Remember that Sunday afternoon that you overslept and spent the entire day listening to your Maa ranting, ‘what will you do with the rest of your life, without discipline or schedule?’ Or was your childhood normal?
An hour of sleep could have been so productive, from peeling peas to running to the nearby shop to getting half a kg sugar packet. But you chose to sleep, and dang, were you not extra cheerful? Cause breakfast would be mouth-watering and dedicatedly made for this special day of the week!
You showed an extra passion for house chores that day. Self-offering your help to be extra helpful because you already got one strike in the morning. Thus anything to balance it out. Finally, you sprint to the nearby grocery store, juggling your purchases, barely in one hand.
Whilst that 50 paise lollipop was inside your mouth bought using what Baba gave you as daily wage for doing his part. As you enter the gates, you hear the radio playing in the background and an off-beat fuss- Maa quarrelling with the domestic worker Maasi (for some reason, we had a relationship with everyone around us) getting ultimatums for again being late.
Maasi being on the receiving end of scolding gave you a sense of weird satisfaction that not only you but some other soul could also be a late riser and be as doomed as you, only that she had that extra audacity to talk back, unlike you.
She knew her position in the house was above the bread earner himself. She was unreplaceable and thus almost nonchalant!
I feel like a little trip to nostalgia for most middle-class kids of the 90s. But what were the attributes of this socio-economic category of society? Our decisions were all based on money! A trip to the native village was okay, but a vacation in Rajasthan was a month-long planned affair.
You could only take family photos and one or two single photos in a garden full of flowers on that Kodak camera because only 32 photos in a reel were all that the company offered. The dress you wore in Durga puja suits best for ‘Guddu mama ki shaadi’ (Gudda uncle’s wedding) because why not? Sequins never go out of fashion!
Throwing out plastic bags or containers is worse than murder, and you might end up losing your name from the will. So there is a bigger bag with all the smaller bags. Inception within inception. Was Christopher Nolan also born in the middle-class? The list is endless.
From ‘duniya kya kahegi?’ (what will the world say) to ‘society k saath hi jeena parega’ (we have to live with the society), the quotes must be by-heart to all the kids. I guess all middle-class parents were sent to this university, free afternoon classes, where the primary subject is ‘Taunts Saga’ and every parent should be a topper. Anything less would be considered a disgrace to the family.
Other subjects include ‘Blind Faith on Societal Pressure for Excellence’, ‘Killing Passion’ and ‘Staying Adamant on Decisions’. Can someone blow-torch it? The legacy needs an immediate end.
What Comes Along With Being Middle-Class?
The belief system is so constrictive. One can easily call it a noose. Taboos are so strikingly vague. Ranging right from menstruation to divorce, you will instantly feel guilt-stricken if you open up to oppose the mammoth-aged norms. Even the Jurassic era dinosaurs almost feel irrelevant.
Some no-go area is the three-lettered word I am still not allowed to speak out loud (anywhere, not even my bathroom) without offending Sharma aunty. Biggest pet peeve, you ask? Hmmm, how about taking a stand, answering back on their face!
You might risk a tag of ‘uncultured’ forever then. Consent is only valid if it’s deciding for science after 10th, but suddenly becomes inconclusive after anything related to making future decisions! The article might not be enough to enunciate all the innuendos that this tag of being middle-class promises!
So Is Being Middle-Class All Bad, Or Are There Upsides?
The way a middle-class can survive in any given situation, you are bound to get amazed! We have imbibed this thoroughly – Money is luxury, not a necessity. Like the upper class, we don’t get upset when our passion doesn’t become our source of income because we can follow our passion in another lifetime.
We can hibernate our entire life, adjusting to the meagre livelihood. But, sometimes, our life motto is ‘no dream should be bigger than creating a family’ and ‘one must fulfil the way this cohesive society thinks and functions.’
You can either stay an obedient middle-class person or dare big to break the folds of upbringing and age-old teachings and make a legacy of your own! Yes. The situations are changing now. It’s not all hard-end rules that can’t be bent, but still, a long way to go. Rightly said, the change shall be bought, and it will start from within!