Page 309 - DSOC202_SOCIAL_STRATIFICATION_ENGLISH

Social Stratification

Notes Values Related to Family, Marriage and Women’s Status amongst the Middle
Class
As India has rapidly progressed since 1990, there has been an upward shift from the lower income
to middle income and from middle income to higher income households (population). The middle
income group is much larger than the combined number of the other two income categories.
Since the ‘Middle-Class’ is very large, within this classification also there are sub-classifications as
per the income levels. This large populace gives India a unique identity and marketers a large
consumer base. Despite India’s diverse culture most of the Middle Class Values are common
across the country. The Middle Class is cautious, careful and conservative. While there is good
literacy level and increasing awareness of the new world without boundaries and globalization,
middle class would still like to preserve what they have. The family seniors have worked for most
of their lives holding on to their dear jobs and hence are very pro Government service. Stability
and surety of income is very important to them.
They have gone through the gradual cycle of acquisition of consumer durables and assets and
believe in the same principle. (They worship on buying the first motorbike or small car and paint
religious symbols on them.) They have learnt not to take good times for granted and would like
to save and re-use. They use polythene covers on all new furniture items and the car seats, till the
children force them to part with the same. They are great votaries of good education for their
children but would still recommend Engineering and Medicines as the top professions.
The younger population has started exploring new career options and a large percentage of urban
youth are engaged in B.P.Os, Retail, Insurance and Telecom sectors. This has brought lot of
disposable income in their hands and hence the 'Brand’ consciousness and the ‘Cafe’ culture.
Parents are very proud of their working children and do fuel their aspirations, but are at best
Cautiously Optimistic of their grand plans. (They are somewhat vary, lest the good times do not
last.)
The power of prayer is held to be sacrosanct. Rituals, customs and mores are important. Festivals
and marriages are great occasions for the family get together (All somewhat diminishing in the
urban areas). Opinion of the neighbours and social groups is still very powerful. Mothers will
always eat after feeding the children and the husband. They would insist on handing over home
made food tiffin to the four or five figure salary earning children, who obviously are more
comfortable in being seen to with the times and by ordering a Pizza or Burger. (This does not
however faze the doting mothers.) A study published some time back in India Today stated that
children still spend maximum time at home and are deeply influenced by their parent’s opinions
(Though none of the two generations would readily agree to this!). In a manner of speaking,
parents are still their best friends.
Marriages are made in heaven and are for life. Even the NRI children would mostly rely on their
mother’s opinion for the best match (Though most of them will claim differently). Home made
remedies are used with greater faith than the allopathic medicines (Gargles for sore throat, Turmeric
in milk for the hidden injury and Garlic for lowering B.P.). While eating in a restaurant, they will
order dishes that the family can share and think nothing of eating from each other’s plate.
Middle class values are shared Family Values, which are a great bonding factor. These are based
on Pragmatism. They suggest achievement and consolidation rather than the Unsustainable
Exponential Spiral. More power to the Indian middle class.
Women, being the integral part of our so called democratic nation have always been looked down
under the dictatorship of men. Women not only suffer in the rural India, but the problem remains
the same in the urban sector of the society too. India’s economy has undergone a substantial
transformation since the country’s independence in 1947 and so the growth of women has also
evolved. A section of Indian women the elite and the upper middle class have gained by the

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