I know I must be sounding like some kind of bus nerd, but trust me when I say I’m not. Yesterday’s posting about the brand-spanking new Route79 bus reminded me of something that I’m sure you might identify with. But before I go into that - especially for Sathish, here is a pic (from the outside) of the very same bus that I got home yesterday - which by coincidence was the bus that I caught going to work this morning. I just managed to get the shot as I got off - just before it sped away from in front of Alperton tube station:
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(With an upper deck nicer than British Airways business class.)
And so let me tell you about something very typically Indian: the obsessive desire to preserve and protect “newness”. It’s something that I remember vividly from childhood. I don’t know why it is - but it’s something that still, to this day (especially in the homes of the older generation Asians), you see Indian/Asian folks practise. Are you Indian? You are if you:
- Have cling-film around your TV, VCR, DVD player and Sky TV remote controls - you wouldn’t want to “wear” out the buttons would you?
- Cover your kitchen hob with tin-foil - to protect the chrome or brushed stainless steel from splodges of caked-up daal or splashes of oil.
- Cover your nice wooden dining table with a thick sheet of clear-plastic from John Lewis - to stop the surface from getting heat marks or scratches.
- Cover your nice leather sofas with polythene - or if you’re a bit more style-conscious: with fabric “throws” to stop the leather/upholstery from getting worn.
- Spread rugs all over your nice new wooden floor - so much that you cannot see it - so that people wearing shoes or stiletto heels don’t leave marks or scratches all over it.
I’m sure there’s more like that!
And although I have lived the “Western” lifestyle for practically all of my life - I still subconsciously find myself practising this obsession - but in more subtle and personal sorts of ways. For example - a couple of years ago I had a brand new mobile phone. And I just couldn’t bring myself around to peeling off the protective plastic film-cover over the nice new display on the front of the phone. (You know - that thin protective film of plastic that’s stuck to the screen of the phone when you take it out of its box for the first time.) In fact - I went around for nearly six months not having peeled off the protective plastic cover on my phone. But one day - I was showing off my phone to some guy in the office - and this guy takes my phone into his hand - and notices that I haven’t peeled off the protective plastic film yet. So - he does it himself! Yes - he so confidently and without thinking about - just peels it right off - right in front of my eyes! And whilst he’s talking to me (completely oblivious to my distress) - he scrunches up the plastic film and drops it into the waste-paper-basket. My heart dropped at this moment! That was a “virgin” phone - and he just peeled it right off - without even asking me! Not only was it a very distressing moment - I sure would have looked really stupid if I’d gone fumbling around in the waste-paper-basket to retrieve that scrunched up bit of plastic film. I just had to painfully accept the fact that he had done it. But it was an awful feeling at the time. It really hurt. It was almost as if I felt that he had been really insensitive.
Now I look back and laugh hysterically. But the even funnier thing is this: I still see Indian folks with new phones (friends and family) who haven’t removed the protective plastic film cover from their mobile phones!
Posted by jag at February 04, 2004 10:03 PMThe bus, really looks too cool to be true. I could just hug it.
That just sums about the Indian mentality - to keep things as clean and new as they can be. (I do practice the Plastic Cover over the Remote Control, not the others though.) There is even the plastic cover over the Washing Machine, a cloth covering the top of the refridgerator and one for the Televison, a cover for the car and its seats and many other things. Many people buy plastic covers for their cell phones - in order to prevent it from getting dirty.
The reason, I think is this. Whenever a huge/expensive/utilitarian equipment is bought, it is considered an investment; something that ought to last a while - preferably a minimum of 5 years. So, for that span of 5 years, it is supposed to look new for usage. If something goes wrong with it, people take pains to get it repaired rather than disposing it off. In my house, we had a motorbike which is 19 years old, a washing machine for about 10 years (replaced just recently), a television and a fridge for an equally long time, a taperecorder 15 years old, my computer is decently old - approaching its third birthday.
In the western world, as I have heard it, it is basically a use and throw model. If it does not work, throw it and buy a new one. Not many people try to get it repaired.
To continue…
Probably (some of my relatives in US have said) it is cheaper to buy a new piece of equipment rather than try to get it repaired.
So thats the reason, for the “Westerners” not trying to keep the newness. They would know that they would be replacing/disposing within about 3-5 years and that there is no need to keep it “new and clean”.
Hi Sat - you’re absolutely right - the “churn” cycle here in the West is a lot greater now than it used to be - and a lot greater than that which you find more commonplace in India say.
For example - based upon my own experiences - in the last 10 years - I have had:
- 4 washing machines
- 3 fridges
- 5 cars
- 12 mobile phones (last 8 years)
- 4 MP3 players
- 3 conventional walkmans
- 4 VCRs
- 2 TVs
- 6 laptop computers
- 3 camcorders
- 4 cameras
At each point of change - the change was stimulated by either:
a) Previous one went defunct or crashed.
b) Previous one was not performing as well as I wanted - and so I got a new one that performed better.
In fact - to underline your point: in the last 10 years of all of the above items - I had NONE of the defunct items repaired! Even the defunct cars were sold or scrapped. (OK - in two of the car cases - I had a crash which made them insurance write-offs!)
Posted by: Jag on February 5, 2004 09:35 AMI was not aware that this was typically Indian (you do learn something every day, well, almost!). This explains why my pal Naseer never removes his remote controls from their wrappers. Another entertaining and enlightening post Jag :-)
Posted by: Stu on February 5, 2004 01:53 PMHi Stu - hey, now you know! It sure is very typically Indian! :-) Glad to enlighten!
Posted by: Jag on February 5, 2004 10:08 PMjesus christ, jag - have you really gone through so much over the past 10 years ? i’m using my second washing machine in the past 15 years, second mobile in the past 6 years (and the first didn’t even need replacing) and that’s about it.
with regards the plastic film on your mobile : do you mean the bit of plastic covering the display area ? if so, i still have mine on after 3/4 years simply because i don’t notice it :)
Posted by: zed on February 7, 2004 04:50 PMHi Zoe - I obviously don’t get on with washing machines. Either that or you are an Indian in your heart! (And I shouldn’t really count the mobile phones - as they are a part of what I do for living.)
Yes - I mean exactly the bit of plastic that covers the display area. Wow - yours didn’t bubble up in all that time? Excellent.
Posted by: Jag on February 8, 2004 10:28 AMbubble up ? nooooo .… maybe it’s because i keep it one of those anti-shock ‘cases’ because i have a tendency to drop my mobile. a lot.
Posted by: zed on February 8, 2004 01:42 PM