The great Indian wealth transfer

If you’re attending this festival as an audience member, the odds are that you won the lottery of the Indian experience. You’re most likely somewhat well off. Whether you have a Gucci belt (eww) or Crocs (eww), you’re almost certainly not living on the streets of Mumbai. 

You’re not homeless. Or asset-less. Or debt-ridden. Or lacking in documentation. The cops don’t call you a thief and constantly confiscate your clothes and your utensils.

In other words, you’re not in the throes of generational poverty. So yayy! 

If someone were to ask people like you or for that matter, the guy who wrote this manifesto, about whether we ‘like’ how unequal our society is, the truthful answer we would give is, “No, not really.” Of course, we don’t like it. We’re not bad people. We can see that a more equal world is a better world. But now we come to the problem…how do we fix it?

It’s one of those things that’s both surprising in its simplicity and uncomfortable in its execution. All you (and I) have to do is transfer some of our wealth. 

You don’t have to give up the Gucci belt (unless you want to). Or anything you truly love and feel you need. Maybe all you have to do is give up the monetary equivalent of one beer a week. Or one handbag a year. Or a monthly impulse buy. Or a gift for a friend you never really liked. 

It’s that simple. Either buy nimbu-mirchi for way more than its street-value or donate to The Great Indian Wealth Transfer.

Which brings us to another question - 

Are we really just going to give cash to people?

Well…yeah.

That’s insane. People need to work for it.

The people we’re giving it to live on the sidewalk. They sell nimbu-mirchi on the weekend and roses on the weekdays. They’re working plenty. Just so they can earn 5-7 thousand rupees a month. Just so they can pay 20 rupees to have a bath in a public washroom. Just so they can survive. They’re the most hardworking people we know. And honestly, if they weren’t hardworking, that would be no sin either.

But they could spend the money on drugs and alcohol.

That’s what you were going to spend it on! Also, studies show that recipients of unconditional cash transfers are NOT more likely to drink and do drugs than those who do not receive cash transfers.

So is this whole “help-people-who-don’t-have-money-by-just-giving-them-money” a real thing?

Yes it is. For links to papers by smarter people - people with Nobel Prizes and stuff - than the well-to-do guy writing this, go to project-deep.org, the website of our cash transfer partners.

Are you currently doing this somewhere?

If you see a stall selling expensive nimbu-mirchi, you might be able to talk to one of the 44 families living under Andheri Flyover we’re giving unconditional cash transfers to. Speak to them, buy the nimbu-mirchi and figure it out for yourself.

It’s quite normal to think about creating a more just world, a world where you can help contribute towards closing the gap between the rich and poor. And normaler still to think about it, start thinking about which cause suits you, which charity is the best and eventually just sigh and think, “Well everybody is corrupt and there’s nothing to do right now.” That’s normal. That’s ok. And no judgement to you for that opinion. 

But here you are. With a simple chance. To just transfer a teeny tiny bit of your wealth. To a program that will immediately pass it straight on to the person who needs it. As part of a studied approach with proven results. 

Here you are. Standing on the brink of joining The Great Indian Wealth Transfer. On the verge of giving up a little bit of control, a little bit of ownership, a little bit of privilege. 

Here you are. Trying your best, in your own small way, to close the gap.

You’re not a hero. You’re just a good citizen.