FIELDWORK SEGMENT (PRM 2009-11)

THEME PAPER
CONSUMERISM AND RURAL PEOPLE - EVIDENCES AND CASES
Host Organizations:
PRADAN (Dholpur)
PHRN/Ekjut (Godda)
UPASaC (Bageshwar)
FES (Bhilwara)
Submitted by:
Jubi Nema(p30015), Raveesh Pandey(p30032), Ritesh Kewlani(p30034) and
Ankit Agarwal(p30062)
INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND
2009
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our fieldwork would not have been the cherishing and learning experience that
it has turned out to be without the help and insight of some very special people. We
would like to begin by Dr. Verghese Kurien remembering the pioneering efforts of
the founding fathers of IRMA - and all those fine individuals who spawned a
movement the likes of which has not been witnessed.
This fieldwork has been made possible due to the efforts of our fieldwork
coordinator Prof. Sony Pellissery who had planned out even the smallest thing in
detail. Further we thank him for his valuable insights on doing our fieldwork with
objectivity and rationality and yet in a humane and creative way.
We would take this opportunity to thank our theme guide Prof. Himadri Roy
Chaudhuri for his guidance and encouragement before, during and after the fieldwork.
His advice made it possible for us to fine tune our theme paper. This theme work is the
result of all the efforts that he has put in us to help us understand consumerism.
Without his gracious teachings, this paper wouldnt have been what it is now.
Our fieldwork was done in 4 different villages and we would like to thank the
people of these villages who helped us in exploring and understanding the various
underlying textures of rural life. It was their affection and co-operation which made us
feel at home away from home.
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Contents
1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................2
1.1. What is consumerism?...................................................................................3
1.2. Objectives of Our Study ................................................................................4
2. METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................4
3. MOTIVATION BEHIND STUDY......................................................................5
4. AREA UNDER STUDY .......................................................................................6
4.1. Vikrampura, Dholpur, Rajasthan --Jubi Nema ........................................6
4.2. Simaldhab, Godda, Jharkhand -- Raveesh Pandey..................................10
4.3. Dulam, Bageshwar, Uttarakhand --Ritesh Kewlani ...............................13
4.4. Jhanjhola, Bhilwara, Rajasthan --Ankit Agarawal..................................19
5. CASES/EVIDENCES OF CONSUMERISM...................................................22
5.1. Jugaad :- The rural Nano............................................................................22
5.2. I want to buy a Bolero..................................................................................24
5.3. Two Minute Noodles in the Mountains... The Maggie Effect...................25
5.4. Haat in Ratanpur..........................................................................................27
5.5. Chattari- the DTH saga ................................................................................30
6. COUNTERFEIT BRANDS....................................................................................31
7. OBSERVATIONS...................................................................................................32
8. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................32
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Number Title Page Number
1 A Village Shop
8
2 Mobility Map
13
3 Average Income Breakup
15
4 Average Expenditure
Breakup
16
5 Jugaad 24
6 Chattari 31
LIST OF TABLES
Table Number Title Page Number
1 Time Line
17
2 Daily Routine of men &
women
18
3 Earnings Jhanjhola
21
4 Utility v/s pleasure
31
LIST OF ANNEXURES
Annexure Number Title Page Number
1 Individual Profile
v
2 Questionnaire
viii
3 Products across villages
ix
4
Counterfeit Brands- Photos
xi
iv
LIST OF NON ENGLISH WORDS
Beedi/bidi- a cigarette type of thing made directly from leaves
Bhopa- Quack doctors, term used in Rajasthan
Bindi- A coloured dot (usually red) on forehead of married women
Chattari DTH, term used in Rajasthan
Dhabas- A road-side restaurant
Haat- Weekly village market
Jadi-booti- herbal medicines
Jugaad: Indigenous automobile made by putting together components
from different vehicles
Kala-azar- Leishmaniasis disease
Katla & Rohu- Varieties of fish
Laali- Lipstick
Lai- Puffed Rice
Mahua- A tree, its flowers are used for making country liquor of same
name
Masala Mudhi/ Mudhi Masala- Dish made from puffed rice and spices
Momo- Chinese fast food dish
Pahadia/Paharia - A primitive tribal group inhabiting parts of Rajmahal
hills
Patti- CD-DVD ROM
Pukka- cemented
Santal/Santhal - A tribal group found in Jharkhand, West Bengal and
Chattisgarh
v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
DTH Direct to Home
CD - Compact Disk
DVD - Dual Virtual Disk
ROM- Read Only Memory
FES- Foundation for Ecological Security
IMFL- Indian Manufactured Foreign Liquor
IRMA- Institute of Rural Management, Anand
LPG- Liquefied Petroleum Gas
NGO- Non Governmental Organisation
PHRN- Public Health Resource Network
PRADAN- Professional Assistance for Development Action
PRM- Programme in Rural Management
SHG- Self Help Group
TB- Tuberculosis
TV- Television
UPASaC- Uttarakhand Paravatiya Ajeevika Samvardhan Company
1
ABSTRACT
Consumerism is the act of consuming various goods and services to satisfy
ones needs and wants to be able to live a comfortable and happy life. It is an ever
occurring and ever growing phenomenon which has affected the life of every single
individual, irrespective of location, status or background. Our study intends to
understand consumerism in rural India and its impacts on rural people.
This can be predominantly attributed to their low purchasing power. But with
changing times, consumerism has affected them in a big way. Changes in their
spending pattern, the goods they consume, and their savings are observable. A wish
list of the goods they intend to consume highlights these changes. It is also becoming a
way to indicate social status just as it is in urban areas.
A thorough understanding of the village reality and village conditions is
essential for understanding the impacts of consumerism on rural people. The rural
people are different in education and attitude from their counterparts in urban areas.
Consumerism in rural areas is largely determined by the various factors such as
proximity to city, access to media and television, level of education, level of income
etc.
In this report we have tried to bring out the complexity and intricacies of rural
market and consumerism. We hope that it will aid in the understanding of questions
related to demands for market including FMCG, electronics and consumer durables.
