Sure, life is cheaper in India. It’s what the country’s citizens choose to charge more for that surprises me:

• Shampoo service at a salon (50 rupees) v. bottle of the salon’s shampoo (550 rupees)
• Pineapple juice (15 rupees) v. apple juice (25 rupees) [And who drinks apple juice past age 8?]
• Tax on saris (0%) v. tax on leather goods (12.5%)

With this data and carefully observed evidence, I can only conclude that this is how you are meant to live in India:

Enrobed in your sparkling, sequined, duty-free sari, sip upon pineapple nectar as a migrant from Northeast India massages suds into your three-foot-long mane, which naturally smells always of jasmine and coconut oil. After your dark-skinned, paan-chewing driver ferries you back to Defense Colony in your Toyota Qualis (with A/C), don’t forget to slap the maid. You, of course, are fair and lovely.