The Great Indian Middle Class Story

The great Indian middle class life…we can squeeze the last drop of value from anything.

Let me start with books. The utility of a book is spread across at least three academic years. My sister, me and my brother, and after he has handled it is not fit for anything, not even useful trash.

Clothes always purchased to last over two academic years. Lengths are always double, neatly sewn in to. A year passes by and the hems are reopened to match our growth rates, with such dexterity that the marks of a year wash away as if they were never there. All sorts of cures are available to remove any tell tale stitch marks, and if I remember correctly never ever I was ticked off for wearing drab or torn clothes at school. And once a uniform has outlived its academic value it turns into something that is to be worn only while sleeping. Post this stage, it transforms to a rag or daily cleaning. Nopes the story doesn’t end here, even a general cleaning rag is transformed into a shoe cleaning cloth before finally being discarded.