'Decent' living....

Had an interesting discussion in class today. The stimulus actually was a question posed to the listeners of one of the many FM Radio stations in Bangalore. "How much money does one need per month to live a decent life in Bangalore?" I was curious to know the responses. The techie crowd that had tuned in to the station did not belie my expectations. Some said one lakh and a few others said two lakhs. The techies were just being true to thier extravagant and flamboyant life style. Reaching college i thought i must get my students' views on this. How much money do you need per month to live a decent life in Bangalore? Inwardly i was hoping to get a realistic answer. As students how much they can spend every month,i thought even if it means an occasional splurge... Again my hopes were belied. They chorussed the same... one lakh, maybe two max...Seems like for today's youth living in cosmopolitan cities thousands don't count at all or may be they don't even exist. What a seachange in the attitude of the generation of today compared to the previous ones! Probably their understanding of the word decent is quite different from the one that i have. The impact of the consumerist culture is so strong among the urban youth that at times one wonders if even talking to them about value systems that we all often talk about like responsible living without being excessively self centered with a strong sense of social responsibility would only evoke laughter and derision.