national language of desire

Instead of looking to the future, I should have been afraid. The cultural mechanisms developed to deal with the fickleness of fate were many. We didn’t trust all the compliments (putting one) black spot upon an infant the moment she was praised) and diminished any sign of good fortune. At a time when unexpected success stories were few and sudden disasters were many, it was tempting to steer clear of any aspirations.

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On a personal level, aspired to have a stable life. Reducing uncertainty in life was an extremely important goal, and ambitions were usually limited to finding a stable job, educating and marrying children, and retiring quietly to a life surrounded by family. Education was important because it was the only possible vehicle for mobility. Nevertheless, the end goal was quite modest, with a stable job, preferably with the government. This preference continues to this day in many parts of India, but in earlier times there was virtually no other option. Medicine, engineering and the civil service were the most prestigious professions, as were the armed forces. In addition, the imagination faltered.

For most, consumption was outside the realm of aspiration. The fear of being misled by one’s impulses meant that all kinds of expenses were closely monitored. price of bata 99.95 symbolized a time when all spending was seen as a regrettable leak and all purchases were viewed with a sense of malice. Advertising even for items of everyday consumption such as cigarettes, coffee and soft drinks ranked them as rare forms of luxury.

The democratization of aspiration began with liberalization in the real sense. This took the form of both an increased access to optimistic imagination of one’s future as well as an expansion of ways to express this aspiration. TV exploded in our lives and brought with it the structural expansion of desire. It spoke to us in a warm whisper of urgency and desire – it blurred the past forever. The present was the one in which it reveled.

Consumption in its most nuanced form represents aspiration. It breaks the feeling of progress into small everyday tasks. This soap instead, a slightly better shampoo, eating at a restaurant a little more often, buying a branded pairing instead of a branded pair, being able to treat your kids to ice cream on an impulse—all served as a better life. Small milestones for the experience.

The availability of credit gave impetus to the aspirations as it became possible to achieve things ahead of their time. The traditional Indian resistance to credit gradually faded away, and EMI became a part of one’s everyday vocabulary. Credit was still reserved for large property purchases starting with the home, and credit card use was still limited. But the fact that one can imagine going into debt was in itself a sign that, finally, the Indian middle class seemed to have some confidence in its tomorrow.

The second axis of aspiration was education. As the number of colleges expanded, thanks to private sector admissions, new businesses began to gain currency. The ability to imagine life beyond a narrow range of options opened up a sense of the future for many young students and parents alike.

There was a strong desire for more in post-liberalisation India. Pepsi’s Tagline Ask for this heart! Captured the feeling of looking for the next act of consumption. Along with this was a new freedom of the senses. All kinds of surfaces became more colourful, dancing became more deserted, festivals became louder and more festive, and weddings became grand.

A brand like Maruti embodies a new sense of accessibility – the idea of ​​being able to buy a car, which has hitherto been off the horizon of most middle class Indians, felt real thanks to the price of the car. What was really enjoyable was that it also represented a huge leap forward in terms of technology and takes into account what was available until then. The reach of TVs and VCRs grew at a rapid pace, fueling advertisements and aspirations for a large segment of the consuming population.

The other big shift was in learning to deal with likes. In a lackluster environment in which the consumer grew up, there was really no question of choosing between equally desirable things. Nothing depicts an inability to make a choice more than a love triangle in Hindi films – a man having to die for a plot to resolve himself. The idea that one could make discretionary choices was unimaginable.

The advent of mobile phones was the next turning point in the journey of aspirations. More than any other device, the mobile phone democratized desire by giving the individual not only a voice but a personal connection with the outside world. The two-way connection that was enabled – the ability to uncover what was happening outside without mediation and broadcast to the world at large – dramatically widened the horizons of anyone equipped with the device. have make.

Mobile gave everyone an identity. Assigned the faceless label of ‘Janata’ to many Indians, the phone offered a way of segregated individual existence – a revolutionary step in life. With mobile, one can vault on the hierarchy. With the advent of social media, one had the unprecedented ability to not only communicate with anyone in the world, but also to have their voice heard on a common global platform.

It came with the realization that the place called Self should be full of choices. As the ability to express oneself on the social media platform grew, so did the need to give a qualified presentation of oneself. The aspiration to be popular, to attract many likes, and to be able to command a following is the new goal for so many people, especially the youth.

The aspirations are also far more horizontal than before. If earlier the goal was to keep climbing a ladder of aspirations—a bigger car, a home in a premium location, a great restaurant, a more expensive brand—they now took on a more qualitative hue. Consumption began to become more personal – the search for interesting alternatives or ones that spoke to one’s personal values ​​began to emerge. It is still early days but there is a need for more conscious actions about consumption especially among the youth. There is also a need to hold multiple identities. One was no longer defined by one’s educational background, job title, or assets. One needs an array of interests, a width of the identity label that fills itself with small pixels of identity. Instagram bios speak clearly of this new need to capture an ever-expanding definition of self.

It is one of the constituencies that has seen the highest growth in the aspirations of women. Across all ages and classes, we see a dramatic change in women’s imaginations of their own scripts. Education, greater access to personal mobility, the ability to connect with the outside world through technology and exposure to popular culture have fueled a renewed sense of hunger to do more and broaden experiences.

Aspirations have probably been the biggest engine of change at the grassroots level in India. There is an impatience that has helped push against the passivity of earlier times, and an appetite that is not easily satisfied. But there is still a large section of society that can only engage temporarily with the idea of ​​aspirations. Perhaps in the next 75 years the right to dream with hope will become truly universal.

The author is a brand consultant

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