Beautiful forward*

*Beautiful forward*

My father got married in Udupi. Just him, my mom, and his close relatives.

The whole marriage cost ₹15.

My marriage cost ₹25,000.

My childs marriage cost ₹30 lacs

And we ask: why could our grandparents buy houses, marry off siblings, raise families by 30… while we struggle to buy a flat even at 50?

The easy excuse is inflation.

The honest answer is consumption.

Their marriages cost a saree, a dhoti, a laddu, 2 tolas of gold.

Ours cost lakhs on décor and pre-wedding photoshoots just to keep up with the Joneses.

Their schools were free, government subsidized. ₹20–₹100 a year.

Ours was ₹1,000 max.

Today, ₹2.5 lakh a year is considered “normal.”

They built houses as shelter.

We build houses with pools, clubhouses, gyms we don’t use.

They ate at home.

We spend ₹10,000 a month eating outside.

Most importantly → material culture created comparison.

Comparison bred competition.

Competition fueled aspiration.

Aspiration drove consumption.

Consumption trapped us in debt.

Advertising makes a killing selling us what we don’t need.

Finance makes a killing selling us what we can’t afford.

And we proudly call it “lifestyle.”

This is not just India’s story.

Look at America.

The richest nation on earth. $80,000 per capita income, where a plumber will make more money than a CEO in India

And yet → 60% live paycheck to paycheck.

Not because they are starving.

Because they expanded consumption faster than income.

And we — the Indian middle class — copied that model with pride.

⚡ Truth is simple:

Our grandparents lived with scarcity and dignity.

We live with abundance and debt.

They left assets without selfies.

We are leaving selfies without assets.

*Inflation didn’t kill us.*

*Aspiration did.* 

Advertising engineered it.

Finance sold it.

And we bought it — proudly, competitively, endlessly.