The Poor and the Furious

Poor people are an abundant commodity in India. Having travelled to all metropolitan cities in India, and having stayed at each place for a prolonged period of time, I have seen them fairly closely.....and I refer not just to the BPL category but also the lower middle class, the ones who do not have an AC at home, those who avoid MacD and KFC, not coz its unhealthy but coz its expensive, those that travel in a public bus to a party they have been invited to, and forgo a few luxuries that month to be able to afford a gift to buy for the person who had invited him to that party.

One of the things that struck me were the differences amongst this section of people...for those who lived in Kolkata and those who lived anywhere else. For this section of people if he belongs to Kolkata, especially if he is Bengali, is a very proud race amongst his own kin...but sadly enough, finds it very difficult to get along with his kith n kin. I think what I mean to say is that the bengali poor, is not a very tolerant race.

The reason I say this is because whenever I am in Kolkata, I see only flayed tempers around me. Its either an obstinate and 'abhodro/ashobbho' passenger on the bus who would not turn to the side to accomodate our protagonist, or some mero/bihari guy in a car who wouldn't stop to let him cross the road when the signal was green, or the shop vendor who is out to fleece him or even the Kolkata summer, my 'hero' is always very very pissed. And more often than not, you'd find him getting together every evening with his friends for 'adda' where all that they do is rant !!

My analysis.....the reason why my bengali brother is so furious with everyone is because of absolute and abject hopelessness, the knowledge that things are not going to get any better. He is educated, knowledgable, and yet makes far less than his 'medo' neighbour who has a shop in burabazar. He cant get a decent job, and even if his job is decent, the pay is not as decent. He is angry because a bengali in bengal has to live like him whereas his friend who left for Mumbai has just brought a new car.

There are so few opportunities in Kolkata, people cant help but feel cheated. Cheated by the Govt which has had 30 years to prove themselves but has let him down, by the non-bengali community who has fared much better than he has, by the rich who has robbed him of his wealth through some slight of hand and tries to keep him poor, by the ladies, who prefer to marry someone from DEL/MUM these days, and indeed by God himself. I havn't ever seen a bus or car being burnt and its owner/driver being beaten up, sometimes even fatally so, for knocking down a pedestrian, never mind whose fault it is. He resents the guy who can afford a car when he cannot. I drive around in a car(my dad's) in Kolkata, and feel guilty about doing so...thats a feeling thats only possible in Kolkata.

The reason for this resentment is well known to all...No industry, no enterprise, no opportunity...that is the bottomline !!! The topline is the bottomline.