AMUL April 10, 2008
Posted by 6mile in Uncategorized.Tags: amul, cooperative, india, milk, taste of india
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People always talk of India in the context of poverty,bad sanitation and lack of vision. Quality of life is always compared to high post war industrialized European standards. But anyone who has lived in India would understand the close community feeling, pretty much like being married to the Mob. Many families like mine crave industrialization, because it gives us a chance at a better life.
My mom has had a royal upbringing never having to worry about anything in life. My dad on the other hand has had to work odd jobs since he was a little kid to make ends meet and to him education was the only way out. I always talk about failed democracy to him and the amount of intrinsic corruption add to that irrational cultural ideologies. But he says the system worked for him, he told me when he was young, they used to get wheat as Food Aid from America and the only milk the ever got was powdered.
The funny thing is when people get fed up with the government they take matters into they’re own hands, AMUL is one such product. It was a cooperative movement started by housewifes in one of the most arid regions of india. They said no to middle men who took big cuts and took matters into they’re own hands. A few poor farmers get together for the betterment of them as a whole and in turn spur The White Revolution. AMUL is one of the most beloved brands in India, not because it works for the collective good. because it makes the most delicious milk products. Utterly Butterly Delicious !
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Talking about AMUL which was a very pro woman moment, I thought Id just scribble a few more thoughts
People often talk about arranged marriages, but no one talks of a new push. Modern India is growing more and more westernized in many ways. Giving up old age Ideals,many of them others can learn from. A major outcome of the Nationalist freedom movement was the promotion of love and brotherhood among all communities irrespective of race, creed and religion. More importantly though was the Upliftment of women. Barring a few villages, on a whole women in India form a cornerstone of a family. She is pretty much the rule maker back home. I’ve often read about gori’s trying to please MIL’s , hehe. Her word is final most of the time, unless you want tor rebel of course.The only reason India is still very conservative even with the advent of western media is because girls in India like it that way, I guess it helps them get rid of all the bullshit and give a chance to only serious suitors. But, most of them end up stay at home moms, sometimes at the mercy of a reckless husbands. There is a very well woven support system in place like a net to catch her if things don’t work out. No true way to be stand at her feet until today.
With the advent of an Open Economy though,more and more women in India grow independent. Mora and more go to work. Heck, there were more girls in my class than boys during my undergrad. As a society, we are opening up nice and slow. It gives a chance for girls in India to be more choosy in all ways I guess.Maybe not my generation, but the one that follows has the power to shape the entire Indian demographic. I just hope they choose the right balance.
Hello there. I was sent a link to your blog by a friend a while ago. I have been reading a long for a while now. Just wanted to say HI. Thanks for putting in all the hard work.
Jennifer Lancey
Yes, I do hope to see India take the good parts of modernization and keep some of the good parts of traditionalism. And I pray that it wont go the other way around!
Hello Jennifer ! Glad you liked my blog. Hope you post more often. I’m sure you like my friends blogs too.
Me think it will go the right way. Btw,mirchi, do you have any connection to GOA ?
This is a wonderful post. I have much to say about it…until tomorrow…
I think what I read you saying is that modernization will be a good thing for India. For the most part, and from what little I know, I agree with you. I have often told R if India can maintain the beautiful, unbelievably rich cultural things like aspects of the wedding ceremony, of course food, beautiful dress, music and then move forward in educating women, working towards eliminating poverty, changing stubborn mindsets of the domineering Ammas you speak of
and other “mob” members, and pick up some other modern ideas, you’d have a pretty darn good society. I think the specific merger of India and the West can be a wonderful thing if India can maintain its wonderful characteristics. I think we in the West have SO much to learn from India — but India can learn from us too. The mob mentailty can be really limiting and unhealthy at times. On the other hand, it can sometimes be a tremendously important source of support. Thus, another contradition of India—you sometimes love and hate the mob.
I think if you can sift out the good aspects of the Mob and rebel (set boundaries) against the negative, you could see something very interesting and good unfold. In my line of work I generally see a pathetic lack of family cohesiveness amonst American families, so in many ways I have been more acutely aware of the good aspects of the Indian mob.
Although and again, R has a pretty good idea of how the mob can be intrusive and domineering–this is perhaps one reason he likes being with me (much less maintenance, stress, and most importantly my love is not predicated on what he does for The Mob
). But, he doesn’t reject the Mob altogether either–because there’s some well intended, essentially good people who are just doing the best the know how.
