middle class in india

The Middle Class in India
I was born in a middle class Indian family. Since the age I got to understand this world I saw my parents working hard all day and night. I learned at a very young age the struggles that my parents faced. I was good in studies from childhood and that was the biggest thing my parents were proud of. At the end of each long day my dad would say to my mom, "I will give my son the best education, he will not struggle like this. What I was unable to do, my son will do." My father wanted to become a doctor but could not make his dream true, as my grandfather didn't provide him money to get admission. That is when I understood that after being born in middle class how difficult it is to come up in life and become successful. There are innumerable hardships faced by a middle class man in his everyday life with less salary to meet up the necessities and his dream.
Indian society can broadly be divided into three classes. On the top, there are the rich. They are the people who have got everything in plenty. At the bottom there are the poor. They are ill-fed and ill clad. It is seldom that they have their own houses to live in. In between these two classes, we have the middle class. The people belonging to this class are neither very rich nor very poor. They have to maintain themselves outwardly in a fitting and decent manner.
Somewhere, hanging out of local trains, bargaining in the market and in the matrimonial columns of the Times of India is the Indian Middle Class. This glorified middle-of-the-pyramid junta doesn’t fall in this group by mere parameters of income and economic status.
The middle class has gone from bad to worse since independence. Mostly the people of this class are servicemen. They get a fixed pay. But prices have risen higher and higher. Taxes have been increased manifold. It has become almost impossible for the middle class to make both ends meet. The prices of even coarse grains, pulse and cloth have shot up. The middle class is starving.
The middle class is a class of mental workers. To maintain their health and efficiency mental workers require balanced and nourishing food. They must get milk and fruits. But the price of milk has shot up to more than fifteen rupees a liter. Fruits are so costly that only the rich can buy them, so the middle class is unable to get the nourishment it needs. It is losing its health and efficiency. It is also expected to give its children good education. But the high cost of living has made all this impossible for the middle class people. If the present trend continues, this class will no longer be able to maintain its position and status. Unemployment has also adversely affected this class. In fact, it is on the verge of extinction.
It is the middle class that is seen struggling for an improvement in the standard of living, and also maintains as far as possible the basic standard of character. It is the specific category of the middle class that is seen struggling for maintenance as they are born and brought up to live well but with the increasing in price of everything they are not able to afford it. It is this part of society being not noticed, who should be the backbone of the society as they are the major population of India. And it is this category who pays all the taxes on time and they are the ones who earns the least, are honest, who pay all their dues to the state meticulously and for whom values and self-respect are most important thing in their life.
The dissatisfaction of the middle class people is dangerous for society. Mostly the people of this group are educated. They understand reality. History tells us they have always been the makers of revolutions. Further, they being the custodian of the customs and traditions of a country, their place in society are very important. So the miserable condition of this class is harmful for the entire nation.
The condition of the middle class must be improved. Articles of daily necessity and ordinary comforts should be made cheap. The Government should give it facilities of free medical and free education. The burden of taxes on this class should be lightened. Salaried people should be provided with the necessities of life at cheap rates. Otherwise the Government should increase their salaries to a comfort level. These suggestions, if implemented, can bring much relief to the suffering middle class people.
Rapid social change makes it difficult for the middle class people to adjust themselves to the changed order. This causes great suffering to this class. So changes should be brought about gradually. This will help them in adjusting themselves. In any case, they should be helped to live well.
The middle class is aware of their limitations, but never shy away from dreaming, this is the eternal positivity in them. They dream big, they dream of brighter pastures abroad. All these characteristics stated are not only pertaining to the Indian middle class citizen, these are evident in people belonging to higher classes as well. This is because the middle class stage of the family generation is one that everyone goes through and even if not experienced directly, it is visible everywhere around them. The middle class culture is an integral part of the Indian culture and one which will adapt to any change in the society and yet maintain some of the core values that have been handed down from generation to generation.