Culture Curry

By Sanjay Sachdeva
Senior vice president, Advance India Projects

On a recent flight from Mumbai I was sitting next to the head of HP, who was travelling to India as an observer of the Indian retail scenario. When she asked me what business I was in, I told her that my company was developing speciality malls in India. Her comment, “Aren't you losing your unique Indian culture while mass-producing these huge, western-style malls?” set me thinking. And I thought to myself, is that what we are doing to our culture-rich nation?

We are a nation ready to be mauled or shall I say malled, but are we diluting our culture in this retail curry that is cooking?

India Shining loves glitz – that is no secret. Give us soaring buildings with gleaming glass façades, and we think modernity and progress have come to stay. But is the India itch to think global good for the local?

According to Robert Adam, one of the leading UK architects, the answer is NO. These malls and buildings are an example of how India is blindly aping the West.

The best of international brands in fashion are hitting our malls; the finest of international pubs, bars and fast food brands – among the most recognised names globally – are the familiar façades covering most of the malls coming up in our country.

In the middle of all this, though, we are Indians at heart. Are we really into adapting our entire lifestyles around an alien culture, or are we choosing to ditch our basics – our culture that is so rich in traditions and hospitality, and so deeply ingrained in our psyche?

Typically, a new Indian developer begins a mall project and starts gunning for the biggest international brands, trying to get them to a city they have not studied, without understanding what it is that the consumer in the tier II or III town really wants!

Yes, the Indian youth have aspirations and do want to buy the latest fashion brands, but hey, aren't we missing something here? Like our cuisines, our rich ethnic products, local regional shops, our fabrics and textiles, and style of shopping?

The Incredible India campaign seeks to attract tourists toward segments such as spiritual, yoga, medical and ayurvedic tourism. There is a huge number of Indian spa treatments, yoga and ethnicity in various local regions where new malls are being developed. Yet, these regions do not have exposure to the retail development happening in the country. Many of us have ignored local cultures and overlooked the possibility of making these components of a mall that is being positioned as an international shopping destination!

Architecture
Buildings with glass walls – as in most of our malls – have major overheating problems in Northern Europe. In India they are nothing short of disasters. Such buildings demand heavy air conditioning. There are enough electricity problems in India and we are importing something that just does not suit our country.

People in India, according to Adam, will just not be able to relate to modernist architecture.

Retaining important elements of our heritage architecture will at least help maintain our strengths in terms of Indian culture and traditions. The Oberois have proven it several times over through their Vilas hotel properties, which blend traditional Indian architecture and modern-day comforts of temperature-controlled ambiences and other luxuries, and yet retain an Indian style of functionality and rationality.