On Getting Fitted for a Sari and Another Aspect of Indian Life

Dear Emily Rhoads,

You would love India, in fact, the first opportunity you get, you should travel here. Yesterday, a year X student and her father took me to get fitted for a sari and to find some Indian pop music.
The first stop, getting fitted for a sari, was unexpected and a bit overwhelming. The merchant laid one beautiful fabric after the other in front of me, and I marveled at the cool softness and the brilliant colors. As I oohed and aahed, my student's father started to negotiated the terms of delivery. I guess I didn't understand, but saris do not come prefitted, the fabric is cut and fitted to the measurements of the wearer, which means I guess I won't be bringing any saris back for other friends. The material for the blouse and the petticoat are built into the fabric and cut out accordingly. As it is getting close to the time of Eid, sair makers in Kolkata are a bit busy right now. My student's father was able to negotiate a pretty quick turn around, by next Wednesday, I'll be wearing my sari.
After the fitting we went to his shop, a small kitchen appliance store that he and his brothers took over for his grandfather. The shop is almost as old as independent India, and it is obvious that my guide is very proud of it. At the same time, it is his inheritance, and he told me how important it is for his children to pursue their dreams and study what they want, live where they want. This is not a stereotypical Muslim Indian family, where daughters are told what to do and how to act. Instead, my student's family represents a changing attitude in India. Parents here see the opportunities for social mobility and they want their children to take the chances they didn't.
I wonder if this is a product of democracy? We chant high ideals, and write them into constitutions, and then, I think, perhaps they are internalized, stored away for the right moment when economics and customs are right, and suddenly liberality. Of course what that looks like to an American is still conservative and different, but I would argue that India is in many ways more liberal than the US. There certainly are a lot of women in politics here, and class mobility, thanks to many government programs geared toward higher education, seems a lot more feasible.
More than anything, I sense a common vision among people here, from my student and her father, to my favorite cabby in Kolkata, whose son is studying engineering thanks to a 20,000 rupee grant from the government. The central vision is a better quality of life for the next generation. More education, a better job. I feel that this vision is lost here in the US. Are we too educated? Where are we going in the US? Our leaders can't seem to tell us that very clearly, and I think it's because we do not know I our hearts.