I'm a middle class Indian and hence it is bit easy to describe "who a middle class Indian is?". If you can see yourself in this writing then you are a middle class Indian too.
Opinion junk:
I'm educated and work for a well paying(my boss says so) company. I read news through all mediums and hold a comment / criticism on everything. I assume this is knowledge. I post my opinions in FB which gives a satisfaction that I have reflected my thoughts very strongly and the concerned department will look into it. But as usual no one cares including me. I have opinion about everything, things that I have used, that I have never used, that my friends used, even things that no one uses (like mars and Jupiter). Whatever I read / understand, I will cross check in internet and believe them they are correct.
Why should I have political views:
I never knew the ideologies (many parties don't have any ideologies) of the party I vote for. I beleive the next government will complete the incomplete bridge in my area that can ease the traffic. I cast my vote to someone whom I never knew before. During the next 5 years I make no attempt to meet him and blame him for everything wrong and cast the vote for someone else. I never spoke even to the ward Councillor. The concept of keeping away from political science is itself a part of political science.
A middle class is a middle class is a middle class:
I think I earned more money that my father generation. I think I promoted myself from middle class to upper class. But wait, that's an illusion. The society has something called "upper middle class" or may be "RAC - upper class" to give me some satisfaction. What my previous middle class generation bought for INR 100 is costing INR 1000 now. If I can afford it then, I belong to middle class. I will remain a middle class no matter how much I earn. The so called society will keep increasing the slab so that I never cross the class (though, I accept there are some rags to riches stories in all generations).
Slave I remain:
I earn 1 lakh per month (imaginary number for easy calculation), then I give up 30% of it, INR 30000/month as income tax. The government will use it (use it for? - that's the topic for another day). I'm shell shocked. I'm suggested to buy a individual house / flat so that, the bank can take INR 45000 - INR 50000 /month from me for next 20 years and save me 30000/per month. I'm grateful for this system. I own a flat and a 20 years of feared and dissatisfied life. I'm really grateful.
The scope is always there:
I don't say that there is no scope for participating in the society. Not only in our times, even in the past. I can see (thanks to the internet) few groups of local residents joining hands to clean public assets. There are professionals giving up their cushy jobs to take back agriculture in the correct way. I mean, similar options were available in all walks of life. But it is up to us, to take it up or otherwise.
I'm tuned to accept that buying a house, grooming my son, travelling the world is a life well lived. Intelligence is planing my wealth to do all these three action items. But that's wrong - life is all about true satisfaction.