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1. INTRODUCTION
An ideal society will be the one in which not only a few individuals, not a thin
affluent class, but the majority of populace are able to enjoy the benefits of enhanced
productivity and the plethora of consumer goods available. Being, urban consumers
and living in cities all our lives we never believed that this could ever happen. Living
in a country like India we believed that poverty is the rule, riches the exception. But
not before had we seen the villages, we could have ever believed that consumerism
could have expanded its roots in the poorest of places. Where people ate mice for
food, they still had mobiles for communication, cosmetics for self-consumption.
At many places the minimum standards of nutrition, clothing and housing are
not assured. Even after such hardships, former luxuries such as homeownership,
durable goods, and modes of entertainment are no longer limited to a few. This is seen
by the extent of penetration of consumer goods in lives of rural people. The goods like
latest mobile phones, televisions, noodles and soft drinks are fast attaining status of
necessity goods. This is increasing the consumption of such commodities.
Consumption in the society can be improved by enhancing productivity. As
productivity will improve, the prices of consumer goods will go down, and in turn
they will be within reach of an increasingly large number of people. This will lead to
generation of larger markets for such goods, which furthermore will induce
improvement in productivity, thereby creating a virtuous circle of expanding markets
and productivity gains.
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1.1. What is consumerism?
Consumerism is the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the
purchase of material possessions.
(Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism)
Theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is economically
beneficial.
(Source: Webster's dictionary)
Consumerism is the phenomenon of consumption of various goods as well as
services in order to lead a happy and comfortable life. Consumerism might also refer
to the economic policies which specifically place emphasis on consumption.
This phenomenon dates back to the first civilizations known to mankind like
Ancient Egyptian or Babylonian where people purchased and consumed goods more
than their basic needs. "Our enormously productive economy demands that we make
consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals,
that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We
need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-
increasing rate" (Victor Lebow, Iree Enterprise: The Dpicte oj the Americcn
People, 1972). This statement stated by economist Victor Lebow in 1955 correctly
sums up the behaviour of consumers. This indeed is one of the factors which are
giving rise to increasing consumerism.
People in general are seeking materialistic comforts. Materialism is based on
the belief that matter is the only substance that exists and thus all things are composed
of material and all the interactions are in turn material interactions.
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1.2. Objectives of Our Study
Before proceeding for fieldwork, objectives were defined as follows:
i. Understanding consumerism in rural areas and its impact on the life of rural
people.
ii. Understanding Patterns of consumption.
iii. Observing the effect of media on consumer.
iv. Find out the aspirations of the individuals
2. METHODOLOGY
ubservation: We observed the villagers, their daily life, customs, actions, etc. This
helped us in understanding the village life.
Interviews: There were some questions that were in our minds. So in order to find
the answers to these questions, we conducted the informal interviews. These
interviews consisted of open ended and close ended questions. It was to aid us in
understanding the village life.
Participatory Rural Appraisal {PRA]: The Participatory Rural Appraisal is one
of the most important tools in understanding the villagers lives. It involves the people
and gives a clearer picture of the problem at hand.
After some repo-building with villagers, we gathered information about their
past experiences, present status and their future aspirations as well. To begin with we
did a transect walk to understand our villages. We also carried out focussed group
discussions with the villagers in order to understand some critical issues.
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3. MOTIVATION BEHIND STUDY
A number of studies have been done in various parts of the world to
understand consumerism and consumers. Then why do we need to conduct this study
for rural areas? One possible explanation is that rural markets form a major chunk of
our economy and these undoubtedly have a lot of untapped potential. Traditionally
rural people have lived on meager resources and have had low purchasing power. But
this is changing rapidly. Rural marketing is for marketers with perseverance and
creativity. The market is extremely attractive with its vast potential but also provides
challenges. We have tried to study the consumption patterns, needs and tastes of the
rural consumer so as to understand the effects consumerism has had on them. We also
know that the rural individuals have more choices than ever before. But is it making
their lives better or vice versa needs to be understood.
India Vs Bharat
Its been more than 6000 years of existence and 60 years of being free or
independent as some put it, but the mystery called India or Bharat as it is called by
many refuses to die. It is a classic example of two worlds existing side by side in one
country, each totally contrast to the other one, a case which possibly has no parallel
example anywhere else in the world. India is the land of opportunities, swanky malls,
multiplexes, luxury cars, sensex, highways, leisures while its poor cousin bharat still
struggles with earning daily meals. But despite all these handicaps, Bharat is catching
on fast with India, not to be left behind in this race for having good things in life. It
may lag behind in monetary terms in comparison to India, but what it does not lag
behind is in its aspirations and ambitions to live and demand a better life with all
possible facilities it can get for itself.
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4. AREA UNDER STUDY
Name Village District State Host
Organisation
Jubi Nema Vikrampura Dholpur Rajasthan PRADAN
Raveesh Pandey Simaldhab Godda Jharkhand PHRN/Ekjut
Ritesh Kewlani Dulam Bageshwar Uttarakhand UPASaC
Ankit Agarwal Jhanjhola Bhilwara Rajasthan FES
4.1. Vikrampura, Dholpur, Rajasthan --Jubi Nema
Introduction
As a part of the post graduate program in Rural Management (PRM)
curriculum of IRMA (Institute of Rural Management Anand), I went to the village
Vikrampura in the district of Dholpur in the state of Rajasthan. One of the most
backward of all areas, Dholpur, has also been rather infamous for its mere presence in
the Chambal Region. It was a different and difficult experience and enriching at the
same time. Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) was my host
organisation.
The village stay in Vikrampura of around 50 days helped me in developing my
own insights about rural India. It also gave me a firsthand experience of the difficulties
faced by the villagers, their limited resources and despite the challenges they faced,
the happiness in their lives.
People had an aspiration to use cosmetics, live in palatial houses shown in
movies in DVD players. They thought of buying a bolero, if they ever earned enough
money. This was a place where people did farming for subsistence, where every penny
was spent thoughtfully, where they preferred Bhopas to doctors in cases as severe as
7
snake bites, all because they didnt had enough money. Though economic status of
people and their aspirations mismatched, their aspirations overpowered everything
else.
