Democratic Maharajas?

   

    

Small is beautiful. No doubts. The nations that claim 'big' are really 'small', since they occupy more space, consume more of everything and allow others little. In India the maharajas are  no more ruling. But democratic maharajas have come up in the past 60 years. Just as the Ambanis have built a building of 4,00,000 square feet dwelling, every councilor even at village level wants to build a house that is as big as a palace. At the time of independence India had jusst 500 maharajas and the same number of palaces. Today that number runs into millions. Other than this all who possess money are also believe that they are maharajas. Hence in a population of 1.25 billion even a mere 10 % comes under this 'modern maharajas' category, the figure is 125 million, which is more than the population of 90 % of countries. Not only this as they love lands it is not uncommon that these MMJS own multiple residences in multiple places in multiple names. We read in newspapers that public servants like a clerk or a police man having hundreds of flats all across the nation. Also the love for gold is perennial. On a single day in a single city like Chennai sells 40 tons of gold. The day must be auspicious. If people live for tomorrow, live for themselves alone, hoard  all   in their boards, occupy more what would be left for the downtrodden? 

" TV channels showed visuals of the raid of the CBI earlier at the residence of Ketan Desai. 1400 kgs of gold, 600+ kgs of silver, over Rs.800 Crores in cash were allegedly seized from his house. CBI told that he had more than 35 lockers which were then yet to be opened and contents noted. He also was reported to own more than 400 properties across the country." wikipedia

RTO clerk who made Rs.30 crores!

"Bhopal: He is a government clerk. But when officials raided his premises Sunday, they found to their shock he had assets worth Rs.30 crore including land, cars, jewellery and several bank accounts.The Economic Offences Wing of the Madhya Pradesh Police raided three properties belonging toRaman Dhuldhoye, 50, who works with the road transport office (RTO) in Indore.The team seized documents of several properties including 49 acres of land on the Indore-Khandwa Road, four plots in Sagar district, eight cars, gold and silver ornaments and several bank accounts and lockers.The clerk even had a personal assistant, Rupesh Kaushal."A farmhouse land, which comprises a huge bungalow, was purchased for Rs.12 crore a few years ...." Aaj ki khabar/Syed

The BBC recently reported on the American movement of building tiny houses to achieve financial freedom and create a smaller ecological footprint.

For a growing number of people in the U.S., this trend is already a reality.

http://padtinyhouses.com/

Photo credit: Tammy Strobel, Creative Commons

Faced with the mindset of a bigger-is-better society, why are some people drawn to living quarters that are smaller than the garages on many new homes? Portland Alternative Dwellings(PAD) answers the question “why build tiny?”:

Tiny houses offer a way to make your living space serve your life, instead of the other way around. It’s not about having less, it’s about having more—more money and time to devote to the things that are really important to you.

Ok, spend less money and have more time—desires most people can relate to. But what exactly is a tiny house and who lives in them? The Tiny Life created the following infographic, including average cost and average size of such a house: