People

Observing the people at the antique car rally gave me the slight sensation of watching a play. The characters all seemed like shoddy imitations of wealthy Americans, each one more eager than the next to show their classy tastes. The people at the party at City Palace were a little different. They didn’t need to pretend to be on top, because they actually are. Government officials, major executives, fashion designers, the former royal family, other assorted badasses, etc.

In America, I instinctively want to condemn the rich along with the upper middle class as shallow, selfish, spoiled, and so on. I’m still not entirely sure, but it seems like maybe such a categorization is less fair for their Indian counterparts. These people were not born with trust funds. The remnants of British rule provided them with no established path to success. They were entrepreneurs who treaded their own path and reached their current position through education, work, and creativity. Especially the women. There were no women in power in India 30 years ago…there couldn’t have been…making their very existence is a testament to their determination. If I was an Indian woman twenty years ago I would want to be following that path.

I don’t know. Maybe they exploited the Indian poor in order to become the Indian rich. Maybe it was their caste power and familial wealth that enabled them to get where they are. Maybe the path to success is irrelevant because who they are now is still unacceptable. I’m not entirely sure what I think of them. Or even if there is a universal “them” at all. I need to learn more, observe more, interact more, think more, and by then hopefully know more.