Shops and Markets
There were 6 kirana shops in the village. They were mainly made of kaccha
walls and thatched roofs. They majorly sold items of daily use like eatables, bidis,
cigarettes, tobacco packets, toffees and other grocery items (annexure 3). One
interesting finding was that people did not sell vegetables. In fact they exchanged
vegetables of their fields with those of others.
Figure 1
A village shop
Markets
The nearest market was present in the pachgao village which was 5 kms. from
the village. There was haat on every Thursday in the nearby village saipau which was
3 kms away from the village. This was a big haat and people from all the nearby
8
villages came in this haat. The haat majorly sold grocery items. Clothes, cosmetics
and food stalls like pani puri and Chinese noodles were the major attraction among the
villagers. A shop in the haat also sold soft- drinks and various namkeens, as well as
ice cream was very common.
Cosmetics
Women applied cosmetics which they brought from the haat. This majorly
comprised of cream, powder, laali and nail paint. Other thing that I observed was that
only the married women applied makeup. They applied this makeup daily and even
when they went out of the villages to attend funerals, they didnt refrain from using it.
When I asked from some women, they told that it were the movies that they had seen
in the patti that had influenced them to use cosmetics.
Transportation and Communication
Our village had around forty five mobile phones and a wireless. It also boasted
about five televisions, both black & white and colour. They did not have any access to
cable television but they had DVD players which they used to see movies. Also one
person in the entire village had a DTH connection in the form of Tata Sky. There were
eight bikes and two tractors in the village.
Most of the mobiles were rarely used for the purpose of communication, rather
more often for photography and listening to music. This is a classic example of
consumerist behaviour wherein products are purchased for their ancillary uses.
Alcoholic Beverages
There was rampant alcoholism prevalent in the village especially during festive
seasons like Diwali and marriages. Earlier the villagers used to consume desi/local
alcohol. With the passage of time they switched over to beer costing Rs 80/ bottle. The
average consumption of a villager was 3-4 bottles in a day. This was despite of the
acute poverty prevalent in the region which shows that sometimes money is not the
limiting factor for a person who really desires a product.
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Private education
It is often said that whatever comes for free is not valued much. Education in
villages was a typical example confirming the aforesaid. Despite the government
providing education to girls for free (for boys Rs 80 was charged annually), many
children were being sent to private schools by their parents. As they put it, government
education did not impart much knowledge to their kids. They wanted their kids to
learn and therefore sent them to either private schools or private tuitions even when
the cost was Rs 50 per month per child.
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4.2. Simaldhab, Godda, Jharkhand -- Raveesh Pandey
The village of Simaldhab lies in the Godda district of Jharkhand. It comes
under the Bansjori gram panchyat of the Sunderpahari block. It is located at a distance
of forty-four kilometres from the nearest town and district headquarters of Godda. Its
distance from the block headquarter Sunderpahari is twenty five kilometres. The
village is not connected with metalled road and becomes inaccessible during rainy
season. There were three ways of going out of village for reaching metalled road from
where further transportation can be taken.
In this village society which exists in isolation from the outside world the
presence of even smallest amount of liquid money is of profound importance. The
whole gamut of livelihood activities around the year performed by these primitive
tribal groups attempts to generate more and more opportunities of converting
agriculture and forestry produce in liquid money.
Transaction capability and type depends on what villagers have in hand,
money or grains. In the weekly haat, villagers take leaf plates, excess of paddy, dried
mahua, timber products, vegetables and country made liquor etc. for selling and
bartering. In barter exchange people receive products like lai, katla, rohu and other
such natural products. From selling these products they get money which they in turn
use for acquiring goods which are usually processed or factory manufactured e.g.
spices (both open and packet) and cosmetics. Thus, here we observe the role of barter
in creation of liquid money and then its conversion into the packaged goods.
For understanding the pattern and volume of expenditure by villagers one
needs to understand the main reasons for which they need money. In this remote area
endemic to malaria and kala-azar with high incidences of child and maternal deaths
the health issues are their major concern which warrants immediate and indispensible
spending of money. Obviously I was of the opinion that health expenditure of every
family will occupy the first place. Though when emergency health concerns arise,
money is spent immediately. But major chunk of expenditure every family was for
11
education in form of hostel and tuition fees. There is a major difference in mode of
expenditure, as nearly all the education expenses were met by bartering agricultural
produce with schools, hostels and missionaries. But all the health expenditure required
liquid money. In this constrained condition of survival the concepts of consumerism
and materialism were often seemed alien.
So sticking with definition of consumerism I kept my whole attention in
observing whatever the meagre amounts of things the villagers buy. People were
buying many brands of cosmetics and spices thinking that they were buying the
original one. But in reality they were clever counterfeits.
The village was visited every week by a merchant who came on bicycle selling
small packets of goods of daily use like salt, biscuit, bindi etc. Along with it he also
used to bring ready to eat preparation like masala mudhi which was very popular
among children. On observing continuously for four-five weeks a pattern started to
emerge. He would always come on Monday or Tuesday, will give children the
preparation and then tell him or her to bring money from home. On two or three
occasions I witnessed how the child come home and insists upon elder members for
giving them money. The most selling product from the cycle was biscuit packets,
toffees and washing powder. On further enquiring these consumers it was revealed
that they bought only those things when they didnt went to haat which they forgot to
purchase in the haat. On question of why there is no shop in village the reason which I
was given was reluctance of villagers due to the fact that transactions would be in
credit terms and not in cash which would result in losses. And people will try to barter
the goods with paddy, but the shopkeeper will have to bring goods using money.
After spending fifty days in village I cannot say that I have understood all
about consumerism and materialism in context of this primitive tribal village of
Santals and nearby Paharia villages. On one hand people were buying used soft drink
plastic bottles from haat,(to be used for carrying drinking water when travelling) on
the other hand the youth who came back from school and colleges had mobiles with
memory card full of Santali songs.
