Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

260 SALIM LAKHA
and for a girl to seek a professional husband. Utilitarian considerations have, to
some extent, displaced the intellectual value associated with further education.
Through the influence of diasporic Indians, middle-class housing is assuming a
distinctive image, style and status. This is particularly evident in urban housing.
For example, the inflow of diasporic Indians, together with liberalisation of
government policies relating to property investment, is contributing to a
globalisation of the urban landscape as property development companies gear
themselves to cater for their material comforts and aesthetic tastes. One report
claims that an American-based company, NRI Resources Ltd, will embark on a
housing project near Delhi’s international airport which will offer ‘luxurious’
accommodation for ‘select’ non-resident Indians (NRIs) who require housing that is
‘built and maintained according to the international standards of design, quality,
landuse and property management’ (Business Line (The Hindu) 1995:4). 12 The
project is not an exception and other residential constructions, for example
condominiums, have sprouted in major cities of India to satisfy the tastes of both
affluent local Indians and NRIs. Even the names of some of the housing estates
and settlements possess a global resonance: Manhattan Apartments, Seawoods
Estate, Xanadu, and Trinity Meadows which is ‘designed’ to replicatc rural
England (Raina 1995:70—1)!
A perusal of the advertisements for such housing projects indicates that what
they offer is not just the material comforts, but a distinct lifestyle and identity
affordable only by the more affluent amongst the middle class. Thus La Gardenia
Apartments near Delhi offer a dedicated amphitheatre, health centre and
swimming pool, and the apartments and penthouses which are part of Adarsh
Residency in Bangalore advertise a clubhouse amongst other amenities. These
self-contained enclaves are distinguished both by their high prices and exclusivity,
and it is the latter feature which is increasingly a mark of distinction.
Besides housing, external influences are also penetrating leisure and recreation
in India, sometimes through the efforts of diasporic Indians employed by foreign
companies. An Indian settled in Australia, for example, returned to India to set up
Timezone leisure centres on behalf of the company that employed him. Similarly,
another Indian from Australia was involved in the promotion of the construction of
golf courses in India. The growth throughout India of holiday resorts that offer
recreational facilities similar to resorts in the West is a response to middle-class
demand for global leisure styles.
A major feature of middle-class consumption, therefore, is its predilection for
global icons of consumerism such as television sets, cable television, video-cassette
players, personal computers, motor cars, a myriad of household items, fashion
goods, leisure and recreation facilities, and exclusive accommodation and address
for those who can afford it. Even magazines, both foreign and local, such as India
Today, Business India, and others specialising in fashion and lifestyle, are a mark
of middle-class status. Consumption of Western-style consumer goods and chic
commodities is perceived as a distinctive feature of middle-class identity. A
journalist friend from Mumbai (Bombay) lamented that middle-class children did