<div><em><strong>Sutanu Guru </strong>decodes the rise of aspirational Indians</em></div><div> </div><div>Everybody seems to have a favorite Virender Sehwag story if you go by the newspapers today. Since it also happens to be World Statistics Day, number crunchers have come up with analysis of how Sehwag and the impact he had on Indian cricket goes far beyond numbers. Of course, Sehwag is "up there" when it comes to numbers. He is the only Indian player to score a triple century in tests; Sehwag has two of them along with a 293 against Sri Lanka. If Indian selectors had been as benign with him as they have been with some other players and allowed him to play a few more tests against weaker teams, Sehwag would have ended his test career with an average of 50 plus. As it is, the swashbuckling batsman fell just short, clocking close to 49.5; the second best for an Indian test opener after the legendary Sunil Gavaskar.</div><div> </div><div>Cricket lovers would go on and on debating Viru and his exploits. For pop sociologists and economists like this author, the spectacular success of Sehwag is a classic symbol of the rise of the neo middle class Indian. Look at the adjectives and words used to describe Sehwag and you will find the neo middle class Indian. Sehwag came from an underprivileged background. All neo middle class Indians do so. Sehwag had no time or patience to respect and follow tradition and ordained norms of behavior. Neo middle class Indians revel in that. Sehwag had a fierce desire to do well not just on the cricket field, but also in financial terms. Neo middle class Indians share the same dreams. </div><div> </div><div>The inevitable question: what is neo middle class India? A few years ago, the Think Tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) came up with a study that defined and counted the neo middle class Indian. According to this 2010 NCAER study, any Indian family with a household income between Rs 90,000 and Rs 200,000 a year was a member of the neo middle class. Families with income levels above Rs 200,000 a year had joined the middle class while those below Rs 90,000 a year were categorized as poor. According to this NCAER report, about 34% of Indians could be categorized as neo middle class. In 2015, they would number close to 500 million Indians. Pundits also use the term aspirational while describing this new class of Indians that virtually did not exist before 1991. To the last man, woman and teenager, these neo middle class Indians lived in poverty till just one generation ago. They have "lived" poverty and are fiercely determined to do better. Education, English, computers, Internet and the mobile phone are the tools that the neo middle class Indian uses to carve a better financial future. </div><div> </div><div>The author is convinced that the future of the Indian economy and society will be decided by these neo middle class Indians to excel and succeed. Many of them, like Sehwag will indeed succeed. But let's also remember these neo middle class Indians have to constantly struggle against social orthodoxy, prejudice and a hierarchical system imposed by the elites. This often results in tragedy. In 2012, a Dalit boy in Tamil Nadu named E. Ilavarasan fell in love with a Vanniyar girl Divya Nagraj. Vaniyyars, an "intermediate" caste, are currently led by Dr. S. Ramadoss and his son Dr. Ambumani Ramadoss. When the couple defied social mores and got married in October 2012, the father of the girl committed suicide. The Vanniyars went in a rampage and more than 200 Dalit huts in the village of the boy were burnt to the ground. Highly "educated" leaders like Ramadoss publicly complained about insolent Dalit boys wearing sunglasses, riding bikes and luring away their precious Vaniyyar daughters. A few weeks after the marriage, Divya returned to her family and the dead body of Ilavarasan was found near railway tracks. The cops concluded that the Dalit boy had committed suicide. This was in 2012, when Narendra Modi was not even in the race to become the Prime Minister.</div><div> </div><div>Such tragedies will keep occurring as "aspirational" India clashed with orthodox and traditional India. But make no mistake, in the longer run, it is the neo middle class Indian like Virender Sehwag who will emerge the victor. Arguably, that is the best thing to happen to India since the British left in 1947. </div>
