The Cost of Living (Very Well) in India

The average Indian worker earns about 60,000 rupees. This is $1,360 at current exchange rates, but prices here are lower for products produced locally because the cost of labor is so low. For example, an egg costs $0.06 and a banana $0.05. You can get your shirt ironed for $0.09, or have a cup of tea for $0.11. Consequently, the average Indian worker lives as if he earns $6900. Because we convert our dollars into rupees at the exchange rate but enjoy the benefit of low wages, we live very well indeed. Typically, we spend about $1 each when we have a nice meal out. A gourmet meal is $10. To get to the restaurant in a three-wheeled autorickshaw, which runs on compressed natural gas, costs less than a dollar. Handicrafts--beautiful handicrafts-- are also inexpensive, of course. Not everything is cheap, at least by Tuscaloosa's standards. Our apartment costs about 3x as much as an apartment of similar size would cost in T-town, but of course this is the big city! Our rent is half of what it would be in NYC or London. Things are really cheap in the countryside. According to a recent report, in order to get snake venom to create anti-venom, villagers in one part of India are paid 44 cents for each cobra or kraat they capture alive.