At Kuvempu Circle, where the New B.E.L. Road meets the Outer Ring Road in Bangalore, there is signboard, on which is inscribed Mahatma Gandhi's quotation- "The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's Need, but not for everyone's Greed". I had heard this saying long back, but I was always sceptic- how exactly are "need" and "greed" defined for every man? Who will draw the line? Though I believe in living an austere life, I never attached much importance to this statement, as I considered it vague.
Nowadays, on Outer Ring Road, very close to the above-mentioned signboard (and elsewhere in Bangalore), I see some other signboards, which define "More". Their novel definition goes, "More is the ability to own a house at the age of 25". Or something similar. And below it is written, "You Deserve More". These are obviously advertisements by some real estate company.
The juxtaposition of these two signboards on the same road gives rise to some thoughts. Would Mahatma Gandhi consider owning a house at 25 as a need? I don't know what his scales were for differentiating between need and greed. But in the current world, overloaded with 7 billion people, a shocking fraction of them without proper shelter, to think of people owning a house at the age of 25 is a bit shocking. And that too in a country like India, which, despite claims of high economic growth, ranks below many sub-Saharan African countries in Human Development Index. Millions of people are forced to live in slums in and around big cities including Mumbai and Kolkata. And yet is the claim that "You" deserve "More"- owning a house below 25! Who, then, are "You"? Only the small fraction of people who have benifitted hugely from neo-liberalisation of India's economy? Must be, since profit-seeking corporations know that they can have more profit by further pampering the rich. They will never invest in housing for the poor- no profit there. "They" do not "deserve more".
Indians have never been able to think beyond increasing their status in society, of moving ahead of their neighbours. And nowadays, like never before, are more and more profit-seeking corporations to spoil them further. This is not only creating a completely disbalanced society, but also destroying the environment and ecology of the earth. Experts raise concerns that such unconstrained globalisation and capitalism has fundamentally altered the checks and balances of the earth. It is an urgent need of the hour to return to Mahatma Gandhi's statement, and ask ourselves, should "More" be classified as "Need", or a "Greed"?
