It’s been a while since I checked in on the Beast of Bentonville. Turns out that the Beast is not getting a lot of love half way across the world in India. Forbes magazine reports that:

Brand recognition isn’t always fun, as retailing giant Wal-Mart is finding out in India. Days after it signed an agreement with Bharti Enterprises to enter the Indian market, several thousand retailers across the country held vocal protests against its plans.

In major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Calcutta, hundreds of farmers and small-scale retailers took to the streets near markets where vegetable sellers usually ply their trade. Media reports from some cities said protesters had been bused in from neighboring areas to ensure the movement didn’t lose any of its fervor. Predictably, there was some burning of effigies.

Given that this is independence month, retailers chanted slogans like “Quit Retail,” harking back to the “Quit India” movement that began on August 9, 1942, and finally led to the end of British rule.

And The Associated Press also has a report:

NEW DELHI – Several hundred small shop owners, trade unions and activists rallied in India’s capital Thursday to protest a push by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other foreign megastores into India’s retail market.

Protesters shouted and burned effigies representing Wal-Mart and its local partner, Bharti Enterprises.

The rally underscored growing tensions in India as the country’s economic boom moves beyond high-technology and other big businesses that employ relatively few and begins to transform parts of the economy that provide livelihood for hundreds of millions.

    It’s interesting that the protests brought together shop owners and union activists. And I also found compelling this quote as reported in The New York Times:

Dharmendra Kumar, of India FDI Watch, which organized the demonstrations against foreign direct investment in retailing, said large-scale retailing ran counter to Indian traditions.

“Our culture is not the wasteful consumption that we see in the first world,” he said. “This is the country where Gandhi taught people to live on minimum resources. These large retail companies will push us aggressively to consume more and more.”

    It is one of those things that we rarely grapple with in the U.S. We are told constantly that the way to have a good life is to consume–without much thought about what that consumption does to, in particular, the planet.