The India of the middle class

Beyond the vastness of Mumbai, Delhi, and Delhi lies an India that has defied explanation. People with more sense than me have tried and failed to fix a definition to this India. This India has sometimes shown its face when a small town Indian wins a medal at a sporting event or gets selected for the Cricket team. However this India is largely ignored by the people who are hard at grind in the so called metros. This India reaches out and kicks you in the butt when you step outside the confines of a sealed, artificially cooled cab or the hotel room or the centrally fumigated office block.

That India is still outraged by the scams, the people are essentially decent and live in the mortal fear of losing their dignity. That India gets embarrassed when faced with the guy behind the counter at a Gloria Jeans Coffee shop who asks them what kind of coffee they want. Or the India that shares a idli platter because they cannot fathom why 3 idlis and 5 varieties of chutney would cost Rs 90 when they get the same for Rs 15 back home.

My dad ran away from home to escape a hopeless existence in communist Kerala in 1960s to first Mumbai and then settled down in Pune. He married, had us kids and died a peaceful death. He never adjusted to the big city living, never could understand why we did not want jobs in TELCO or why we were so restless. He I suspect was suspicious of the kind of work me and my sis did at companies that were not names he recognized.

India of the middle class is now threatened.


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My body is somewhere at 8 am in the morning while I am physically at 2 15 in the afternoon. That is the effect of waking up at 3 am to catch at 6 am flight. You might think I am crazy to reach the airport at 4 15 am. I love reaching early and having the airport to myself. It allows me to slow down and enjoy my coffee.

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Here is something I loved reading : Acute Angle by R Sukumar of Mint

I however disagree with R Sukumar when he says that the easiest way to obfuscate the issue of corruption in governance is to highlight corruption in other spheres, and journalists and bankers, the protagonists of this week’s scam, are soft targets.

My take is that finally the murk is out in the open. Many of us suspected all along what the tapes have shown. India is fast becoming like Russia where a few have all the powers. I just wish someone would do a wikileak on all the scams. It would be easy, am sure all the information is available for a price.