In the French – and Western – imagination, the Indians are seen as beings imbued with spirituality, indifferent to earthly considerations. Dressed in shimmering fabrics that contrast with the dusty air of the street, they always share the little they hold and offer you spiced tea in a back-to-basics atmosphere full of authenticity and smelling good. incense.
From hippies to materialism
Admit it, I’m not completely wrong. Whether ? The global influence of Mahatma Gandhi and his early praise of sobriety undoubtedly played a key role in this idealized perception of India abroad. Later, the baba cool wave of the 1970s, the opium routes in the Himalayas, the hippie communities of Goa, without forgetting Rishikesh, where the Beatles had joined their transcendental meditation guru, reinforced the cliché. And now, the fashion for yoga no doubt consolidates it in turn.
I may therefore disappoint you with this article. Because if generosity towards family members or guests is not just a legend and if religions are indeed part of everyday life, on the other hand the quest for financial success, and beyond that, materialism, seem much more significant in India than in Europe. In any case undeniably in the big cities.
Interest rates and investment funds
And before earning money, Indians love to talk about money. How much do the onions, mangoes, gold, per square meter in Bombay? Hours of conversation in perspective. And it is not necessary to have banker friends to discuss interest rates, to exchange advice on mutual funds or on companies listed on the stock exchanges. From students to housewives, everyone has their own opinion on the matter. Personally, if my financial literacy is still low on the daisies, I have no excuse. You have to believe that my brain remains quite simply impermeable to stock market.
Moreover, in India, there is still very little questioning of the impact of economic activity or consumption on society and the planet. While in France the people around me are looking for meaning in their professional life, the Indians I meet for the most part simply want to… earn money. Whether their work encroaches on their personal life, whether their activity relies on underpaid labor or whether their purchases encourage polluting industries remains for them completely secondary, even denied.
To hell with discretion!
You are probably saying to yourself: what a bunch of boors! This is where I feel guilty. In my desire to describe a culture to you, and therefore a collective point of view, I necessarily generalize a little. You will of course find NGOs that fight against poverty or nature conservationindustrial groups like Tata, Birla or Wipro with large foundations that work for the common good and full of women and men with big hearts.
These precautions being taken, when success is at the rendezvous, to hell with discretion! You have to proudly display your success. For the most privileged, over here expensive watches, expensive perfumes, luxury cars, business class flights and other diamond rings. And whatever the social background, wedding receptions should be as lavish as possible. The bride will be overwhelmed by her gold jewelry and the buffet will be more than abundantly stocked, sometimes at the cost of indebtedness over years.
Indians proud of their billionaires
All these ostentatious signs of wealth have only one goal: to attract the respect of his community, even of society as a whole. What has always struck me as extremely surprising in India is how much deference the rich command. They are not targets of violence or animosity and do not even trigger mockery, while economic inequalities remain enormous. Indians are proud of their billionaires, like Gautam Adani, who this year became the 4th richest person in the world in the Forbes ranking, or Mukesh Ambani (view the photo) who is in 8th place.
Is this state of mind due to the irruption of capitalism in the Indian economy? I would not be able to give you a pre- and post-liberalization comparison of 1991. I did not know socialist India and I imagine that the way of spending and showing was very different there. However, I am still convinced that the relationship with money responded to the same mechanisms as today, because these mechanisms are rooted in culture, philosophy and religion, well before socialism or capitalism. .
Spirituality and desire for enrichment
In reality, there is indeed no contradiction in India between spirituality and the desire for enrichment. In his work, A journey through the philosophies of the world (Albin Michel editions), Roger-Pol Droit details the four goals of humanity in Indian philosophy, which are imbued with Hinduism: Kamapleasure,Arthathe power-prosperity, the Dharmawhich could be translated as duty or respect for the order of the world, and finally the Mokshaliberation from the cycle of life, the ultimate goal.
But the Mokshaor access to Nirvana, is reserved only for a few, the renunciates, the sadhus. On the contrary, wanting to make money is honoring the Artha, and it is for everyone. “To prosper, and even to make a fortune, is legitimate, as is extending one’s influence and securing one’s hold”, writes Roger-Pol Right. Moreover, during the Diwali festival, the festival of lights, which takes place in the fall, we wish “Love, light and prosperity” to his relatives.
Gandhi on banknotes
Did Gandhi’s India dissolve into shopping malls? I don’t know, but I like to ask questions to which I have no answer (I have the right, it’s my blog!). However even today, it is the effigy of the Mahatma which remains printed on the banknotes. Another proof of how Indian thought always succeeds in bringing together everything and its opposite.