Keeping up with the patels

For the longest time, "Keeping up with the Joneses" has been a popular expression in the English-speaking world, used to refer to economic and social aspirations of those lower down the pecking order. The phrase is said to have originated from an American comic strip in which the Joneses were better-off neighbours of the strip's main characters. They (the Joneses) were always spoken about but never seen. The strip itself was reportedly inspired by friends known to the cartoonist Arthur Momand who were in endless competition with their neighbours, Joneses, including constantly expanding their home, "to keep up with the Joneses." True to the sweeping changes taking place in the 21st century, the primacy of the emblematic Joneses is now being challenged. A recent survey in Britain that examined buying behaviour of the country's most common surnames showed that the Patels are spending more per head on electronic goods and gadgets than any other group. According to the online retailer who commissioned the survey, the Patels splurged $5000 a year on items such as home entertainment systems, computers, phones, cameras etc, far more than the Jones (who came in 16th), Smiths and Browns. Linguistic revisionists are now suggesting that "Keeping up with the Joneses" be replaced with "Keeping up with the Patels," particularly since idiom — in the form of Indlish — if not economics and demographics, points to growing Indian influence across the world. You buy that? Patels are now ubiquitous across the world. There were 80,000 Patels in UK a decade ago, when they were said to be the 40th most common surname (the Joneses came in second, so the Patels have plenty of catching up to do demographically). According to the year 2000 US Census, there were 49,740 Patels in the US. Patel ranked 591 in the list of most common American last names, ahead of such notables as Dalton, Roth, and Nixon. In the interest of euphony, "Keeping up with the Jains" could have been a more pleasing transition, except that Jains, typically, are a frugal and austere lot. If anything, keeping up with the Jains would suggest the opposite of keeping up with the Joneses and Patels i.e divesting oneself of worldly possessions and paring life down to bare necessities. For that matter, even with Patels, there are attributes outside acquisitive and consumptive tendencies which do not square with the Joneses. Patels are exceptional entrepreneurs — an industrious, self-made, risk-taking lot. Joneses are more likely well-bred aristocrats, the kind that inhabit Wodehouse's world, although Indiana Jones aka Harrison Ford has a different story to tell. But if it comes to competition in business between Patels and Joneses, it's a no-contest. No one can keep up with Patels. Patels could well be a generic name for well-heeled Indians at large. The evolution is already underway. For instance, a "Patel shot" is now a generic term for the standard photo touristy Indians take in front of a famous monument or familiar scene — like the Eiffel Tower or Niagara Falls. Some years back, referring to the profusion of Indians in the tech world, someone coined the expression "Intel Inside, Patel Outside," although there are few Patels in technology. Then there is the term Potels, to describe motels owned by Indians, although in addition to Patels, there are also Shahs, Mehtas and others who are in this line of business. In fact, some economists will argue that Patel is now a generic term for millions of Singhs and Zhangs, Shahs and Xiaos. It's their growing purchasing power — and their keeping up with the Joneses — that's expected to keep the world economy afloat