12
Male members of many families used to wake up early in morning and go to
illegal coal mines up in mountain. Here they used to earn Rs. 150-200 a day for hard
labour for carrying 75-80 kg of coal per round on bare back from mines 80 ft deep.
Thus it can be said without being judgemental that forces of consumerism and
materialism exist side by side in fine balance with needs and aspirations of villagers of
Simaldhab.
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4.3. Dulam, Bageshwar, Uttarakhand --Ritesh Kewlani
Figure 2:
Mobility Diagram
The Village
As a part of our fieldwork segment I went to village Dulam, which is
situated in the Kapkot block of district Bageshwar, Uttarakhand. Bageshwar is one
of the mountainous districts of Uttarakhand state.
Dulam is a scenic village situated in the Himalayas. The village is situated at
an altitude of about 4000 feet. Dulam lies on the side of the road connecting the
Bharadi market to the other villages like Chaura, Supi and Suding. This road leads to
the Pindari Glacier which is an important tourist destination. Pindari trek route is the
main reason behind the existence of eco-tourism in Bageshwar district.
The markets are present in Bharadi, Bageshwar town and Haldwani. As can be
seen from the mobility diagram, these markets are situated far away. Market
accessibility for this interior village is a major problem. The farmers have to go to as
14
far as Haldwani to sell their produce which is the hub for exchange of goods. From
here the produce is sent to Delhi and nearby areas. The terrain is hilly and therefore
the transportation of goods is a major problem. The market is filled with goods
manufactured in Delhi. One can easily spot various counterfeit goods in the market
with similar names and packaging to that of branded goods. The particular brand
observed was that of fair and lovely along with fruit and lovely. (refer to annexure 4)
Income and Expenditure Patterns
Figure 3:
Average income break-up of households in Dulam
(Source: Household Survey)
A large portion of the household income is met by agriculture and salary from
various jobs. A considerable percentage of people (10%) are involved in business and
related activities. Also 3% of the household income is derived from migration. This
15
leads them to interact with people from towns and cities a lot which resulted in the
them being influenced by the urban culture
Figure 4:
Average Expenditure break-up of households in Dulam
Apart from food (34%), alcohol and tobacco constitutes the maximum
expenditure by the villagers of Dulam. This has in turn has created huge markets not
only in the village but nearby as well. Now a wine and beer shop has opened up in the
nearby Bharadi market. People who serve the armed forces are given alcohol as a part
of their ration. They usually sell it in the village at exorbitant prices.
The village has five local markets, which sell goods of daily needs. A detailed list of
the same has been attached as annexure.
One interesting observation was the introduction of Chinese noodles, soups
and momo in the lives of the people. I also observed a shop in the market
exclusively dedicated to Chinese food items where
16
Table 1:
Time Line
Year- Event
1963- Primary school
1973-Concrete Houses
1975-Bridge constructed on river Saryu
1977-Road
1994-Television
1995-Telephone.
2003-Village Fully electrified
2004-Cellular phone
2006-Satellite Phone
2008-Computer
17
Table 2:
Daily routine of men and women
Time Activity (Men) Activity (Women)
4:00am 5:30am Sleeping Wake up & morning chores
5:30am 6:00am Get up in the morning Cleans house and cattle shed
6:00am 7:30am Go to the fields Feeding and milking cattle, looking
after children
7:30am 8:00am Have breakfast Cooking and having meal
8:00 am Noon Take the cattle to the
grazing fields
In fields
Noon 2:00pm Rest in the house, read
newspaper, watch T.V.
Washing of utensils and clothes,
Feeding cattle, Prepare lunch
2:00pm 6:30pm Go to the market, chat
with friends
Have lunch and bring grass from
fields
6:30pm 7:30pm Watch TV, drink alcohol Separating rice from chaff
7:30pm 8:30pm Have meal Cooking and having meal
8:30pm-10:00pm Watch T.V. Watch T.V.
10:00 pm Go to bed Go to bed
(Source: Informal Interviews)
The T.V. has penetrated the lives of the people. Its advent has brought in a
number of changes in the society. Although the local language of the people is
Kumaoni, they have adapted well to the Hindi language just by watching programs
like Mahabharat and some Daily soaps. Even the older women were able to
understand Hindi and this helped me a lot during my study. One observation I made
was that the women were very keen on watching T.V. every night. (for the very same
we used to get our dinner on time). After some time I came to know through informal
interviews that what really attracted the village women were the ornaments and the
clothes worn by the protagonists in those programmes. And since there was no culture
18
to wear ornaments in the village nor was it economically viable for them, I feel they
somehow quenched their desires by watching other women do the same.
Cell phones have become a part and parcel of the lives of villagers lives. A
wide variety of these gadgets have flooded the market included Chinese products.
People could purchase a new phone in the range of Rs 1500-5000. These mainly
comprised of Chinese mobile phones which were not only inexpensive but also loaded
with features. The low end Nokia phones were also available. The school children
were indeed fascinated by these gizmos and they were very commonly seen them
getting their phones loaded software, games etc. There were specialized shops like that
of mobile repairing, mobile accessories doing good business in the Bharadi market.
The year 2008 was the year of introduction of Computer in the village. The
panchayat had bought one in order to maintain their village records. An incident was
narrated to me by the villagers which at first seemed strange and but later made much
more sense. The DVD drive was stolen from the panchayat computer some time back
by breaking into the panchayat office. Three days later it was found kept outside the
office with all the wires bulging out. The villagers told me that the youth of the village
had a strong desire to play DVDs in order to listen to the kumaoni songs. But they had
no idea that it would not function without the actual computer hardware. This in turn
made me realise that the desires of the people are changing much more rapidly than
either their financial condition or the availability of goods in that kind of terrain.
