This
is a story of two strong willed individuals from India's lower middle
class, who, through their sheer hard work, staunch middle class
morality and a capacity to dream high, have made their life a
success. I am so impressed with their life story that I want to share
it with my readers.
The
two individuals from my story are of course a man and a woman,whom I
shall call our hero and heroine. They fell in love with each other,
when everything appeared to have been stacked against them. The man
was working in a small industrial unit as a machine operator. His pay
barely supported his family of a widowed mother and siblings; two
sisters and a brother. The girl, working in the same industrial unit
was legally separated from her namesake ex-husband. Her marriage was
never consummated and she had not even met him after marriage
ceremony. On top of all this, the man and this woman belonged to
different casts; their union was considered a taboo in India's rigid
caste system and opposed by everyone.
Still,
the couple managed to patiently wait out till girl's legal divorce
came through and then they got married in a simple ceremony. The life
was not a bed of roses, as the couple had to live with man's extended
family in a one room dwelling not even provided with toilet
facilities and had to use public toilets. But then, an opportunity
came up by sheer chance, the man was selected for a Government job as
a machine operator; which meant end of uncertainty, a stable life and
assurance of retirement pension. The girl continued to work, where
she had worked all along.
Steadily
and surely this lower middle class couple, fought all adversaries
facing them in life. Within a decade the siblings became independent
and moved out. Sisters also got married. Meanwhile they were blessed
with two children, a boy and a girl. Life quality improved and they
were living happily with their modest income.
A new
problem however arose as the factory, where our heroine worked, moved
to a new location about 25 Km away. Our heroine found the commuting
really very tough and finally decided to give up her job. It was a
tough decision but there was no real choice as such. She tried in
vain to look for another job nearby, without much success. She found
it very difficult to be a mother of two growing children and raise
them in a locality, which almost appeared like a slum, and also find
work in the vicinity. She decided to use her cookery expertise and
fill small orders for snacks coming from people who knew her.
But
them another golden opportunity turned up. There was a school not
very far from her dwelling. As per the new policy of the Government,
schools were asked to provide mid-day snacks for the children and the
principal of the school knew our heroine and had tested her dishes.
She was offered a contract to supply snacks for kindergarten kids for
one term. Our heroine took up the challenge and converted her one
room dwelling in a daytime kitchen. Soon, her recipes, cleanliness
and quality of food were accepted by school authorities and she was
awarded a contract for providing snacks for the primary school.
Running
a full fledged catering business from one room dwelling was not easy.
She started hiring help from neighbours, who gladly helped her
because they could earn some extra cash. The responsibility of making
purchases was taken up by her husband, who used to go the main
vegetable market at 5 AM in the morning. They continued working in
this fashion for years and years without complaining or getting
frustrated.
Slowly,
her life style improved. Kids went to better schools, graduated. She
bought a van that could be used for both personal and goods
carriage. She started building an independent bungalow on outskirts
of the city, slowly as money became available. The children were
married off. Today our hero and heroine have retired from their
job/business. The son was a mediocre student and our heroine knew,
that he might not be able to get a good job. But he has now taken
over the catering business and with the help of his wife is managing
it well. The daughter helps her husband running a travel agency. I am
quite sure that the children would carry forward the legacy of their
hard working parents.
Our
hero and heroine can now enjoy their quiet retired life in their own
bungalow far away from the maddening crowd and spend week ends with
their grandson. They go on yearly vacations with their family that
includes even air travel. Their life story may be a story of middle
class family success without any glamour, achieved after hard and
fighting lifetime. But what else ordinary people really aspire for?
I have
narrated this simple life story of a couple to highlight the
strengths of India's burgeoning middle class. This class has been
recently re-discovered by many Indian and international commercial
enterprises as their potential customers. India's future now all
depends upon this main stay of the society; a growing middle class
that believes in Indian traditions and morals taught to them by their
teachers and elders and which they try to pass on to their offspring.
They know that only sure shot way to success is through sheer hard
work and persistent effort, but they also never let go a true
opportunity in life, that comes their way.
When I
think of people like our hero and heroine, I feel assured about
India's future.
17 May
2013
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