The middle class and The Cause

In the land of a million mutinies, the middle class was always conspicuous by its absence.

In 64 years since Independence, we have often seen masses waving the flags of political parties with ardent devotion or transient, paid loyalty. When was the last time one saw thousands from the middle class waving the tri-colour with such fervour and heartfelt hope?

For decades now, the only connection that the middle class had with the Mahatma was through our currency notes. The same currency notes that were so difficult to come by a couple of decades back, now became the sign of unbridled corruption.

Growing guilt pangs:
The middle-class that was struggling to make ends meet and provide a better future for its children was soon making money faster than it could count. After a generation of single-minded capitalism, this section of the society could no longer ignore the growing guilt pangs. Guilt that is innate to a society that holds its morals dear. The guilt of a privileged life led in the midst of appalling poverty, decaying infrastructure, indifferent governance and monstrous corruption. This guilt was magnified by the realization that the middle-class had abrogated its responsibility when the country needed it most.


Loss of voice:
This middle-class and the entire nation was being held to ransom by the legislature, executive and the judiciary. What was intended to be the separation of powers between these 3 pillars became, in reality, the separation of the people from their powers. The middle-class was too fragmented and too self-absorbed that it ceased to be a vote bank. The top of the pyramid could take care of itself. The bottom of the pyramid was a vote bank that every politician had to pander to but not necessarily do good for. The middle-class had lost its voice.


Cornered:
A cornered middle-class watched in shock when their hard earned money was being sucked out by sky-rocketing prices, taxes that gave them nothing in return, having to fend for itself for essentials like roads, water, security and electricity. All this, while its public servants were making money and even eclipsing Brahmagupta in their passion for zeroes.

The middle-class effectively became the muddle-class.


Collective catharsis:

Technology and events moved so fast that no one saw this change coming. Internet and new media suddenly gave the middle class a voice that they had lost aeons ago. They were no longer talked at but could talk to the powers that be.

Corruption touched every single Indian irrespective of caste, creed, gender or geography. It touched a raw nerve and one could no longer tolerate the pain. Somewhere, this middle-class felt that they had co-created this frankenstein.The middle-class now found a cause close to its heart.

There were fleeting glimpses of icons of hope like Abdul Kalam but people like him were more often than not a part of the system and hence constrained by it. Out of nowhere emerged a man as uncontaminated as one could get and not fettered by the system. The middle-class wouldnt let go of this opportunity to align itself to Anna and was drawn to him like the magnet.

This middle class, led by the Mahatma's acolyte has now resurrected the Mahatma in a manner that no lip-service paying politician, NCERT text book or Munnabhai has been able to. The Mahatma is back in the nation's conscience!

Recent events in West Asia had a subliminal and catalystic effect on this section of the population. If millions could create a revolution in repressive regimes, why can't we?

The middle-class has finally erupted in collective catharsis.