19
4.4. Jhanjhola, Bhilwara, Rajasthan --Ankit Agarawal
Bhilwara, the district in which our village is located is in the southern part of
the state of Rajasthan. It shares its borders with Districts of Boondi, Chhitorgarh and
Ajmer. The district is known as one of the textile hubs of India besides being known
for stone quarrying, which is the main source of livelihood for majority of the
population in the district. Water availability is scarce. Agriculture is mainly rain-fed
although in some areas irrigation facilities are available. The area was hit with drought
the year before due to which there has been a severe crunch of fodder for the animals
resulting into exorbitant increase in its price.
Only one bus service is available to reach the village which leaves in morning
for the nearest town Mahua which is about 12 km away, after which it reaches Triveni
at a distance of 27 km, and finally reaching Mandalgarh which is around 35 km away,
this 35 km track takes about 3 hours to cross. The bus leaves the village from 7
oclock in the morning and it returns at around 7.30 p.m. in the evening. Buses have
very good frequency from Triveni to Mandalgarh and normally one bus is available
every half an hour. Apart from the buses, Jeeps and Jugaads are also prevalent mode,
which make travelling a lot easier and less time consuming.
Market structure
There is a small market in Jhanjhola, which caters to the basic needs and
requirements of the village. It has around 8 shops whose distribution is:-
4 Grocery shops
1 Electrical shop
1 Tailor shop
1 Barber shop
1 Automobile repair shop
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Income patterns:
The main source livelihood for majority of people in the village is agriculture
but there are other sources of income too. A comparative analysis of the income from
various occupations is given below:-
Table 3:
Earnings from Various sources
Type of activity Time period of operation
(season)
Average income earned
in a season (in Rs.)
Farming May to November 18000-22000
Shop ownership Round the year 6000
Agricultural labour May to November 2400
Carpentry Round the year 12000
Work on government
schemes
As and when launched 10000
Other activities Round the year 4500
Source: The activities have been listed after having a Focus Group discussion with Lakshaman Singhji,
Gopal Sharma ji, Devilal ji, Devraj Singhji, Ramlal Ji, Radheyshyam ji, Jagdishji, Indradev ji ,
Nandlal ji etc.
The average earnings were calculated by averaging the figures that were obtained from household
surveys.
Barbers Shop:
Mr. Lokesh Sain, a resident of the village runs a barbers shop on the bus stand
of the village. He had moved to Bhilwara few years back and had started working
there in a barber shop. But he moved back to his native village about a year and half
and established a shop in a tin shed, and since then he has moved to a Pucca shop only
6 months back. According to him he made this choice of moving back to his village
when during one of his visits to the village he observed that there has been a gradual
change in the attitude of people towards personal care (to be precise men). He
observed that while earlier there used to be very limited number of people keeping a
clean shaven look or even having a hair cut in months, while now the attitudes of
21
people had started changing and they started giving importance to their looks and
appearance. This was predominantly due to the exposure they got while moving to
cities or nearby towns for work, whereby people gave a lot of importance to their
appearance. So, due to non availability of the service in their own village they started
visiting occasionally the barber in the nearest town of Mahua. This prompted him to
relocate himself to his village and now he is very satisfied with his earnings too as he
earns around Rs.100-150 per day. Initially he started offering the services of hair cut
and shave only, without any use of after shave creams etc. but over a period of time he
has started adding value to his services and using after shave lotions, creams talcum
powder etc.
Off late there has been an increase in demand for hair massage which he
happily does using the sachets of oil available for Rs 1 only, which he says are handy
to use and makes the customer satisfied too. Eventually he wishes to start offering the
service of facial and massage in his shop for which he is contemplating buying a
Chinese massage roller to make his job easier and increase the appeal of his service.
The villagers too can be seen looking with due aspirations in their eyes on the various
hair design style posters in his salon, along with the posters of bollywood actors
which is also a source of latest fashion trends in hair designs. This is an indicative of
the fact that despite being not being able to match the facilities available in the city for
personal care, rural people still have the aspiration to at least match them in terms of
the looks and grooming. So, even if they are not able to use branded products for
personal care and their knowledge about the latest fashion trends is low, they still
make an attempt to fulfil their desires in whatever limited means they can locally.
Grocery Store:
Mr. Gopal Sharma is the owner of a grocery store that sells a variety of items.
According to him there has been a sea change in the demands of the villagers in the
last five years of the goods they want to purchase. When he opened his shop around
ten years back, initially he used to sell vegetable oil, cereals, bidi, raw salt, locally
made soaps, whole spices, tea leaves etc. But with changing time and change in the
22
preferences of the customers, he had to diversify his inventory and add items such as
shampoos, detergents, Cigarettes(branded and non branded both), incense sticks,
branded soaps, packaged iodised salts, branded packaged spices(processed), coffee
etc. according to him there has been an increased awareness amongst the villagers on
consumption of goods for personal satisfaction even at the cost of spending more,
whose evident example is the consumption of cigarettes over bidis a happening not
seen earlier. Along with this, the availability of mobile phones has led him to sell top
up cards too in his shop,though in small denominations of Rs 10 only.
While earlier, there was a disinclination for packaged food items such as
namkeens, biscuits etc. (Parle G) being an exception, now they are one of the most
highly sold items of his shelf. He sources the namkeens from local markets as they
provide a very high margin, and branded namkeens are available in only small
pouches of Rs 5 & 10 as they are costly and thus not demanded in high volumes. The
change in the consumption patterns and demand of goods as stated above signifies the
changing trends in the rural psyche to consume and use the latest products available
elsewhere and if the original products are not available, they are happy to consume the
imitation of these products which would at least give them a feeling of satisfaction of
having consumed that product like the Lalratan Oil (imitation of Navratan Oil), or
Jack Bond (imitation of Fevicol). Besides this, there has been a gradual shift in the
purchasing pattern in the village wherein people have started to give importance to
ease of use and having an inclination to consume ready to use products like packaged
spices, iodised salt etc which are available in pouches.
5. CASES/EVIDENCES OF CONSUMERISM
5.1. Jugaad :- The rural Nano
Jugaad is the best example of the rural aspiration to match the urban
convenience. Literally meaning a Makeshift Temporary Entity, it is the most
easily available mode of transport, both for passengers and goods in the village. It
23
is also an indicative of the creativity of people in rural India to solve their
problems of affordability, approachability along with multiple usage of a single
resource, which is otherwise hard to achieve.
