False prestige of the middle class alone is projected as the inferiority complex. KR IRS
On Sat, 16 Sept 2023 at 12:05, Narayanaswamy Sekar <[email protected]> wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message --------- > From: 'N Sekar' via iyer123 <[email protected]> > Date: Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 10:33 AM > Subject: [iyer123] Fw: Snippets - Sitendra Kumar - > > > > Forwarding what I received from a friend and my response to it. > > N Sekar > > > Thanks - captured beautifully the middle class predicaments. > > Though not directly related but on a similar situation, let me say that > we go to a restaurant (alone) and find a friend/s and all of us sit > together and eat what each one of us ordered. > > Problem comes when the waiter asks whether it should be one bill (or even > if he doesn't ask and assumes one of us will pay as we all sat together and > brings one bill) and we, knowing fully well we can't afford vie with each > other to offer to pay. Inwardly we curse ourselves (and others) but > externally we act a as though it is not an issue at all. > > False prestige of the middle class. False prestige is one of the main > reasons for the problems of the middle class. > > Why can't we be honest and ask the waiter to bring separate bills even if > others say one bill - on them. > > Each paying for his is called "going Dutch" and it is the best solution - > if I invite others then it is my responsibility but when we meet > accidentally, there is no need to pay someone else's bill but we offer and > pretend how generous we are. > > I have experienced it many times during my hostel day even when my father > was supporting me and also later in life. Of course, it was not me always > but I understand how others, who had to foot the bill, might be feeling at > that time. > > Now my lines are clearly drawn. If I invite, I pay; otherwise I suggest > that each pays his and if there is no consensus, ask the waiter to bring > mine and leave to others to decide what they want. > > What acts we put up in front of others? Hypocrisy. > > N Sekar > > > > N Sekar > > > On Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 05:24:34 AM GMT+4, Chittanandam V R < > [email protected]> wrote: > > > > > *Received from Shri Sitendra Kumar* > > * Times when every penny counted* > > *Atul Joshi* > > *Many people in my generation were raised in the late sixties by our > parents with a relative sense of paucity and deprivation. I was able to go > to a decent school with many amenities provided for, but lavishness or easy > availability of money was never the case. ‘Single income family’ was the > plausible explanation where my father was the sole earning member. He had > the added responsibility to contribute to look after his extended family, > which included brothers and sisters. The sum total was an acute awareness > to live within our limited means.* > *The year was 1992; we had just passed out of a government medical college > when one of the more affluent one among us found his matrimonial match in a > charming damsel from the US. The marriage function was to be held in one of > the finest luxury hotels of Delhi. All of us were excited at the pleasant > turn of events for our dear friend. That for most of us it was going to be > the first exposure to a five-star hotel was another attraction.* > > *While at the hotel, I tried in vain to turn on the lights of the room. I > was rudely ‘educated’ to put the card key in the socket at the entrance and > everything turned into a dazzling array of exuberance. It was illuminating > but embarrassing. My friend from the adjacent room came rushing to inform > me that there was a fridge too in each room. As I was pleasantly overawed, > he revealed that it was stocked with beer bottles and other goodies. He > took out all the bottles from the fridge and fled as he did not want to > waste such a ‘treasure’ in a teetotaler’s room. All in all, we were in a > heaven afforded by our friend's riches and enhanced by his prospective > in-laws’ largesse.* > > *In the evening was the sangeet where a celebrity woman singer was singing > ghazals of Begum Akhtar and Farida Khanum. Currency notes were being > showered on her; I too was nudged by a friend to join the frenzy. He > whispered in my ears that as the groom’s friends we must not lag behind and > should shed our middle-class reservations. Though I was sober, I carefully > opened my wallet and took out a Rs 50 note. I whirled it over the head of > my groom friend and off it went into the solicitous hands of the charming > singer.* > *It took me a couple of months to come to terms with this financial loss > as my monthly budget went haywire. I still remember that moment of awkward > madness with an aching heart. It taught me a life lesson about the pitfalls > of extravagance.* > *- Atul Joshi* > ******************** > *Chittanandam* > > > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > Virus-free.www.avg.com > <http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail> > <#m_-7020021606276188459_m_-9155547047434967324_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "iyer123" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/128143957.2023774.1694846001407%40mail.yahoo.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/iyer123/128143957.2023774.1694846001407%40mail.yahoo.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Thatha_Patty" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CABC81ZfoDZnTfKqmMtN%3D7Px%3D6H%3DamiGRhTykKB0h_-BhcbARgQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/CABC81ZfoDZnTfKqmMtN%3D7Px%3D6H%3DamiGRhTykKB0h_-BhcbARgQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. 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