In Canada and the US (as also in many other countries) there is a movement called the 'Buy Nothing Day'. On the 24th of November every year, millions of consumers keep away from the markets in an effort to reclaim their space from the corporates. Big spenders are not necessarily better consumers – is the message that the movement tries to convey. For many, it is an unofficial 'consumer holiday'.  

In India , however, this has always been part of our ethos, something that comes naturally to us frugal people. Mahatama Gandhi, who the Nobel people now regret not having given the Nobel Peace Prize, was of course the man who put it all together for us - very succinctly - in the form of tenets of sustainable consumption, localised production, and village economy. It was a vision much, much ahead of its time and the perfect antidote to ever increasing buying, selling, environmental pollution and consumer exploitation.  

Divali has just passed us by, and this year perhaps, more than ever; we were inundated with free offers and gifts by sundry car companies, AC and plasma TV sellers, spirituality music companies, banks and loan-givers, and every other business entity under the sun. How the market insidiously and craftily tracks and makes use of consumption trends can be seen from a recent advertisement in a leading daily about the potential of the city of Surat as a marketer's paradise. Apparently, a UN report has declared Surat as the fastest growing city in the world.

Its textile and diamond exports has caught the ever-roving eye of the corporate world and its population of affluent people and their propensity to spend are trends that need to be harnessed to result in profits for more than the select few. While Surat may mean more mobile phone connections, and more Mercedes S-class, will the city also be fastest-growing in improved civic amenities, cleaner air and water, fewer road accidents, and better health care facilities for all. Will the city also be able to bridge the rich-poor divide that has afflicted the whole of India ?   There is more to consumer protection that just government-made Acts, and rules or redress fora. The sooner we realise it, the better it will be for us.   Stay hopeful in the festival season and join us in buying nothing on the 24 th of Nov. Cheers!