Archive for the ‘The Way I See It’ Category

« Older Entries
No Comments

Ethics in Business


2010
08.31

Posted in Life in Amreeka, The Way I Am, The Way I See It | No Comments »

I think the corporation is one of the most underrated innovations in the history of commerce. Perhaps, to a certain extent, in the whole of human civilization. For the first time in history, we have given an entity the ability to live and grow indefinitely. And being humans, we have defined the only basis for its growth as monetary profit. Just by defining the corporation in the way we have, we’ve set ourselves up for failure.

I was reading the list of ingredients on my hand soap, trying to figure out what makes it smell as good as it does and I realized that soap manufacturers are not required to list all the ingredients on their product if the ingredient constitutes less than 2% of the whole. Since they’re not required to, they don’t. Why should they? The fewer unpronounceable names of toxic chemicals I see on there, the happier I feel and the more likely I am to use it. A lot of people would say it’s sneaky. Or that it violates the spirit of the law. I think it’s to be expected.

If the only thing a company is responsible for is making money, why should it bother about doing the right thing. I’m not saying no company ever does the right thing or that it should not. I’m just saying there are no incentives for a company to do the right thing. Walmart’s the best example I can think of. If Walmart started to care about where it gets the stuff it sells, or how the people who help sell the stuff get by, they wouldn’t sell as much stuff anymore. The only thing that keeps Walmart going is the “everyday low prices”. The lower the prices, the more junk everyone buys, the more profit Walmart makes and the more customers it attracts even in the middle of a recession.

The more I think about this, the more I feel that regulation is not the solution to the problem. It’s time for companies to be evaluated on more than their stock price. It’s hypocritical to want a portfolio that would help me retire by 35 and still want companies to do the right thing so our own conscience doesn’t hurt. We can’t keep hoping that huge corporations will feel sorry for the little people and be nicer to them and the environment they’re trashing. It just won’t happen.

I’ve wondered many times if I’m a socialist. Given how I would like to see a cap on growth, fair distribution of wealth and labor rights and just a generally equal society. I know I’m an environmentalist (whatever that means) given I am all for sustainable growth, less consumption and generally less trash. But now I realize, I’m just an idealist. I keep hoping for a future that rational thinking tells me will never happen.

3 comments

Add New Post


2010
08.04

Posted in Life, Randomness, The Way I Am, The Way I Say It, The Way I See It, Too Much Time | 3 Comments »

Here are some thoughts I had for blog posts. I can’t seem to be able to follow up on them and write a long enough or even a halfway decently structured post. It’s quite a mishmash but bleh! who cares?

Are Saris dying?

Why do such few women of our generation wear saris anymore? I’m not against western attire and I know jeans and kurtis are probably the new national dress of urban Indian women but it seems a shame that western business wear at work and “fusion wear” at weddings are the norm instead of just another addition to a woman’s wardrobe. I’m all for a little black dress on some occasions but I wonder how many woman have a sexy black chiffon sari in their wardrobes too… Nothing beats a sari for elegance, grace, sensuality and showing off your curves. And let’s not forget the added advantage of not having to shave your legs to wear one!

The Great Indian Family

What’s the Indian family like? What are some of the eccentricities that everyone can relate to? Can we agree on some standard characters? How many of these sound familiar?

There’s usually a wise old woman in every family who can tell you “the way things were always done” in the family, who seems to know everyone’s birthday and anniversary and the names of everyone’s kids… You know, the person who’s always at the center of every family photograph (sometimes even seated between the bride and groom in the “new family” photo).

There’s always an uncle or aunt who never tells you when they’re coming for a visit and refuses to take subtle (and not so subtle) hints about their departure. There’s usually a diabetic uncle or aunt who gorges on sweets and rice and complains about their knees. There are usually some cousins who want you to know how well they’re doing abroad (who always bring you a bag of Hershey’s candy and treat you like you’re their sole link to India).

