Is there a fine line?

With rising disposable income in the hands of the middle and upper-middle class youth, it is not surprising that they form the market for major multi-national companies (MNC) .

'It is evident from the advertisements we see on televisions – young people flicking out the latest mobile phone to put an “uncle” in place, college students gratifying the gluttony of their friends in 25 ‘happy bucks’, attracting the attention of the opposite sex with the blessing of a toothpaste or fairness cream and what not.

Then there are advertisements of products which portray the youth in the adversarial role – a departure from the laidback consumerist image. In this category you have the youth who woke up the corrupt politician from his limbo with a strong cup of tea. There is the ad where you see a rush of young blood burning down all the chairs to pledge against sitting back in inaction.

The forced shut down of Barista Lavazza in Presidency University, Kolkata, last October, probably brings forth a debate on this perceived split of identities.

While a group of students protested against the presence of Barista citing “privatisation of Presidency”, some students felt that this agitation was misplaced given the pervasion of MNCs in their lives.

Hailing from a peer university in the city, I understand that the intrusion of a Barista cafe in the campus might be an eye-sore for many. If Cafe Coffee Day enters Jadavpur University tomorrow, trying to squeeze in between our dusty canteens, my reaction would be negative as well.

But trying to be pro-active against MNC culture by shutting down a cafe on campus – isn't that a shortcut to complacence? What about those Penguin books and photocopies from Xerox machines? Not to mention jeans.

The culture of consumerism has been inviting criticism for quite some time now. Even my most ‘shopaholic’ friends express disillusionment at times – it has indeed limited the horizon of expectation and expression of a major portion of the urban youth. With ‘n’ number of brands around us, this is indeed a paradox. But what is scarier is the attempt to address this situation with spurs of indignation. How can we expect mass protests in public places to resolve a problem that is primarily rooted in our lifestyle?

The difficult part is to sit back and make small changes in our ways of life. Otherwise “activism”, like consumerism, is an easy way to momentary gratification.

Srabasti studied at the Asian College of Journalism after doing Comparative Literature at Jadavpur University, Kolkata

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