Necessities and Luxuries – Different Standards in India and the West

Yesterday and the day before yesterday, I have been commenting on the different points that UNICEF believes to show child poverty in rich countries. How valid are these points in a country like India? Here I continue:

8. Money to participate in school trips and events

This one gets a short answer: if a family in India can afford to send their child to a private school, buy the books, buy the uniform and pay the fees, there are families who are much poorer that his. Participation in school trips is a standard a bit too high for India’s poor.

It makes us proud however to say that on our school celebrations the poor children of the town get to eat the best food and the best cakes you can find anywhere in the surrounding!

9. A quiet place with enough room and light to do homework

Again, one has to take care of other needs first, before one can arrange a place for a child to do homework. Many families of our children have a rented home of one or two rooms in which four, five or more people live. The rooms are their living room, kitchen, bedroom, office, workshop, children’s room and wardrobe in one. Once we come to a standard where families have a separate room for all of these purposes, we cannot really call them poor here anymore.

10. An Internet connection

I was honestly surprised to see this one on the list but I guess today it is a vital element of staying up to date to what is going on in the world. In the west a lot of homework has to be done with the help of the internet and social life has partly shifted online, too. Anybody without an internet connection is cut off from the world.

In a place where many people don’t have a fridge or even a ceiling fan although it gets up to temperatures of 48 degrees centigrade and more, the lack of an internet connection wouldn’t be one of the items that would show that you are deprived.

11. Some new clothes (i.e. not all second-hand)

People often ask us whether they can bring some clothes for children when they come to the Ashram and we always heartily welcome such support. We collect until we have a big amount and can give out with full hands to our students and their parents. You wouldn’t believe how happy these families are about second-hand-clothes. What is wrong with wearing someone else’s old clothes? They are good, not torn and they keep you warm in winters when it gets cold up to the freezing point.

I understand this point for the west though, where even children of well-off families get teased for not wearing branded clothes. I believe however that the expectations and standards should be slightly reduced there. Stop focusing on the outside and teach children a bit more about inner values!