There’s usually a bratty sister or brother, perhaps the youngest in the family, who thinks he/she’s always right who you can never please (hey! that sounds a little like me!). There’s the Buddha of the family. You know, the peacemaker, the person who can never admit that one person is right and the other wrong. They just refuse to lose composure no matter what the level of drama. Which brings us to the drama queen. And there’s usually a loyal servant too, somewhere in the picture. And lots of other people who tend to blend into the background except when there’s drama…

The Need for Well Toned Midriffs

There’s being comfortable with your body and then there’s just plain unsightly. Why can’t some people just hide their flabby/unattractive body parts (I was referring to arms, legs and beer bellies. What were you thinking about dusht buddhi?). I realize there are some unrealistic expectations out there. You’re supposed to be about 20 lb underweight but look curvy just the same. But just because you’re rebelling against the anorexic look imposed by the media it doesn’t mean you have to wear clothes that show off every bit of extra weight you’re carrying. Why is it politically incorrect to say, “Don’t wear a chiffon sari if you don’t have a well toned midriff”? or, just to expect people to wear well fitting clothes that make them look nice instead of well, you know what… I know… No one’s perfect all the time but you know what I mean…

Time Freeze

When we leave a place or person and go back after a long time, we’re always surprised to see that they’ve changed. It’s like the place/person is frozen in time in our minds and we just don’t want to accept that they’ve gone one with their lives. Being shocked by how much your parents have aged since you last saw them. Being thrown off by new trends that have become the norm since you were last in your hometown. It’s not just about familiar landmarks disappearing. It’s almost as if the culture/values you’ve anchored yourself by are suddenly lost. Someone who hasn’t been in India for over twenty years is shocked that young people in India date. I’m surprised by the shift from the sabzi mandi to supermarkets. That sort of thing. Why is it so hard to accept the change we haven’t been a part of?

6 comments

Not Fluff


2010
07.24

Posted in The Way I Say It, The Way I See It, Through a Woman's Eyes | 6 Comments »

The last two months have been fun and troubling all at once. For the first time, I’ve looked at myself as a visitor to India. I’m going to be in the US for at least another five years. The practical, organized side of me has been wondering if I want to make it my long term home.

There are a million reasons to not live in India. The proximity to bitchy relatives, the bad infrastructure, the endless reservations guaranteeing that in another decade you will have to be born “backward caste” to get a decent education or a government job, the corruption, the incessant competition for everything from education to road space and ground water, terrible politicians, dependence on the maid, superstition, bad newspapers, terrible television… The list of petty annoyances is endless. Sometimes, it does add up to the point where it seems simpler to not live here.

On the other hand, life seems so much simpler in India. Perhaps it’s an illusion. After all, I’ve never really run a home in this country. I’ve always lived with my parents and even today, as a married woman, it’s my mother or mother in law who takes care of the home while I eat and watch TV. Anyway, it seems nicer to have someone deliver groceries and medicines to your door. It seems so much simpler to have access to a sari shop, a temple, a social life and satellite radio. Not to mention reruns of old American TV shows on Star World.

But then, there’s the stuff that really annoys me. The gender discrimination. The feminist in me refuses to shut up when she’s in India. I’ve had heated arguments with random cousins, my mother, my father in law and all sorts of people about gender roles and why they are the way they are. Even a mother who never favoured her son over her daughter must favour her son-in-law over everyone else. Why the boy is considered special is beyond me. But then again, given the father of the bride washes the groom’s feet (in the wedding) before officially “giving her away”, why should we even be surprised? This in a “progressive” family. What happens in families that don’t believe in educating daughters or making daughters in law feel like any other member of the (totally dysfunctional) family?

It’s not that gender discrimination or sterotyping doesn’t exist in outside of India. You can’t even buy an outfit for a baby in the US that’s gender neutral (I’ve been shopping for a dear friend who’s expecting). But at least no one goes about setting women on fire for dowry or filing for divorce because the wife can’t cook. And the lower rates of abuse against women helps too. No, what annoys me more than anything else is the attitude. The belief that a woman’s place is in the kitchen, serving her husband, her in-laws and her sons, raising her daughters to be good wives. The belief that the victim of sexual assault is at fault. The endorsement of “eve teasing” the gawks, the gapes, the lewd comments at the bus stop. The general feeling of women being treated like Cinderella (except not even the ugly step sisters are treated any better by their mother) is what annoys the hell out of me.

I’m tired of making speeches. And arguing with people hoping they’ll change their minds. I wish there was something I could do to make a difference. Meanwhile, I think it’s time to let the feminist out. Avu and I have been thinking about Marriage Market – II. I know a lot of you have read (and appreciated) Marriage Market. It’s time some wrote a little about what happens once the “perfect arranged marriage” does happen…

It’s hard to keep blogs like these going without turning them into a crib fest but the feminist in me really does want to talk about something serious for a change. You can expect to see some posts soon.

Meanwhile, remember. Men can be feminists too!

Related Posts with Thumbnails
« Older Entries