India may soon go the way of the North American country where small stores have vanished from the city, agriculture has declined and unemployment is huge

The driver of the taxi that took me from the airport to the hotel in Mexico city was a computer systems analyst. He was a cheerful English speaking man who talked about himself and his family’s woes in the hour it took to cover the 30 km. He wanted to know about the global economic crisis so that he could figure out why things were bad in Mexico for people like him. He complained about unemployment and his inability to get the right job without connections — a fate his children also face. He blamed the U.S. and its policies and corruption in society. This was a recurrent theme during my week-long stay in Mexico recently.

BIG MALLS

The taxi passed through many commercial and residential areas but I saw no small shops. There were big malls, automobile dealers, petrol stations, restaurants, pharmacy stores and car repair shops. I wondered if the small stores were in the residential colonies. A friend who had been posted in the Indian Embassy in the mid-1980s had mentioned that there were fruit stores everywhere and one could make a meal of fruits in the evening but such shops were nowhere to be seen. I wondered if this was the future that awaited the Indian metropolises.

The absence of small stores was perplexing but more intriguing was the serious unemployment, given that Mexico has been a part of NAFTA since 1994 and which brought in much foreign investment. Many factories have relocated from the U.S. to Northern Mexico to supply the U.S. and Canadian markets and so on. The city was bustling with cars. It is prosperous compared to India with a per capita income 10 times ours. There are layers of flyovers — one on top of the other — but there are traffic jams. During day time, it takes two to three hours to cover a distance that takes 25 minutes early in the morning. The public transport system consists of rail, buses and trams but people are stuck in traffic for a good part of their day. The city has to spread horizontally since it is built on landfill and there is a lot of water below the surface, and multi-storeyed buildings require expensive deep foundations. So, most buildings are one or two stories high, forcing the city of 25 million to spread out.

Old timers remember that Mexico city had small stores until the mid-1980s. Only the organised sector stores survive now, like the Sanborn chain belonging to Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world. Sanborn has a unique model of a restaurant on the first floor and a gift shop, pharmacy and other such conveniences on the ground floor. The young I talked to did not remember seeing corner stores in residential colonies.

From my hotel window, perched eight floors up, I could see malls but no small stores. Sears, Walmart, McDonalds — they were there like anywhere in the U.S. In residential colonies, I did see a few small stores but most of them were American Seven Elevens. And there are pavement stalls and markets where the poor purchase their necessities. It was ironical to see workers in ties from malls cross the street to eat at pavement stalls — perhaps they could not afford to eat in the mall.

On a visit to the charming town centre, it was refreshing to see streets lined with small stores. My escort told me that many people came here to shop because it was cheaper. I went outside Mexico City to Teotihuacan to see the Pyramids. The huge pyramid of the Sun god is apparently a few times larger than the biggest Egyptian pyramids. It was part of an ancient city 2,000 years ago, which was over three miles long and had more than 1.5 lakh people. All this was awe-inspiring but it was tiring because it involved hours of walking and climbing up and down. At the end of it, we went to the neighbouring town to eat. At its entrance was a beautiful arch which said Teotihuacan Pueblo con Encanto. The streets were lined with small stores.

VILLAGE REPUBLIC

The next day, I visited the village Tlalnepantla in Morelos. I counted dozens of small shops for a population of a few thousand. This is a revolutionary village. Alvaro, our host, is an economics graduate who settled down here 40 years ago. He cultivates Nopal, or cactus, with the rest of the villagers. His small garden has trees bearing guava, avacados, lime and lukat. He has successfully experimented with creating a village republic. It was amazing to see the hilly village surrounded by 4,000 hectares of Nopal cultivation. Even more breathtaking was the clear view of the distant volcano from which a plume of smoke emanated.

