Hey! Where's MY Rs 1200!?

Recently, I was in a village south of Ghazipur when I stopped to eat lunch with a survey monitor at a middle school. The headmaster of the school was very excited to meet an American - he said that since he would never go there in his life, this was his one opportunity to learn what life was like over there. So, with pen and paper in hand, he interviewed me (through a translator):

Headmaster: What is the economic climate of the US?

Me: Recession…

Headmaster: What is the lowest amount that people earn?

Me: The minimum wage is set by the federal government and adjusted by state governments, but I would guess that the average minimum wage is around $7 per hour.

(Aside: I explained to my project assistant that this wage is paid mostly to teenagers who work at fast food places like McDonalds and it is not sufficient as a living wage. He was shocked to learn that McDonalds is considered a lower-tier eatery in the US, since in India it is considered a fancy place where couples will go on a date to have a nice dinner .)

Headmaster: What is that in rupees?

Me: (7*44.83=314) About Rs 314.

(Aside: The government of India enacted a program a few years back that guarantees every rural household 100 days of labor on public works projects per year, if they apply for it. The program has not been fully implemented, but by now it is by far the largest government scheme in India and it is growing daily. The wage for work in this program (which is the closest thing that India has to a minimum wage) is approximately Rs 100 per day.)

Headmaster: Well once per week I go to (the local town) to be interviewed on a radio talk-show. I get paid Rs 1200 for that, and I only talk for 8 minutes!

Me: (That's really great.)

Headmaster: Are there poor people in the US?

Me: Yes. But you have to be aware of two things: (1) Poverty is relative, and so poverty in the US does not look like poverty in India. (2) Despite the fact that the nominal difference in US-India (minimum) wages is a factor of 30, the cost of living in the US is much higher than in India, so real wages are a little bit closer (though the US wage is still higher than the India wage). For instance, whereas I pay Rs 3000/month for my apartment in Ghazipur, the same apartment in Boston would cost about Rs 120000/month.

(Aside: At this point, I indicated that I needed to leave, so the headmaster started to fire his questions off rapidly. My responses became a bit less thoughtful.)

Headmaster: Do the rich people and the poor people in the US hate each other?

Me: They don't love each other.

Headmaster: What percentage of people are patriotic in the US?

Me: 50%

Headmaster: Yes or no: Is it true that the US is conquering other countries in order to steal their natural resources and develop itself?

Me: If I told you, I would have to kill you and take your chickpea harvest.

Headmaster: What about agriculture?

Me: I am for it.

My survey monitor started to lead me away while warding off more questions from the headmaster. However, the headmaster was very persistent and would not let me go until I had been introduced to all three of his  school's classes. I stood awkwardly in front of the students in each class and mumbled something about try hard and I'll see you at Harvard or MIT next year, then I left the school.