Middle class

What is so middle about it ?

I think it should be called the confused class :p.



The middle class in india has evolved beyond words and means in todays times.. There was a time when my grandpa proudly used to say - "We are middle class people, we are like this only". Now a days he is confused. He's not too sure about what is middle class anymore.


Especially in a cosmo/metro city like bangalore the definition is ever changing. Not too long ago, we used to think people who lived in flats/govt quarters working in public sectors and some in private sectors were considered middle class. Not only have occupations changed big time, also the demographic difference between jobs.
There has been a lot of economical reforms. The so called middle class has more buying power now..



There was also a talk about lower middle class and upper middle class and thats when it gets all the more confusing..



I think there are lot of perception issues. With the advent of IT/ITES jobs, the pay scales have changed overnight. But is that what gave people that buying power?



Or is it the fact that with the emerging techy class (as I would like to call it), many avenues have opened for a plethora of sectors to rake in the moolah.



Whether its the banks who offer loans (worth lakhs) at the drop of the hat! (Sir, just the visiting card if enough sir, as long as we can see the company logo and you name..)



Whether its the EMI schemes that are available for anything ranging from a water filter system to high end home theatre system (Not to mention EMI schemes for bikes and cars which have only added to the existing traffic woes of the city.)



Whether its the absolutely insane real estate prices, where people don't even pause to wonder why a teensy weensy 2 BR flat is costing them half their take home salary or bringing them twice their take home salary (depending on the end of the spectrum you belong to i.e whether u r a renter or rentee)



At the end of the day if you consider an average techy lifestyle, nothing is cheap. There is a cost associated with that lifestyle and it takes most of the high end pay package to maintain it..

Consider this, you are a 27-28 years old male working in a well known IT company in bangalore. A guy next door if you must, with a good/mid sized group of friends, likes to go out with friends kinda guy.


His apartment (own or rental irrespective) will cost him around 10K minimum. In fact if hes paying off premiums for the housing loan, I bet it will be double of that.


He must be still paying off the premiums for his car which takes him wherever he wants to go and drinks insane amount of gas waiting at every nook and corner due to the crazy traffic situation.
He must be spending at least 5 k for the house including utilities and groceries.


He must be spending another 2-3 K per month just on entertainment whcih includes an occassional drink with buddies, a movie or 2 at the local multiplex, a few dinners and a few dates.
That itself added to 20-25K rt ?
And believe me, I am downplaying it quite a bit! My so called bachelors friends in bangalore, don't flinch at spending 2-3k on just a saturday night..



So, where is the so called bank balance which gives them the so called higher salaried, upper middle class (if you must) existence? I think the older generation was more well planned and stable than we can ever aspire to be. And I personally think thats due to the saving/planning habit that they had.

Every purchase was planned and thought out, every vacation was only after the cost was saved even if it took an entire year to save up.. Now a days we take vacations at the drop of the hat. The irony is that we may not even call it a vacation, its a weekend getaway.. Its a break from work.. We have fancy terms for it.. We buy flight tickets at the drop of the hat.. We take those weekend getaways with whatevers there in the bank and then survive for the rest of the month on credit cards :))

We have all done that...



My generation has hardly any savings so to speak of ( Pardon me for making a blanket statement). Any saving if at all is with a definite purpose- car, apartment, siblings marriage etc etc..



Beyond that, where is anything to show for the enormous salaries we take home? I wonder....



My mum is so confident that no matter how much ever i earn, I will always have a hand to mouth existence..

I don't have the heart or the humility to admit that she is right :)