the social, professional or other standing of someone or something". I think the social part covers 99% of it. Status of a person is the most important thing for him/her in India, One cannot get away with it, if you care about it, believe in it or not, it does not matter, it gets attached to you someway somehow. There is a status issue even in the western world but it is not predominant and not visible unless you recognize whats going on and it is not a big deal there and does not influence how one lives his/her life. But in India, it certainly does affect how one's life is going to be to a major extent.
When I was going to school in India(10-15 yrs ago), using public transport was probably the best thing for middle class of India, today if you do not travel in a car, people look at you as one poor guy, to tell you the truth many don't even look at you. Some of the people I knew cannot survive without Air Conditioning, so they have to travel in car. Well I do agree that car does make life easy but for me car is still just a means of transport and it can cause issues at the same time too, for example parking is a huge problem in big cities and also many roads are still small and the traffic has quadrupled so you can still waste hours of time just traveling 10-20 km, a bike on the other hand can save tons of time, but a bike is not so safe, but still a great option for moving around in the city. Bike does not resemble status anymore in India, its more like owning a bicycle 10 years ago, though some bikes today cost up to Rs.1 Lakh ($2000).
There are many ways people measure one's standing. In India, the other major indicator or measuring stick is gold on your body. I used to think that its a women thing, women are like terminators, they detect the metal on your body and they have a love affair with gold. If you are a woman and have no interest in wearing any kind of jewelery or you detest any kind of jewelery then you are in big trouble with everybody else but your boy friend or husband, as he can use his money for other better things. Others will torture you in ways you cannot imagine. You have to prove your social standing in other ways. Maybe ask your husband to wear gold. Men are not very particular about jewelery but they wear them 'cause for one thing woman notice it and it is kind of a symbol of richness. Men do it to show off mostly, of course other show offs are electronics for men, iPhone is a big hit and a status symbol in India, I do not know if the networks have enough support for data downloads, many who own probably don't even know what are all the features and how best they can use the iPhone but they want one as it is cool.
I am encountering a lot of talk about how you can find everything in India and what a waste of life if you live in western world as you can earn good money and live a better life here. I noticed in many new movies and among people that if you are living in Canada or USA, they kind of look at you like a foreigner, they think that we show off, even though they do it all the time but only notice things others do. I will talk about an example which happened with me. I went to a movie where the hero did MBA from a local college in India and could not find a job is on vacation in malaysia, while coming back he meets the heroine in the airport and falls in Love, he has two hours to make her fall in love with him, thats the whole movie. well he finds out that the girl is going to India to meet a boy, who is working in US and its a match from her parents. The hero kind of describes this US guy as a waste fella and this asshole who dont even have a job is fit for her. Anyway its movie but people in India take movies damn seriously, believe me its true. Though it happens everywhere in the world (people have no idea how hollywood has shaped the US govt. policies among other things over the years), it is particularly true in India and definitely so in Hyderabad, a movie lovers paradise. Anyway, my friends were looking at me and were laughing. Well guess what, the things I mentioned to them during interval, they will never forget. We went to buy drinks and I was the only one who asked for an Indian brand, ThumpsUp, everybody wanted coke. My friends wear Diesel jeans, Tasset Watches, put on Lacoste perfume, wear Nike shoes, drive Toyota cars, want an iPhone, eat at subway and lecture me on how I have been Americanised. Well I definitely gained all the positive things living in America, but never lost my Indianness, I guess thats the difference between many youngsters in India and me, I am more Indian than these guys and gals can ever be, even though I do not measure up to a high social standing a.k.a Status.
When I was going to school in India(10-15 yrs ago), using public transport was probably the best thing for middle class of India, today if you do not travel in a car, people look at you as one poor guy, to tell you the truth many don't even look at you. Some of the people I knew cannot survive without Air Conditioning, so they have to travel in car. Well I do agree that car does make life easy but for me car is still just a means of transport and it can cause issues at the same time too, for example parking is a huge problem in big cities and also many roads are still small and the traffic has quadrupled so you can still waste hours of time just traveling 10-20 km, a bike on the other hand can save tons of time, but a bike is not so safe, but still a great option for moving around in the city. Bike does not resemble status anymore in India, its more like owning a bicycle 10 years ago, though some bikes today cost up to Rs.1 Lakh ($2000).
There are many ways people measure one's standing. In India, the other major indicator or measuring stick is gold on your body. I used to think that its a women thing, women are like terminators, they detect the metal on your body and they have a love affair with gold. If you are a woman and have no interest in wearing any kind of jewelery or you detest any kind of jewelery then you are in big trouble with everybody else but your boy friend or husband, as he can use his money for other better things. Others will torture you in ways you cannot imagine. You have to prove your social standing in other ways. Maybe ask your husband to wear gold. Men are not very particular about jewelery but they wear them 'cause for one thing woman notice it and it is kind of a symbol of richness. Men do it to show off mostly, of course other show offs are electronics for men, iPhone is a big hit and a status symbol in India, I do not know if the networks have enough support for data downloads, many who own probably don't even know what are all the features and how best they can use the iPhone but they want one as it is cool.
I am encountering a lot of talk about how you can find everything in India and what a waste of life if you live in western world as you can earn good money and live a better life here. I noticed in many new movies and among people that if you are living in Canada or USA, they kind of look at you like a foreigner, they think that we show off, even though they do it all the time but only notice things others do. I will talk about an example which happened with me. I went to a movie where the hero did MBA from a local college in India and could not find a job is on vacation in malaysia, while coming back he meets the heroine in the airport and falls in Love, he has two hours to make her fall in love with him, thats the whole movie. well he finds out that the girl is going to India to meet a boy, who is working in US and its a match from her parents. The hero kind of describes this US guy as a waste fella and this asshole who dont even have a job is fit for her. Anyway its movie but people in India take movies damn seriously, believe me its true. Though it happens everywhere in the world (people have no idea how hollywood has shaped the US govt. policies among other things over the years), it is particularly true in India and definitely so in Hyderabad, a movie lovers paradise. Anyway, my friends were looking at me and were laughing. Well guess what, the things I mentioned to them during interval, they will never forget. We went to buy drinks and I was the only one who asked for an Indian brand, ThumpsUp, everybody wanted coke. My friends wear Diesel jeans, Tasset Watches, put on Lacoste perfume, wear Nike shoes, drive Toyota cars, want an iPhone, eat at subway and lecture me on how I have been Americanised. Well I definitely gained all the positive things living in America, but never lost my Indianness, I guess thats the difference between many youngsters in India and me, I am more Indian than these guys and gals can ever be, even though I do not measure up to a high social standing a.k.a Status.
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