For a traveller from India, the US seems like a fairy land. Wide roads, lush greenery, huge shopping malls, bright lights, big cars and large open spaces are awe inspiring. It is a society engineered to satisfy every human craving and cater to every human need. The life style can be very seductive and mesemerising .

However what this translates to is naked, unbridled, unapologetic and hungry consumerism.

From a pet store to a bath and linen shop, clothing shop to a supermarket, a hardware store to a party outlet, a dollar store to a hobby lobby - the first thing that you notice is the vastness of the space these shops occupy. The stores are huge. Then you get sucked in by the unending aisles and caught in the web of the copious choices and options available. You feel like a kid in a candy store and run around from aisle to asile, filling your shopping cart with a glazed look in your eyes. You can't help becoming a shopoholic. It takes a long while to get inured to the draw of the shiny retail offerings.

And the unbridled consumerism takes a quantum leap because super-sized shopping is offered by warehouse stores like Costco, Price Club and Sam's club. Everything is available in bulk quantities. So now one fridge in the kitchen is not enough. You need a large freezer in the basement. The large supplies shelf under the sink is not large enough. A stocking cabinet in the garage is a must. Half the time one forgets what is underneath the packets and packets of frozen ice creams and frozen desserts and frozen meals. So you go out and buy some more.

American society seems to fine-tuned capitalism to an art form where everything is super-sized. There is a carnal desire to acquire. If Prozac doesn't work, try our retail therapy.