The electronic crystal ball has shown me two words: "escalator duty". I see people going up. I see people going down. The future becomes clear.

The advent of well-maintained, air conditioned malls in India symbolizes a transformation underway. In-duty elevators and escalators, graffiti-free walls and no litter reflect the upward ride that the nation is taking as globalization boosts the Indian economy to new heights. This much you can learn without a crystal ball.

I foresee the continued strengthening of the Indian economy, with the benefits trickling slowly down through the populous, beginning at the major cities and creeping outward. I foresee more air conditioned buildings, more working escalators and elevators. But I foresee that after riding the up-escalator of financial prosperity, India will hop aboard the down-escalator of hedonism. I foresee the rich building personal escalators in their homes as status symbols. The ability to go places while just standing around will become the ideal of Indian youth. Because few will be able to afford escalators, they will explore other methods of getting something for nothing until the entire country is overrun with laziness and pleasure seeking. This will result in a slide in the Indian economy, non-functional elevators and escalators, and more delinquent youth covering mall walls with graffiti.

Can this future be avoided? Either of two laws, if strictly enforced, can prevent the implosion of the Indian economy: mandating that escalators may operate no more than 3 days per week, or outlawing personal escalators.