Thursday, August 21, 2008

DES - The Dollar Effect Syndrome


As I walked across the arrival stretch of the Melbourne airport, I was surprised by that name board held high by a man whose head was almost unseen amidst of his heavy body. It signed a name so pleasant and I approached him recognizing myself to be received. So were the other aspirants of the same University. Holding my breath with the unbearable cold wind blowing my nostrils, I must have thought, I was left safe in a fairly decent inn that can provide me with all the basic necessities at a nominal cost. Having in mind those quotations that my consultant had given about the living cost of this alien land, I bid a graceful bye to the guy and checked in. The check-in form had all those promising facilities that the inn provided. The receptionist could see a charming smile on my face which soon had absconded with the notice of the final figure that appeared most unkind to the eyes of an Indian who had only dreamt that to be her first day salary at work someday in future – 77 $ per day with only a breakfast and drinking water from the tap. I knew that the travelers cheque of 3000$ that I had proudly carried trans-continent, is soon in danger.

Every dinner at the cheapest possible outlet penalized me with at least 1000 in Indian currency. By then I had stopped drinking coffee to save 100 Rs a day on it. A spiral wheel of nostalgia would then start running between my eyebrows with that old Indian melancholy music at the background - It was a sleepy Sunday morning; So difficult was it to brush my teeth and ask for a coffee; It did come with a great aroma on my table with her morning wishes but all that I returned were complaints- “Mama! How many times should I tell you not to give me one like what you have? I am not a diabetic like you”. Now give me a coffee with no sugar or glass full of sugar I can sip it. It’s heavenly if it comes for 50 cents. What a drastic change in life! A course of 7 days in a different land taught me that I would starve and die one day if I even unconsciously finger a dollar to rupees and I better train my eyes to look at dollars as normal as rupees. Factually, one from a country of lower economics on living abroad in a higher economical background can never overcome his abacus multiplications on relating currencies of these two different countries. DES – The Dollar Effect Syndrome. This would make an Indian feel like a fish out of pond in countries like Australia, USA and the UK, the luxury of which is inviting but consequentially, suppressing. When their sons and daughters break theirs heads to compromise with this pathetic situation there, one stays envying them on hearing talks of their great life styles spoken proudly by their parents in India. What a funny world!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of lifestyles yes the westeners "SPEND" money.. They buy a BMW when we think of a Maruti.

That said, think of countries whose currency value is less than indian currency. Where u ll be paying some 4000 units for a Coke.. That is something u ll take more time to cope up with.. I got over the DES in 7 days but after more than 20 days Im not able to come into terms with this
type of currwncy difference... Luckily i got an apartment where i can cook..

Bharath said...

Hehe..
yeah..Its so very true..but wat was worse for me was that I was struck by a "EES"..(lol)- Thats a " Euro Effect Syndrome!"..
Talking about economic value index based pricing delta..Gosh!, we got to shell out 1 Euro for a pencil!! - thats a whopping 67bucks(!)

If I may add, in managemental terms,we have something called PPD "Post purchase Desonance" and this kinda terms are soon catching up with ForEx too i guess..:)

Nice and a thought provoking write..:)

ramesh sadasivam said...

Every time we envy a person we never understand that they have their own difficulties. The problems Indians face in while living in foreign countries is one such thing.

Sidharth Ullal said...

Nice post! N Thanks for the warning .. am pondering over studying abroad..

Priya said...

Sometimes its not good to convert the currency when you are going to be ther till u finish. If u keep counting, the joy of days will reduce and its only money which will ponder all the time. Live ur life and things will fall in when u get ur scholarship or part time job.