The village had rejected the corrupt political parties. Villagers selected their own leader and did not recognise the president of the municipality, a party man. The government sent in troops declaring Alvaro and others terrorists and they had to go underground. There were protests all over Mexico, especially in the universities. The government was forced to drop the charges and come to an agreement. The land here belongs to the community and cannot be sold to outsiders. Hearing that an Indian professor was visiting the village, its leaders came with lunch and cactus products — cooked as vegetable, turned into pickle and marmalade, very delicious. Alvero asked me about Gandhiji, his philosophy of non-violence and how it could be applied to a modern society. Gandhiji seems to have a special place in Mexico. A chain of book stores is called ‘Gandhi.’ There are parks and roads named after Gandhiji.

The farmers are upset with the U.S. and NAFTA. They complained that the free market had enabled subsidised food to come from the U.S. and destroyed their agriculture which now contributes only four per cent of GDP. Thus, the two big employers, agriculture and retail trade, have suffered in the last two decades, which is why unemployment is high (5.2 per cent), and underemployment is at 25 per cent. I met a professor who said his son got a job only because of his connections and another said his son doing a Ph.D. was worried about the future. Why is this happening with so much foreign investment? Unemployment has driven down wages. An Assistant Professor at the university complained that he could barely make ends meet with his salary, which is determined by the number of lectures he gives in a month. He thought the taxi-driver was better off than him.

MAFIA RULE

In Northern Mexico where investments from the U.S. have poured in, the mafia has taken over and there is lawlessness. The state there seems to be withering away. Unemployed youth join the mafia. There is drug trafficking and illegal migration of youth into the U.S. It is this migration that has kept unemployment from getting worse. The migrants send money back home. Remittances along with income from petroleum exports and tourism keep the Mexican economy afloat and prevent the crisis from deepening.

Instead of solving Mexico’s problems, its proximity to the U.S., free trade with it and investments from there have led to deepening unemployment, the decline of traditional agriculture and the end of small retailers in metro cities. I wondered whether what I was seeing in Mexico was India fast forwarded 20 years, when there will be lots of cars and traffic jams in the metros, lots of malls too, but few small retail shops, high unemployment and a crisis in agriculture. Small stores are likely to survive only in small towns and villages.

Our crisis is likely to be worse than Mexico’s since we do not border the largest economy in the world where our youth could illegally migrate. Nor are we likely to get investment in per capita terms matching Mexico. We do not have petroleum or tourism income to prop us either. So, does Mexico mirror a part of our future, if we continue with our current policies?

(Arun Kumar is Chairperson and Sukhamoy Chakravarty Chair Professor, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University.)

arunkumar1000@hotmail.com

Article URL: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/reading-the-future-in-mexicos-malls/article4175223.ece?homepage=true

The logic and pattern will be same for India.

Expect huge malls or Walmarts and the IKEA opening mall-size stores. These may coexist with Indian chains like the McDonalds do. People will love it bcz they get whatthey are getting at reduced prices.

BUT, THESE MUST BE OFFSET by other things. Just like mega cloth chains have killed small clothing stores in big cities, the small stores, and anything small will disappear except in 3rd ad 4th tier cities/towns, which will be ruled by more powerful and ruthless mafia, karnums, village "leaders." Small farmers and manufacturers will go out of business as they cannot compete or compete only by paying a pittance to its workers. Small houses will be gone as developers will build mega "self-contained townships"

It will be a different economic/living/cultural system - in another 20 years. But, India will "glitter" like Korea or end up in the gutter like Mexico. Time will tell.

"Small houses will be gone as developers will build mega "self-contained townships"

Very true. In Hyderabad "gated communities" are more popular than ever. Independent houses in regular colonies are out of fashion due to lack of "glam" factor - no gates, guards, play area, club house, etc.

Right. So North Mexico has fallen to the drug gangs because big malls and retail chains have replaced small mom and pop stores, and everyone commutes in cars. Proximity to the largest drugs market in the world has nothing to do with it.

What would we do without the geniuses at JNU to educate us on the evils of capitalism??

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Right. So North Mexico has fallen to the drug gangs because big malls and retail chains have replaced small mom and pop stores, and everyone commutes in cars. Proximity to the largest drugs market in the world has nothing to do with it.