Figure 5
Jugaad
A Jugaad is made up of engine of a tube well, fixed on the chassis of old jeep,
whose hydraulics, braking, steering parts etc. too are sourced mostly from old and
abandoned vehicles. Its body is made up of wooden sheets, fixed with nuts and bolts,
and due to mostly being an open entity it can be conveniently used to either ferry
passengers or transport goods. Another factor which adds to its affordability is the use
of kerosene oil as fuel which makes it dirt cheap to operate. It has been designed in
such a way so as to make as much space available as possible, so that it can carry more
no. of passengers or more amount of goods which can be seen from the fact that it
does not has a sitting arrangement in the forms of seats.
The use of Jugaad also signifies the aspirations of the rural mind to own a
vehicle like their urban counterparts to own a vehicle besides providing an easy and
comfortable mode of transport which is dependable, affordable, easy to use & operate
and low on maintenance. The availability of local expertise to mend and repair the
engines used in it is another added advantage. Especially in terms of the pathetic
24
conditions of the roads in the villages, Jugaad is a vehicle which can be easily
manoeuvred and driven, with very low damage and breakage on account of its rugged
structure, and even in case of repairs, the cost of maintenance is very low.
But what is the most important fact which we should keep in mind while
seeing this rural innovation is that the Jugaad is the testimony to the fact that despite
being low in terms of purchasing power, per capita income, what the rural folk is not
far behind in, is in the way they address their requirements and needs, which still are
very basic in nature and which have not yet been addressed by any of the automobile
manufacturers. The Jugaad may not come in fancy colours or different models, but its
single model combines in itself all the features which make it all weather, all time
answer to the growing village aspirations and ambitions. And last but not the least, its
price, at Rs. 70,000 apiece; it can give a run for money to almost any automobile
company in the world to provide an alternative which can compete it in terms of the
above mentioned parameters which are peculiar to rural India and its inhabitants.
5.2. I want to buy a Bolero
This is a case depicting the dreams of a rural consumer. It shows that
aspirations of an individual are not bounded by the limited resources. Some extracts
from the discussion:
Me: If you turn into a lot of money, what is it that you will want to buy?
Siyaram: A Bolero.
Me: Why?
Siyaram: I want it.
Me: What will happen if you get it?
Siyaram: It will be used for travelling.
Me: But you already have a tractor for that.
25
Siyaram: When people from PRADAN come here, they come in a Bolero. It is a status
symbol and thus commands respect in the village. I am richest person in the whole
village. A Bolero will make me comparable to them.
A Bolero here is not just a car; it is not just a mode of transportation. It is a status
symbol. It is an instrument of showing that one is the richest. Siyaram feels that
owning a Bolero will give him immense satisfaction and pride in the society.
The thing to be noted here is not that a rural farmer wants a car, but the choice,
specification of the brand and the reason given behind it are important. We can see
that formation of role model has taken place in form of NGO people.
This conversation in particular emphasizes on the fact that people of Vikrampura
have a lot of desires many of which are not economically viable. They want to live a
lifestyle which is originally not their own. They are indeed being influenced by
consumerism and it will be interesting to see its impact on their future.
5.3. Two Minute Noodles in the Mountains... The Maggie Effect
The Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand is a hilly area. People live in the remotest
villages like Jhuni which is situated at the height of more than 8000 feet. Taking into
the account the terrain, lack of roads to the remote villages and the harsh weather
conditions especially in winters, marketing of goods and services in the area is a major
challenge. The goods are brought to Munar Market which is about 240 km from
Haldwani (the main hub for exchange of goods). From here these goods are loaded
onto mules which carry these to the villages which are 7 and 9 Km away respectively.
This in turn increases the cost of these products. One observation made was that even
though the local shops in these villages did not have goods of basic necessity like food
grains, vegetables, they almost certainly had one commodity: Maggie noodles. These
noodles are liked by people of all ages. It is also popular among various tourists that
come here for trekking in the Pindari Glacier. Maggie has found its way in the menus
26
of almost every restaurant/dhaba in Bharadi and Bageshwar markets. After a series of
informal interviews I found that in some households this product has become a part of
the staple diet of the villagers. The distributor in the Bageshwar district told me that
the demand for Maggie noodles was much more than the supply and that he had a hard
time in coping up with the demand.
Many questions arose in my mind, in particular about possible reasons for the
ubiquitous presence of these noodles and why have they made inroads in the lives of
villagers. Firstly I will contribute this phenomenon to consumerism. Yes, the villagers
are not living in an isolated world. Also it is cheap and its price remains constant even
the remotest village. A packet of these noodles cost as much in Haldwani Town as it
costs in the last village just before the beginning of the Himalayan range. Also
especially in harsh winters, the area becomes inaccessible and people are dependent on
stored food items. In this regard Maggie noodles are easy to store and are non
perishable. This product is a favourite among the children.
All in all I would say that noticing the impact of consumerism even in the
remotest villages in such a terrain makes me wonder about the future implications of
such a phenomenon.
27
5.4. Haat in Ratanpur
This case study attempts to delve into mindset of a Santal lady when she is
buying the weekly groceries. This study attempts to present a picture of factors and
change in factors which influence her decisions. I have also tried to capture the mood
and aspirations of villagers on day of haat.
At present this is the nearest place from Simaldhab village (6 km) where one
can meet the metalled road. People from nearby Santal and Paharia villages come out
of forest and down from hills to sell their agricultural and forest produce and in turn
buy weekly supply of groceries. Rekha didi is the lady of our host family who does the
weekly shopping at haat. Being a worker in NGO Ekjut and comparatively having
better economic conditions this family was not dependent on haat for their earnings.
