micro X = X + 1

While I was in the pantry, the office boy asked if I worked in another building few years back. I responded positive. He was able to recognize me after a long time. I had a chat with him in local language.

Earlier he was working for a catering service which served our office. Later he joined as an office boy as he got 25% raise. He is quite happy with his decision, brought his cousin to the city and fetched the same job to him.

I asked his native, what he was doing there etc. He started narrating his plans. He is clear that the city life will be good only till marriage. After getting marriage, he wants to return to his village (some 100km from the city). He told how good it would be to return to the vegetable farms and start cultivating stuff. I was nodding and agreeing to his statements. Definitely it is a good idea. The way food materials shoot up and farm land urbanized, it is a sure win to bet on farming. After the discussion, I returned to my seat and started thinking in what the boy was mentioning.

When he marries, there is a high chance that he is going to find a girl from his village. This assumption is because of his plans to return to village. I doubt if any girl from city would like to accompany him to his village and settle with his family gang. He will be having many options to choose from out of the village girls. His city job would have raised his status way high up in the matrimonial market and has an edge over his cousins who plough the land or share their wisdom in the tea stall.

Best girl among the choices could be slightly above our boy's family and financial status. This acceptance from the girl's side will be because of the 'city lights'. After settling in the city, they might start buying 'essential' things for city life. He may not dare to talk about shifting back to village. With kids, their education, job, life style, comfort etc etc will make them stay here. Kids will be taken to village for summer vacation. However, they will not agree for settling there. (Few of my uncles moved to city. Cousins from their families do not like visiting our town, which is not a village).


ah! I had read this somewhere. Yeap, this is our x=x+1 theory, just by replacing the software engg by our local hero and the green shores of US by our bustling city.

Amazing to see how the macro factors work at micro level too.

While we are at it, read the comments to x=x+1 by "Jai Shanker, Former VP and General Manager, now unemployed" at http://www.garamchai.com/XPlusOne.htm