One giant set to kill another!

The Goliath of retail business- Walmart is all set to trample the giant unorganized, grassroot, and sustainable retail business of India! And with it we will lose yet another identity and spell out doom for our culture and traditions.

Harsh retoric
For those it in India, my words seem harsh and unfair. And so might be the case with the high-flying businessmen and ploticians who never make it to the ground once they are in power! But for those who have spent even a few years in the US, they understand the Walmart culture, the culture of rapid corporatization of the country. No matter how much economists might have made you believe otherwise, this was a very wrong move!

Death Knell for locals
It was nothing short of bastardization of the local economy and strangling of local culture and diversity. It was just another case of Western lifestyle seeking instant gratification! How adverse the effect was on local identity and economy on opening a Walmart in the community is to be seen to be believed. Just walk into the downtown of any small and mid-sized town in the US and talk to local businesses about their history, and I bet that you'll see them dropping tears to tell you what was lost and will never be regained.

Coming soon in a neighbourhood near you ...
500 Walmart stores by mid-2007 in different parts of India is the death knell! You will never see the old lady pushing her cart in the morning outside your doorstep hawking piles of freshly plucked jasmine. You will lose the guy in the street corner who sells you fresh vegetables and fruits every morning which he brings from his garden on the outskirts of the city. You will soon wonder what ever happened to the local milkman, ice-cream peddler, or even the corner paan-shop?

While many are going to rightfully protest this unfair onslaugth of corporations on our natural economy, many of us will be tempted and excited to test this new business. But wake up and ask questions- for dishonesty and ignorance are rampant in the upper echeleons of the society, power mongers, or those that we have trusted our well being on.

I don't hate America. I don't hate Walmart. Only- the business policies they advocate and the vested interests they have in mind. It is not democratic, it is not for the people; it is solely for making more profits. They are coming there because the Western markets are getting saturated.

A decade from now we might end up looking more like America but would have traded our soul, culture and traditions for it!

If you want to hear about the multitude of horrors Walmart is getting ready to unleash, watch this movie: 'The High Cost of Low Price'. [Link] Get your facts correctly on their blog [Link].If you can't find the movie, write to me- leave a comment.