Ratanpur haat provides all types of services. There were separate places fixed
for each type of service provider and shops. The haat was divided among the areas of
blacksmiths, cosmetic shops, fish sellers, vegetables, grocery shops, jadi booti shops,
eatables and tea, cloth shops with many tailoring shops nearby, barber shops, cycle
repairing places, liquor selling area, mutton and beef selling area, bamboo and timber
selling area, chicken-fish-egg selling area and many other stand alone (or 2-3 only)
shops like of utensils, electronics, stationary, footwear and pottery.
After first visit to haat along with Rekha didi we decided to get involved
actively in weekly purchases of the host family. This involved visiting the haat every
week and discussing about the goods to be bought and a little experiment towards
bearing the cost of purchases. The inferences which I drew from this are open for
criticism.
Rekha di goes to haat every Saturday and I and Sarathi (my village partner)
used to accompany her. On the day of haat we observed that there is a particular
suppressed excitement in the village since morning. All the ladies carefully get dressed
28
in Sari or traditional Santali dresses. The male members also used to go to haat but
not with their wives, they on that day roam separately and the wives also preferred to
go alone. We decided to see how much money is spend in haat and for our whole
duration of stay we will bear the cost of it on behalf of household. Following is the
expenditure on the 6 Saturdays which we went to haat.
Date Money spent
3 Ocotber 09 126
10 Ocotber 09 285
24 Ocotber 09 412
31 Ocotber 09 486
07 Ocotber 09 500
14 Ocotber 09 222 (we didnt pay)
It is evident from above table that the weekly budget continuously increases.
Rekha di told us that every week she spends money only for following: Two
vegetables (potato and brinjal), salt packet, sweetened bun, cosmetics, packet of
biscuit, mudhi chaat with occasional repair of footwear and tailoring.
In first haat she bought and I only paid at every shop except when I was not
present (cosmetics and tailoring shops). In the second haat I suggested some more
things from the shop like more pulse and more vegetable, but still I paid at every place
and gave her 50 rupees when she was going towards cosmetics shop. When we met
outside the haat she had bought extra sandwiches and biscuits. I had hoped that she
will buy more cosmetics.
On third haat we kept her giving 100 rupees at a time and didnt interfere in
whatever she is buying. There was increase in cosmetics buying and number of biscuit
packet increased and soya bari was added to the menu. Similarly on fourth and fifth
haat the weekly budget increased. I was attempting to find that what goods she prefers
buying when there is increase in purchasing capacity continuously over the time.
29
On our final haat visit, we didnt go with her and arrived late so that she would
have bought items. I asked her on way back what things she has bought and Sarathi
(my fieldwork partner) kept on jotting it on a small diary. In course of close to an hour
walk back to village, she had given, in bits and pieces the figures of money she had
paid at each shop, which we totalled later to 222, though it can be somewhat more or
less from this, but surely not as high as previous weeks. This was very important
regarding the present theme topic as the demand of liquid money is an important issue
in the rural area.
30
5.5. Chattari- the DTH saga
Figure 6
Chattari
The arrival of DTH in the villages is having a profound impact on the lives of
villagers. They are fast changing in their thinking and consuming behaviour. One
thing which is omnipresent that the villagers who didnt seem to mind much that there
is no electricity in the village now want electricity for at least watching television.
The other major impact is increase in their awareness regarding clothing and
products. The women specially became aware of the extensive use of cosmetics and
jewellery. So were the men interested in the formal clothing of Jeans and T-shirts.
Another noticeable fact was that the houses shown in the T.V. were of
profound interest to the villagers. Almost everyone in the village wished to have a big
house, similar to one shown in the television serials and movies.
31
6. COUNTERFEIT BRANDS
-The indicator of Consumerism
These are an integral part of rural markets. What we found out was that people
are not always aware of the reality while buying these products. Reasons for selling
Counterfeit brands may include:
1. Villagers will not buy the original brands due to price constraints
2. Counterfeit brands have more margin
3. Limited availability in rural markets of the brands
The popularity of counterfeit brands and their parallel thriving market is an
indicator of psyche of people that they want to consume those good looking
attractively packaged goods. Even when they cannot afford it, they have a desire gap
which is satiated by imitation products. Another question which arises here is that why
not to use these products? When they are cheap, make one feel happy and are readily
available? There is another aspect that asks whether the market of counterfeit brands
thrive primarily due to less cost or unawareness of villagers who buy it? The latter
came out as main reason for high sale of these products than the economic conditions.
In Simaldhab, Godda it was surprising for the villagers to know that they are
not using Fair & Lovely but Pofie & Lovely, not Boroline but Boxoline, not
Margo but Merry. The inclination of villagers to buy these brands comes from the
radio advertisements and not from any print media which does not reach the village.
The annexure of photographs of these counterfeit products is give at the end.
32
7. OBSERVATIONS
With increased access to media via television and papers there have been
changes in consumer patterns of rural people as they have become aware of
goods like car brands, branded clothing, cosmetics, electronics etc.
By observing only the level of dressing and cosmetics used by women one
could easily tell whether the women were a SHG/NGO member/worker or
not. This was so because there was an increase in earning whenever a
woman was a part of any such organisations.
Vehicle ownership has become a status symbol.
. Wearing jeans has entered into the culture of people in Uttarakhand. The
younger generation can be easily spotted flaunting jeans and branded shirts
among their peers.
Consumption of products like detergents, incense sticks, perfumed soaps has
started in a big way.
The attire of villagers has changed from dhoti kurta to pant shirt in the new
generation resulting into even opening of tailor shops.
Inexpensive imitation products are available in plenty.
The wish list of products range from owning a tractor, car jeep, to expensive
mobile sets, footwears etc.
8. CONCLUSION
This is only a narrative. We have made a humble effort to understand rural
culture from a perspective which is relevant these days. It being a global phenomenon,
we attempted to understand their state in the rural part of India. In conclusion we
would try to see whether this attempt was successful in addressing the objectives set
out at the beginning of study. The first objective was to understand the consumerism
33
in rural context. Consumerism is conceptually very wide and its practical implications
cannot be understood with certainty in a short span of 50 days. The very act of
consumerism involves act of buying goods. For this money is needed and when it is
limited the whole area of study becomes constrained. But at the same time this limited
money, provided us a laboratory setting for understanding the consumer behaviour.
