The Problem with Delhi's Rich Kids(blogs.wsj.com)

blogs.wsj.com

http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/08/18/the-problem-with-delhis-rich-kids/

7 comments

I grew up in Delhi in a middle class family but I went to a school full of kids from Upper middle class to filthy rich families. The kids who came from old money families were actually fairly down-to-earth and some of them have worked hard to build their own businesses and startup (of course, having a cushion to fall back makes it easy to take risks but still, it still admirable to have the desire to do something on your own.) But then there were kids from the 'new money' families born out of the new economic boom. These were the ones who drove daddy's expensive cars, flirted with prostitution, drove through traffic stop lights (like it was an inconvenience for them) at full speed.

The thing is that this breed exists in every city in the world - what exacerbates the situation in Delhi is that they don't have any regard for law and order. Couple that with the relatively weak and easily bribed police force - you have these kids running over pedestrians and getting away with it, shooting waitresses in the head when they deny them drinks after closing time (as an extreme example)

I don't care about their depression problems, a good ass whooping can fix that, I care about the unsafe environment they create in the city.

vdaniuk13 anni fa

> I don't care about their depression problems, a good ass whooping can fix that

While I agree that the behaviour you wrote about is reprehensible, please do not trivialize depression. Perhaps if their mental health issues were easier to treat, their impact on the society would be more positive, dont you think so?

rossjudson13 anni fa

I think his point is that these people aren't depressed; they're enabled sociopaths.

xradionut13 anni fa

They are still children, that never had to grow up.

nadeemk13 anni fa

Of course, I definitely didn't seek to trivialize depression. Maybe the comment came across as too dismissive. I meant to apply in this particular context and not to the ailment as a whole.

[deleted]13 anni fa

xradionut13 anni fa

"Old money has class, new money is crass."

I've seen the differences in the US as well. It was an interesting being a fly on the wall at a gym where old and nuevo riche worked out.

The main difference was how they treated others outside their class. Old school folks usually didn't flaunt their worth, were respectful, had manners and raised their children as well. Many were willing to offer valuable advice and such once they knew you.

New? Treated people as disposable, parked in fire and handicapped zones, littered, and had a pack of spoiled brats. You could smell the attitude. I wanted to drop them without resources in one of the lower class neighborhoods or a disaster zone for a week, just so they would realize how lucky and fragile they were...

mixmastamyk13 anni fa

Not surprised. Humans have evolved during times of scarcity and are most productive and happy in that situation. When one has zero needs, wants, goals, life loses its purpose.

It takes focus and delayed gratification to create such purpose, however. These values are not immediately apparent to young people. The article is correct that they must be taught by parents or perhaps even society. That is, if we want well-off young people to make themselves useful earlier.

Florin_Andrei13 anni fa

It's as if we require an optimal amount of adversity (which is not zero), on every level, in order to be at our best. Too much and we snap like twigs. Too little, and we get these depressed rich kids - the yearning to achieve, to overcome, is frustrated for not finding anything to get traction against, and the motivational mechanisms withdraw their participation.

If true, this has enormous implications for education in general. I'm thinking of all the trophies my kids got in school just for showing up.

indii13 anni fa

these young people have a short time to enjoy. india is in big trouble

India rupee hits lows and shares fall on capital flight fears

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/10251811/...

India’s financial crisis Through the keyhole

http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan/2013/08/india-s-financ...

Capital controls in India

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/08/capital-...

India service sector worst since 2011, fuels gloom

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2013/08/india-service-se...

INDIA’S DARKEST HOUR

http://www.newslaundry.com/2013/08/indias-darkest-hour/

xfax13 anni fa

Not sure how this is uniquely applicable to Delhi. Sounds like this would be an issue pretty much anywhere in the world.

rayiner13 anni fa

The rich are more disconnected from everyone else in India than pretty much anywhere else in the world, especially a place like the U.S. that worships the middle class. Many rich people in India don't even think of poor people as human, and that's shockingly culturally accepted.

[deleted]13 anni fa

manojlds13 anni fa

Exactly. Is the author surprised that there ARE rich kids in Delhi and hence wrote this?

lotsofcows13 anni fa

First world problems...

One of the biggest culture shocks I experienced in Delhi was going to the cinema (Die Hard 3, I think). Almost every member of the audience talked on the 'phone the whole way through. The conversations always started, "I'm in the cinema..." and then "deteriorated" into social gossip.

xradionut13 anni fa

I nearly got into a fight with an Indian, that did not understand, despite multiple official and individual warnings, that talking on a phone in the theater in the US,(except in the hood), is not acceptable behavior... But a pitcher of beer in your lap may be an acceptable reward!

advicethrowaway13 anni fa

>First world problems...

Depression is an every world problem.

startupstella13 anni fa

My college (im sure like many others) had a bunch of rich international students from India. I found them to be hard working, ambitious, and generally down to earth. Perhaps it was because they were well traveled and had a will to surpass their family's wealth with their own stamp on the world. Many had also done a lot more community service than American peers in much more squalid conditions...they also seemed to be more attune to their (screwed up) political system.

In short, just like the other comments, I don't think this rich kid ennui is just in India...or Delhi

xradionut13 anni fa

International students or business folks usually are fascinated to talk with. But I think the article isn't about these people, but the children that have been brought up in a "bubble" where they had no real responsibilities.

codemac13 anni fa

> “Modern society is rational and rigid, whereas postmodern society is irrational and flexible by definition. Delhi transformed into a postmodern society about two decades ago. Naturally the behavior of kids born in the postmodern era reflects the postmodern culture,” he said.

This quote confused me. I don't want to get into the freshman in a university discussion of the merits of different cultural values..

but when did Dehli become "post-modern"? Is this a phrase people use often? What types of changes happened 20 years ago? It's like this quote is hinting at a much larger social discussion, and then immediately they didn't discuss it.

This article left me completely wanting, and read like some unfinished first draft. Yes rich kids can much more easily get spoiled, and the term "spoiled" does have some literal meaning. It was almost as if the point of the article was to let me know rich people exist in India? Duh?

kamakazizuru13 anni fa

same thing in Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta. Essentially first world problems. Though I have to say I always felt that Delhi had a higher proportion of new rich than cities with older wealth like Bombay - and it was something very obvious when you were in the city.