Urban Bharat youngster versus the Urban Indian youngster- The difference

After my last blog on Urban Bharat (small towns), one of the feedback I received reflected that the Urban Bharat youngster has caught up with his Indian counterpart in the metro. So what is the difference, if any between them?

In my mind the difference exist but these are not necessarily in the mindset of the youngsters. It is in the circumstances, the geography and the socio economic condition that many a times makes us realise that differences exist.

Let me take a small example to illustrate. While in the metros, most schools and private companies, at least the big ones have a five day a week work culture, in Urban bharat it is still a six day a week culture. What this means is that Sunday is the only day when a youngster or even his parents have the time to indulge in some relaxation or some outing or some social occasion or even do household chores. Thus Sunday becomes a day which is rationed off in a haphazard manner. Unlike in Urban India when Saturday is the day for household chores and maybe some extra time at work and Sunday is the relaxing day.

The upside of this, of course is that the young urban bhartiya is more hard working. He is accustomed to six days a week and has the mindset to cope with it. Not only that the one squeezed holiday in a week makes him appreciate his personal time much more and he doesn’t waste it often.

Strangely, Sunday is also the day when some markets are closed and of course all banks and other commercial institutions are closed too. So as it turns out many household chores, bank, government work etc have to be squeezed in on a weekday. Now imagine if in Urban Bharat, banks offer some branches to be open on Sunday for a limited time. Or they are open till late evening on a working day. Same goes for government and municipal corporation offices.

As compared to Urban India, Urban Bharat see government officials and their workings as more  incompetent and more corrupt. The reason is simple. While in Urban India, lot of government working is automated and online in Urban Bharat it is not yet the case. The Urban Bharat youngster is more frequently in touch with government officials. The corruption, inefficiency is more seen and experienced. So a youngster from Urban Bharat still stands in lines to pay electricity bills and every month sees how the cashier is wasting time, or making excuses for not being on his seat while people are patiently waiting in a queue.

Then there are infrastructural problems. Urban Bharat is plagued much more with power cuts and irregular power voltage. In Dehradun at the advent of small rain or thunder the electricity department cuts off electricity as they are worried about electricity poles falling or trees falling on them! And since in these towns flats are still rare and society back up concept does not exist, each residential unit has its own back up inverters. So ACs cannot work, internet is irregular and as such many a times things do not go according to plan or schedules.

This results in people, specially youngsters averse to planning. This in turn results in non professional and an indisciplined approach to life and work. In the long run it reflects in the Urban Bharat youngsters attitude.

A similar problem exists due to the non existent public transport in Urban Bharat. The best bet is shared autos, without meters or shared Vikrams which are larger autos at a slower speed. These are very economical but totally unappealing for the contemporary youngster. He or she gets a two wheeler as soon as possible. With congested roads, not much policing and lack of traffic rules the youngsters acquires more of the same indisciplined attitude.

I am actually convinced that jugaad is now a more of an Urban Bharat concept, all for the above reasons.

Then there is this problem of lack of trust in authority. This leads to conclusions like, no one in government can get us justice, or everyone in power is corrupt. This exists in metro India too. But in metro India there is a lots happening that proves that not everyone is corrupt or inefficient. It’s like dealing in property. In urban India one can buy a flat with certain builders without any black component, but in Urban Bharat it is still difficult to do so. More importantly it is difficult to believe that one can buy property in all cheque.

This leads to a total contempt and disregard for authority. So not paying tax or trying to bribe officials is a given thing. Even for students. At the gym the conversations of youngsters usually veer around to boasts of how they faked a project or how they paid a clerk some money to get the exam papers. Or how the cop was happy to let them go without a helmet for just 50 bucks.

What has added to this state of affairs is that in all small towns the one industry which has boomed is property. Unfortunately this industry is a tainted one and many youngsters who break their teeth as part of the workforce in this industry, get to experience first hand, the contempt and disregard for any rules and the ease with which builders get away with flouting all norms .

And this mistrust in authority has bigger repercussions for a brand. A bad experience with a brand is not reported. They do not expect that customer service will help them. The concept of service is still not seen as a customer or consumer benefit. If a new cell phone goes bad they take it as their fate. Or if the new TV is not delivered on time, it’s just shrugged off.  And the mistrust also makes the younger bharatiya more cash saavy than credit or debit card saavy. That’s a sentiment they inherit from their parents too.

And finally the issue of functional versus aspirational. We know what happened to Nokia vs a Micromax. In fact even Samsung is in a spot of bother versus Micromax and Karbonn. These brands have realised how the functionality of small towns need larger battery life due to load shedding, dual sims so as to not waste money on official calls from personal sims. Yes, Samsung is more aspirational but then in Urban Bharat functionality still scores.

Look at what LG is doing. Like a typical durable brand its TV campaigns and press in Urban India focuses on technology and show case premium exclusive models. But then LG AC has a feature which drives away mosquitoes. And in Urban Bharat LG ACs are being driven by this feature. Yes, I know mosquitoes are a pan india phenomena. But do you think a youngster in Urban India will want an AC which drives away mosquito or will want an AC that delivers the coolest cool because of the inverter technology?

As I had mentioned in my last post, the young Urban Bhartiya is still steeped in tradition. Festivals are celebrated with gusto. Religious affairs are taken seriously and family is still important. Yes, nuclear families are happening but at a slower rate. And given the small geography in smaller towns, the distance between families is not too great. This makes the youngster more social and less selfish.

And yes, Digital is the common factor between the Urban India and Urban Bharat. But here too the differences are interesting.

To know more on the same, keep any eye on my next blog.