Next objective was to identify any pattern in consumer behaviour over the
years through asking questions and some observations. Observing consumption
behaviour for 50 days and collating our experiences of four different places gave us
some facts which are a) the village consumers are shrewd and do not spend money
without thinking twice b) the younger generation is very much inclined towards
technology c) cell phone has made an impact and is becoming a vehicle of change.
This brings us to our next objective which was to see the impact of media on
consumers. Apart from print and electronic media, cell phones (it is also electronic)
have a major role to play. There is definite component of mobile related expenses in
the bills of almost all the households except in case of Simaldhab (Jharkhand) village.
The main expenditure is not on buying talk time but buying the time @ Rs. 5 per
mobile for recharging the power of cell-phone.
Radio is most effective instrument for influencing the consumers. The
advertisements played on the radio were carrying a particular formant akin to rural
liking. Combining all these observations we in the end asked about the aspirations of
people of villagers in a form of wish list. This discussion can be compared as necessity
v/s luxury.
The very notion of utility and luxury is a relative one. Every consumer good is a
luxury good for deprived households but a necessity (utility) for well-to-do
households. As a persons earnings increases consumer good changes from a luxury to
an amenity, and ultimately to utility.
34
Table 4
Utility v/s Pleasure
Utility/ Needs Pleasure/Aspirations
Whole Grains and Spices Packaged food products
Kerosene and Firewood LPG Cylinder
Mobile Phones( communication) Mobile Phones ( Entertainment)
Country Liquor Packaged Alcohol (IMFLs)
Beedis Cigarettes
Raw Tobacco Pouches
The above table represents what present consumption patterns are and where
the villagers want it to gradually shift i.e towards right side of the table.
vi
Annexure1
Individual Profile
1. (a) Name ---------------------------------------------------- (b) Age------------------
2. Sex: M--------M--- F-----------
3. (a) Income --------------------------- (b) occupation-farmer--------------------------
4. (a) Activity--------------------------- (b)Year of starting------------------------------
5. (a) Religion--------------------- (c) Caste----------------
6. Notes :
7. Land holding (acre)
0 0-1 1-2.5 2.5-5 Above 5
8. Does income agriculture suffice their overall requirements?
YES NO
9. Which goods occupy the major portion of spending? Does this position change
as a result of any factor?
10. Which factors affect consumption?
11. How does location of village affect the consumer patterns?
12. What goods are available in the local market? How has the availability changed
over time?
13. What portion of earning is spent on consumption of goods of daily needs like
food, fuel, agriculture equipments etc.?
vii
14. Details about goods procurement
Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Varies as per
requirement
15. Savings if any?
16. Funds
Institutional SHGs Bank
Non-
institutional
Money
lender
Own funds
17. Tangibles effects of media and advertisement on consumer patterns.
18. Mode of transaction..
19. Value of purchases (in Rs.)
Monthly
Annually
20. Is there any peak season in this activity? (Tick mark)
YES NO
Purchase of raw material/products Cash Credit
Sale of products Cash Credit
viii
21. Mention the peak season and earning during that season? ......................
22. What is the list of goods you wish to purchase?
23. Has there been any Change in consumer habits in different age groups and with
generation. How?
ix
Annexure 2
A list of the questions asked in order to find out the aspirations of the people
How important is money to you?
What general guidelines do you have for spending and saving your money now?
Will your spending/saving patterns change when you get a job and make more
money? Why?
Do you plan on owing a new home/car? Why?
Do you plan to save?
Do you have priorities in your buying & saving? How did you arrive at these
priorities?
Did your parents have priorities in their spending and saving?
What has influenced your thinking about your buying and saving habits?
Do you expect these ideas to change?
If you came into a lot of money, how would your style change?
What would you do differently/same? Why?
Just how important do you feel spending/saving/buying is for you?
How your father used to spend/save?
x
Annexure 3
The following is the tabular listing of various products that were present in the local in
the villages.
Jhanjhola Vikrampura Simaldhab Dulam
Electronics DVD
players
(besten)
Battery
CFLs
Fridge
DTH
(chatari)
mobiles
TV,
WLL
Phone
cooler
fans
8 solar street
lamps
6 mobile
phones
Radios
Torches
Few CFLs
Very high
penetration of
TV(DISH)
Mobile
one solar panel
1satellite phone
WLL Phone.
Food Items biscuits,
namkeen
candies
Biscuits
Churan
From haat
once a week
Biscuits
Buns
Vegetables
Food Grains
Biscuits
Namkeen
Packaged Eggs
Packaged milk
Garments Ready-
mades
undergar
ments,
tailor
present
Garments
from
nearby
market
Clothes of
daily wear
from Haat
(During
march-april)
Jackets,
jeans,
caps,
shoes
(Bharadi market)
Cosmetics hair oil
creams
Combs
Talc
Bangles
Lipstick
Once a week
from haat
Bangles
Toiletries
Health Care General
medicines
Injections
General
medicines
------------- Pain killers
Condoms
Transport Tractors
Bikes
Tractor
Bikes
48 bicycles
3 Bikes
Bikes
Mahindra Maxx
Maruti Alto
xi
Intoxicants Gutkha
Beedi
Cigarette
Liquors
IMFL
Beer
Gutkha
Beedi
Cigarette
Mahua,
Beedi
Tadi
Charas
Alcohol(local
and branded)
Beedi
Gutka
xii
Annexure 4
Counterfeit Brands
Hair Dye of Godrej imitated as Gajraj
Margo Soap imitated as Merry
Boro-plus being sold as Boro-pluck
xiii
Borolene imitations named Blue Alene and Boxo lene
Ghazni imitation of Ghadi washing powder
xiv
Bajaj Almond drop and Navratan Lal oils imitations
Fevicol imitation as Jack Bond
xv
Fair & Lovely and Fruit & Lovely selling side by side