in which Tim announces that he is still alive and goes to the mall

I am still alive. I appreciate the bevy of concerned sounding emails that I received after my last posting. The political situation has simmered down for now, and I am quite safe and sound. No worries.

Today a friend called me up and asked if I wanted to go to the mall with him. Having little else to do, I agreed to go along, not knowing anything about what this "mall" would be like. We met up, found a cab, haggled with him about price for a while, left because he wanted too much, and then repeated the process three or four times until we found a reasonable price. Our cab then began the journey through the usual blend of other cabs, rickshaws, cows, goats, people, bicycles, dust, and all the other things that I've stopped noticing so much because they've become normal.

When we arrived at the mall, my mouth dropped open. I think I was expecting the typical Bangladeshi outdoor shopping area. Loud, colorful, crowded, and lacking extensive organization. This was not what I found. This mall could have fit anywhere in America without attracting much attention. It was big and air conditioned, and every surface was polished to a shine. There was pleasant music playing on an intercom system. There was a nice car parked in the main lobby that shoppers could win in a drawing.

There were stores selling everything you could need for a comfortable suburban life. On the eighth floor was a food court, a video arcade, and a movie theater.

Maybe it's because I've never liked shopping malls much anyway, but the contrast between the inside of that building (shininess and expensive consumer goods), and the street out front (dirt, cows, and beggars) really hit me. I felt a sudden wave of moral guilt for being one of the people on the inside.

I know that it's not morally wrong to go to a nice shopping mall, or have a nice car, or eat a fancy meal. But I wonder how popular American shopping malls would be if out front there were little kids in rags begging for money. Would the contrast be enough to get people to change their behavior, maybe buying less and giving more?

I wish I had more time to reflect on this. But my hour is almost up, and I have to go to India in the morning. Look for updates.