It seems like people do not strive for excellence in what they do. They simply want something to do to earn an honourable paycheck. The work itself is least of their concern. As an example, a few rooms in our house needed to be painted so we set out in hunt for a few good painters. Strangely, since it was only a few rooms and day's worth of work, no painter agreed. It seemed like they either had enough jobs lined up, or like they rather not spend their effort on such a small task. After some difficulty, we hired two painters who came for a day and finished the job. They did not have any tools with them, or even old clothes that can get dirty. They not only asked us to get all the material, but also asked us for t-shirts that they can wear while on the job. They did a terrible job painting demonstrating how little they care. This was only one of many instances that I faced of people and their insincerity during my four week visit.
Although the middle class and lower-middle class in India are leading a poor quality life, there was a lack of passion and ambition. They are happy to be complaining and pitying themselves about the life they are leading. No one seemed interested in improving themselves, their skill set, or the number of prospects they have.
After witnessing a few of these instances, I was reminded of my grade 9 business class where I was taught about the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:
The basis of the concept is simple. Every human has some needs that should be fulfilled in order for him/her to lead a happy life. These needs appear in a pyramid form where the most basic physiological needs such as food, water and shelter are in the bottom. These needs are vital for survival and are at utmost priority to any person. A person can think of other needs only after the physiological needs are satisfied.
After the basic needs are met, every person has safety needs, where s/he needs to feel secure in the place where they live, in the work that they do, and the people that they interact with.
Once the above two needs are satisfied, a person has social needs, where he looks for relationships with people. This includes friendship, family, community and an overall sense of belonging with other people.
Once the three basic needs are satisfied, esteem needs become prevalent. These are issues dealing with self worth, confidence, reputation and recognition in the community, etc.
At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization needs which seems to be lacking in the lower/middle class Indian population. These are the needs to develop oneself and their personalities. It is realizing one's potential in something and striving to achieve that potential. It is about becoming something more than what one is at present.
In my opinion, the three basic needs in the bottom of the pyramid are not fully met to form a solid foundation required to satisfy the esteem and self-actualization needs. While a person buys a house in India, one is always worried about the legality of the property; whether, s/he bought the house from the rightful owner. While every family gets a maid to help with the housework, there is always the worry of her stealing from the house. While they own a car, the traffic makes the drive intolerable. There is no sense of calm and straightforwardness. Everything is a race where it is not the fastest or strongest that wins; The winner is the one who can cheat the other out of winning. These elements contribute to the vicious circle of insincerity and dishonesty in India. Without these basic needs fully met, people rarely try to improve themselves, their morality, or the quality of work they do.
While there are many examples of people in India who have satisfied all the needs in the pyramid, this article is meant to address the lower-middle class population of India. It is perhaps true that social and esteem needs are perhaps easier to satisfy in India than most western nations due to these needs being inherent in the culture. However, most lower-middle class people are struggling to satisfy their physiological and safety needs, which renders them incapable of developing themselves or their skills. To fix this situation, certain steps must be taken by the government such as fixing a minimum wage for the workers allowing them to make a living from what they do. Also, some recognition and appreciation would go a long way in satisfying their esteem needs, thereby allowing them to concentrate on improving the quality of work they do.
Currently, in light of all the development in cities, the government seems to be taking the top down approach where the wealthy are favoured. The emergence of shopping malls, multiplexes, luxury apartments, bigger cars, etc. are only available to the wealthy, while the lower-middle class are struggling to make ends meet. The government should take a bottom-up approach, where the lower-middle class are allowed to improve their skill and quality of work, thereby satisfying the safety needs of the middle-class, thus improving their quality of life. This appears to be a sustainable way of building a strong foundation for the country.
