The health aspect of it is a very recent and Western-centric view. In fact, other grains or carbs are probably no less “healthy” if you cook it the way rice is (mostly) cooked in Asia–with just water and maybe some spice. Compare that to the many ways potatoes are usually cooked: mashed (usually with butter and cream), baked (then add butter, sour cream, and bacon bits on top of it), or deep-fried (all the oil soaked up by the potato). It’s easy to see why rice is “healthy”.

With regard to vegetable vs. meat consumption, you have realize that meat is much more expensive than vegetables in most, if not all, places outside of North America. In fact, food in all forms are generally much cheaper in North America when compared to the average family income. I’m sure Americans would cut back on meat consumption if a regular pot roast dinner for a family of 4 costs $150 to make while a mostly vegetables meal cost $20.

Yes! 10,000 is a low salary from standards of India even and with the rate at which inflation is going up, its hardly sufficient to make ends meet for an average family of four. But it is also true that a lot of Indians begin their career at this level. Specially in public sectors salary is quite low ( which people still prefer because of the job security it brings). If we are talking about average, we’ll have to look beyond Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad which are exceptions rather than the rule. The paychecks are bigger in these cities but so are the expenses. Anyway, for the sake of argument we can assume that the salaries are 15K/20K but my point was that the cost of gas is still very prohibitive. After coming to US I have learnt that if something in US is 3 times its cost in India, it is cheap and I can buy it without thinking twice. ( Except electronic goods, of course). But when I compare gas, I find that it is cheaper than in US than in India. Given the income difference, it becomes a huge difference. Thats why all this talk about gas becoming very expensive in US doesn’t make much sense to me.

My impression was that 10,000 rupees is a bit low salary even there? The newbie tech guys and girls were getting that much in Hyd, but then they quickly go up to 30k or so as their experience grows.

I’m an Indian, and I couldn’t resist saying that you’ve portrayed an average Indian’s life very well. I could just see myself in all the points that you made, Vegetarian, riding a bike ( a bicycle in my case), teetotaler, living with parents and siblings (in-laws in my case).
Thanks for looking beyond the obvious in India.
Just want to add a few more things to your story based on my experience:

Rice is a staple in southern India, however in North India wheat is the staple food. The north Indian’s eat Chapati/ Roti ( you can think of it as a thinner pita bread) which is baked on iron skillet. They eat it alongwith some curries, entries made of vegetable. As with rice it has a lot of variations like tawa roti, Naan, Parantha ( Chapati, filled with some vegetable). Since wheat price is at par with that of rice, it doesn’t make any difference to the cost. However, asking a north Indian to go without roti for a prolonged period will be considered a form of torture

Most Indians can’t maintain cars because the cost of gas is much higher than what it is in US. Even with bikes a middle class Indian commuting and avg 20 Kms a day will end up paying about 6% of his salary in just commuting. Assuming he earns 10000 Indian Rupees. Thats a lot of money, and gas prices have always been on the rise. So even if many Indians can buy the car, they simply choose a 2-wheeler because they can’t afford the gas. Thats why it was a big cultural shock for us when we first came to US and saw people driving to 3 different stores just to get the difference of a couple of dollars, in India you’ll end up paying more for the gas if you do that.

And living with parents means a lot of emotional and moral support ( well, in most cases), free babysitting and lot of help for both the children and the parents. I just love this concept but sadly it is on decline nowadays.

There’s also the vacation part of the story, Vacations are not really a status symbol in India ( unlike a big house or land) and family vacations rarely go beyond the annual visit to grandparents or relatives, going to weddings and other social dos. I don’t really think it is good, but thats how it is in most middle class Indian families. Indians are just not into blowing money on expensive vacations.