Muted Cries

For those of you who have studied Economics, you know there are those days where you struggle to get through the lectures. But then again, perhaps it wasn't the subject, but the lecture itself that bored me. Whatever the cause, the consequence was my lack of attention, and I found myself drifting in and out of her speech.

Walking home, I observed how young and old men and women alike slaved away at the construction of the buildings in my complex. Uneven distribution of wealth. Why do they have to work so hard when some lead such a comfortable life?

A woman old enough to be a grandmother walked to the edge of the road and slowly bent down to pick up a red brick, her lowered posture an indicator of its weight.

I walked by, a college student, so much smarter and so much wiser. But was I really? I looked around and wondered, given the opportunity, how many of these people would have excelled academically?

Yet India's unskilled labour has been its competitve edge in this corporate dominated world! Cheap labour. Would India survive if they were to pay these labourers higher wages?
An India Today article stated that one third of India's population is under the age of 15. However the primary determinant for India's future success, as the rest of the world's population ages, is the education of this sector.
Fact? 80 million of this 300 million sector is not educated.

Now, if India educates its population and its most essential sector of work involves skilled labour, who will take on the manual labour? It's a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it... right?

Perhaps if India's brainpower develops the technology, machines could take over this 'dirty job.' And perhaps every individual will be offered the opportunity to attain luxury. Perhaps. We all dare to dream don't we?

The world hears the cries for a better distribution of wealth on television. I see these muted cries outside my window.

The Economics of India... Well, will you look at that. I guess I was listening in class.