What would we do without the geniuses at JNU to educate us on the evils of capitalism??

The Walmarts of America are creating protectionist attitudes among capitalistic Americans. Capitalism or socialism, applied in isolation, can be bad. Immediately after realizing that he lost in the election, Romney's first action, apparently, was to cancel the Visa account that his campaign team was using! No wonder, his wife was trying hard to portray him as humane and caring!

India is better off to give up on Indira/DKhead brand of socialism and Romney's brand of capitalism, and embrace the Scandinavian brand of socialism.

Vakavaka Pakapaka wrote:

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Right. So North Mexico has fallen to the drug gangs because big malls and retail chains have replaced small mom and pop stores, and everyone commutes in cars. Proximity to the largest drugs market in the world has nothing to do with it.

What would we do without the geniuses at JNU to educate us on the evils of capitalism??

The Walmarts of America are creating protectionist attitudes among capitalistic Americans. Capitalism or socialism, applied in isolation, can be bad. Immediately after realizing that he lost in the election, Romney's first action, apparently, was to cancel the Visa account that his campaign team was using! No wonder, his wife was trying hard to portray him as humane and caring!

India is better off to give up on Indira/DKhead brand of socialism and Romney's brand of capitalism, and embrace the Scandinavian brand of socialism.

Ekkada nundi ekkadiki poyyaru Saar...northern Mexico Nundi Romney campaign Daka...tamari lateral thinking ki salaam pettali, uppili Saar gaari prasangaaniki johaarlu samarpinchaaka.

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Right. So North Mexico has fallen to the drug gangs because big malls and retail chains have replaced small mom and pop stores, and everyone commutes in cars. Proximity to the largest drugs market in the world has nothing to do with it.

What would we do without the geniuses at JNU to educate us on the evils of capitalism??

Professore must be planning a grand return to collective farming, rural way of life in communism2.0 which he hopes is around the corner after the world tires of this capitalism experiment.

Nevada,
are guards normal in hyd gated communities or they just symbolic as in most northern us cities?

truthbetold wrote:Nevada,
are guards normal in hyd gated communities or they just symbolic as in most northern us cities?

I visited my 28 yr old cousin's flat in Bangalore. a gated one with a security, then inside each building had its own guard. swimming pool,weights room, walk ways, 2-elevators in every building, party hall, some small shops, all in all one that can match western apts. His dad - my uncle also had built his house just then. the regular old-fashioned house. One difference is he is on a 25 yr mortgage at 9+ interests and my uncle does not know anything.

anyway, first day I asked the guard at the gate and he asked me 100 questions in Kannada...heck it took me 10min to knock on the flat. next time, I used my tamilian technique. walked right by the gate as though I owned a flat in the compound. A different guard saluted me and let me in.

So, the gated communities may have everything but one thing tht they don't have is "basic brains" both at the gate and inside many of the flats...

Merlot Daruwala wrote:Right. So North Mexico has fallen to the drug gangs because big malls and retail chains have replaced small mom and pop stores, and everyone commutes in cars. Proximity to the largest drugs market in the world has nothing to do with it.

What would we do without the geniuses at JNU to educate us on the evils of capitalism??

Living in the US, I had completely forgotten about JNU. These guys can always be counted on to come up with crazy nonsense firmly anchored in the 1970s.

PPrao:

How can you criticize JNU wallahs? Fashion secularism in India is firmly entrenched thanks to their extremely brilliant analysis and scholarly advice. You should be jumping of joy.

Vakavaka Pakapaka wrote:PPrao:

How can you criticize JNU wallahs? Fashion secularism in India is firmly entrenched thanks to their extremely brilliant analysis and scholarly advice. You should be jumping of joy.

Ayyo guruvu gaaru, it sounds like you are more sympathetic to the JNU scholar's views than I am, thanks to superior lateral thinking skills. There is a saying in Telugu, kalikaalam, etc. etc.

yeah, one of these days I will also become extremely brilliant and subscribe to linear thinking!