On the surface, it would appear that the consumer society arising in India is
becoming more like that in the USA. Like Americans, Indians are developing
what Ger and Belk (1996) call ``an unquenchable desire for material
possessions''. For example, according to Varma (1998, p. 148), the Indian middle
class has become ``so self-obsessed with its own material pursuits as to
withdraw from anything that does not directly concern its immediate
interests.''