India's elite finally plumps for education

India's elite finally plumps for education
ENS Economic Bureau

New Delhi, March 30: India's `puppification', or the process that resulted in even the elite ranking motor cars as the number one status symbol, may finally be over. According to a survey of wealthy Indians in 8 cities, education is today the most sought after symbol of one's status.

The most heartening change, as far as the nation's capital is concerned, is the massive shift in the way its citizens view education. Till a few years ago, Delhi was the most evocative symbol of the PUPPY, or Prosperous Urban Punjabi, generation -- naturally, of all the cities, Delhi-ites were the least bothered about education. Today, with a score of 7.59 out of 10, Delhi ranks education as the highest status symbol. The pricey Anand Niketan house, has dropped to number 4, as far as Delhi-ites are concerned -- on an overall India basis, the location of your house is number 3 on the list of status symbols.

The study was done by A Nielsen for A&M magazine, and 2,400 people were surveyed in 8 cities. Only people who owned more up-market cars than the Maruti 800 were interviewed, as the idea was to get only the wealthier sections. Indians still think it more important to have a smaller Nokia phone -- the make of your cellphone is number 4 on the status list, up one notch from the last survey.

The survey covered eight cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Given that Mumbai's the country's financial capital, not surprisingly it's Mammon that's more important there -- swanky cars are the top status symbol there. Not surprisingly, in such a city, where money-by-any-means is the ruling credo, the nature of one's job doesn't even figure in the top 10 status symbols.

Though the survey consciously decided against including any Maruti 800 users, there's still some good news for Jagdish Khattar, the auto-giant's chief. After the Mercedes, the Zen and the Santro are the next-preferred choice of car. And the Maruti Esteem outshines the Honda City and Lancer. The MBA, not surprisingly, remains the most-prestigious status symbol -- surprisingly, for all the wealth it still promises, an IT degree is number 6 on the list of preferred educational qualifications.