So…moral of the story…nothing is black and white and to be judged easily. Sometimes you have to reconcile two opposing notions embodied in the same concept (the Mob you describe) to essentially get at some real truth. Many miss this point and judge Indian ways quite harshly.
Hey, 6mile, what happened to the post on men of steel? Or was I imagining things last night?!
NK, I know you didnt mean it in this way, but the sarees and food, its not the main thing.
Heres what I would hate to see(some of which is already happening):
heavy consumerism
too much individualism
use and throw mentality
more overgrowth of cities
loss of natural beauty
too much packaged food
more waste
SUV’s!
more but I dont have time now…
One thing I would LOVE to see in India…
“Green” energy solutions!!
I don’t really know India except from what CS and you guys tell me, but I would hate for the natural beauties that he has shown me from his home to me degraded. I don’t want India to be another U.S…. which is what I think mirchi is saying. To me, India reminds me of the 50’s and 60’s of the U.S., just based off of my limited experience. My neighborhood watches out closely for each other at home. It has always been that way, not necessarily good or bad. I just hope they find a balance between what mirchi and NK are thinking.
hehe, so you were up late last night, I thought it needed a little bit more refining, i just type stuff of the bat :p. I kinda made it look all positive, hmm needed some changes. People talk of india in a very negative sense ,me included focus on the bad. I thought, Id highlight the new mindset, which is going to carry into the next decade.
A mob can be a pain in the b*** NK!, but everyone comes to throw you a rope, when your stuck in a quicksand. But people tend to form closed communities boxing others out. In the 60’s a northie marrying a southie used to raise eyebrows, people have become very acceptive of it, leaving out a few thorns. So, times are definitely changing. A lot of indian families are accepting it, its just that their worried about cultural exogamy.Domineering Ammas are not always bad, they watch out for there loved once. Sometimes in the wrong way.
mirchi made a some really nice points, India is going the US way in a lot of ways, we have always had niche brands like maggi,amul,bajaj now we have western companies, coke ads make it look like having an Indian conscience. Hindustan Lever ahaa ! mosr desis think its an indian company, hehe. I come from a very nuclear family, being an army brat..some things good , some not so.
Education needs to spread to villages, mindsets need to change there more importantly, I dare say some of them are very redneck, devolepment needs to be more spread out, but with so many states with unique identities its hard to archive. India has been a very energy efficient country, we used a lot of recyclable stuff, but you just so much throw away trash these days.
Mirchi one good thing is green is still supported, Suzlon is doing really well world over, supporting wind power. We need to do a lot of things, just to spread the good.
I’m sure you would agree that india has a conscience, and policies like Non Alignment Movement (NAM), friendship with iran and other islamic countries, and helping out african countries by sending peace keepers and helping local business. I would love to see a world without any boundaries.
I could tell you Indian pop history , if you like ara
, in fact many versions of it, hehe. Sometimes, its like we have no history, because we hardly follow traditions of the founders, instead form a complex amalgamation.
Me and my cousin were talking and talking last night, she goes to school in IL. She was like not even a single guy ever flirts with me, lol. In india even when people date, its under the carpet, no PDA’s nothing and not a lot of people date till they start working. When you come here your bombarded with girls going out with guys, almost to feel like a wierd outcast.
Sometimes, I think maybe i’m not supposed to, like NK said she feels like she’s robbing R of something. I mean there is nothing wrong with girls like my cousin, they are as good as anyone else. She too is contemplating not marrying an Indian guy, lol. It lets me choose what I want to keep and what I discard, and bring some exciting new changes to my life. People often talk about the cultural difficulties associated with such relationships, but they never talk about a sense of personal harmony you could achieve, perhaps.
Anyways, being FOB its sometimes strifling, because people just assume you aren’t going to, Anyways i got turned down again, thats three strikes for me, lol.
oh, mirchi, those who have been hanging around for a while (6mile, ara) know I understand India is about far more than sari’s and the food.
Just sort of topical examples off the top of my head…
p.s. I spent a month there, sometimes traveling alone…
The school I attended did not allow PDA. They had a 6 inch rule. Everyone had to be seated at least 6 inches apart if they were dating, otherwise you’d end up in the principal’s office with detention. Maybe that’s part of the reason I am so shy now. I have never been very touchy/feely like some of my friends, but people at my school weren’t allowed to show affection…so it’s hard to show something you were not allowed to express. 6mile, my parents did not allow neither me nor my brother to date until we were 16. Most of my friends had been dating for a long time by that point.
6mile, I’d like to hear about India’s history, more than just what I read in my world history book.
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