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200 ml of milk @ Rs 17

One fine evening, I asked a grocery shop for 200 ML of milk packet. It cost me Rs. 17/- . It came in a tetra pack with some flavor. I bought the milk and was happy that for the time being my energy needs would be satisfied. High cost is not a deterrent for me. Usually in villages in 17 Rs one can buy more than a liter of milk, mind you.


In the end of the last sip I was left in the lurch, when I was looking for a dustbin to throw away the left over packaging material of the milk. I walked few 100 meters then saw a place where I could throw away my empty pack and the scene was what shocked me. The whole area of around an acre or so lay covered with such packets and plastics everywhere.

Then I hit on two subject is this globalization helping cut down the cost or we simply using more material and energy to deliver 200 ml of milk to the end customer. The cost of 200 ml of milk is now Rs. 17/-


Then I quickly realized the Gandhian Philosophy of local sufficiency and sustainability and why such system would be needed in future to sustain this world. I have serious doubt over this globalization and huge corporate neglecting the externalities driving the consumption.

They are raising the income level, increasing the efficiency, making machines which can harness resources at rapid pace. Not only this they are mass producing, so that they can control and manage the system. As a result there are few people who are a part of this system and the entire resources of this world are falling into their hands. Their empire now span almost into the African countries, where they have cunningly bought over their resources to accumulate more and more wealth. This will lead to more and more divide between rich and poor and in return higher number of civil wars before the new world order is restored. Terrorism in its current form is nothing but also a war between haves and have nots.


Now coming back to the Milk and its packet, are we fooling ourselves by calling it higher standard of living? I am Indian and my Indian cognition will always left me pondering over such subject. Was spending 17 Rs for 200 ml of milk of any worth, I would say NO.

It’s the cognition of an individual which has to be raised, so that they can imagine what is right and what is not right for our planets sustainability. We are messing up with environment system with rising consumption level and system with huge energy demand.

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