SOCIOLOGY-1

‘THE WHITE TIGER’ AND THE

NEO MIDDLE CLASS IN INDIA

Submitted By-

SAUMYA SINGH (ID NUMBER 2584)

SHANTANU MISHRA (ID NUMBER 2585)
SHATAKSHI (ID NUMBER 2586)
SHUBH MITTAL (ID NUMBER 2587)

I YEAR B.A. L.LB. (HONS.)

CLASS OF 2024

DATE OF SUBMISSION: SEPTEMBER 15 2019

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Book Review ............................................................................................................ 2

Chapter 2: The Neo-Middle Class in India ................................................................................ 5

Emergence of a New Class and the Impact of Globalization ................................................ 5

Class Dynamics ...................................................................................................................... 6

The Impact of Caste on the Neo-Middle Class ...................................................................... 7

The White Tiger and The Neo-Middle Class ............................................................................. 9

The Contrast between ‘Darkness’ and ‘Light’ ....................................................................... 9

The Class Divide .................................................................................................................. 10

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 12

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 15

Books ................................................................................................................................... 15

Journal Articles .................................................................................................................... 15

Websites and Newspapers.................................................................................................... 15

 CHAPTER 1: BOOK REVIEW
By Shantanu Mishra (ID Number 2585)

Written as a letter by the protagonist Balram to the Premier of China, Wen Jiabao, the book
'The White Tiger' by Arvind Adiga reflects the plight of the poor and the working class under
the burly hands of their masters. In the letter, written in the course of seven nights, Balram tells
how he, son of a rickshaw puller, escaped the clutches of subservience and became a prosperous
businessman and a 'social' entrepreneur.

Balram was born in the village of Laxmangarh in a large family consisting of his parents,
grandmother, uncles and their respective families. He was a smart kid from the beginning; he
was given the name 'White tiger' for being distinct from everyone else in his class. However,
poverty and social customs stopped him from pursuing his education; he had to drop his
schooling and start working in a tea shop to pay for his sister's dowry. However, this did not
kill his inquisitiveness; he made the conversations he overheard in the tea shop the source of
his learning. As a consequence of being 'lax' in his job, he was removed from the tea shop in
his village and was sent to Dhanbad along with his brothers with an explicit order to work in a
tea shop. The monotonous job without any chance of mobility did not satisfy him; he learned
driving and found work at the place of the 'Stork,' a landlord in his village. Initially recruited
as an additional driver, he used his cunning to get the main driver to leave (by threatening to
reveal his secret of being Muslim) and accompanied Mr. Ashok, the son of the 'Stork', and his
wife Pinky to Delhi, where he drove Ashok around as the latter greased the palm of various
ministers. It is in Delhi that the tale of his moral corruption unfurls. He was initially a very
loyal servant to his Master. He was glad when his masters were happy, even if it was at his
own expense. He was proud of having performed his duties as a driver faithfully when he
helped his masters escape after Pinky Madam ran over a child. However, Pinky Madam left
home after the said incident, and it was then that both he and his Master started becoming
corrupt. He started violating the instructions given by Mahesh (Ashok's brother) and stole
money from his Master, rationalizing the same by saying that his Master owed him much more
for conniving to keep him trapped in perpetual poverty. He came up with the concept of the
'Rooster Coop' to explain why servants continued to chafe under such an oppressive system;
because of the fear of losing their families. He rationalized that to break out of the coop, he had
to take the unconscionable steps of killing his Master and virtually leaving his family to die.
After doing the former, he went to Bangalore with his Master's money and started a company
'White Tiger Drivers,' in time becoming a prosperous entrepreneur. Though he still felt guilty
at times, he rationalized his actions by saying that all successful men had taken lives for
reaching positions of power; he was merely one of them.

The entire story explores and revolves around various themes that have been weaved into the
text meticulously. Since the overthrow of British imperialism in India, drastic changes have
occurred in the society, be it in terms of the caste system or the economic changes piloting the
emergence of new industries like that of technology and outsourcing. The author critiques the
social impact of such changes and gives a darkly comic assessment of the contradictions risen
during this transformative stretch and upheaval. The main themes which the researchers could
discover in the book were: Rise of Neo middle class, Globalization, Urban-Rural Divide,
Corruption in India and Crime as a vehicle for Social Mobility.

The author captures the prevalent practice of corruption in India through Balram's narrative.
None of the government institutions is untouched by corruption with bribery being
commonplace. The students in the school never got hands on the uniforms and never reaped
the benefits of mid-day meal because the teacher gulped the money sanctioned for the same.
Hospitals had no doctors to visit dying patients, which cost them their lives. Even the most
crucial element of democracy, i.e., the elections are not untouched with corruption. Powerful
politicians entice poor people for their votes by baiting them with money. People in business,
in the avarice of earning more, bribe the politicians to get their hefty income tax exempted.
Though the angle of corruption in the judiciary has not been touched by the book, in
contemporary India, even the judiciary has become the prey of corruption. The recent
revelations by Justice Rakesh Kumar, revealing how judges in Patna High Court value their
privileges more than their work, point to the same (Tewary, 2019). Balram starts believing that
to break the shackles of his plight, he has to become a part of this system called corruption.
Initially, he becomes morally corrupt, where he slits his Master's neck and steals the money.
He knows this may cost him his family, but he found this the only way to escape the 'rooster
coop.' He even rationalizes his devilish act by saying, "All I wanted was the chance to be a
man—and for that, one murder was enough" (Adiga, 192). At a later stage, he bribed the police
in Bangalore to establish his enterprise and kept doing the same time to time. He had also
adopted the same path of corruption for success, which he had seen others do. The author's
apparent viewpoint is that corruption breeds corruption which he justifies with the moral
transformation of Balram.

The setting of the novel brings before us one way of climbing up the ladder of social order:
Social Mobility through crime. The novel ends with Balram reaching the peak of his success
but by adopting the heinous path of crime. The social theories of crime elaborate how disparity
in the allocation of resources or the availability of opportunities among ordinary people
instigates crime. Such people consider crime as their last ray of hope for survival and breaking
away from the plight of poverty (Merton, 1938). Balram, being born and brought up in a
poverty-stricken family of Laxmangarh, is a representative of the have-nots who come from
the 'darkness' and resort to hostile measures when left with no option. Balram gets employed
as a driver but still had limited freedom and income of which a substantial share he has to send
back home. He faces humiliation at the hands of his employer. Balram also represents the driver
class who are forced to take up liability and go to jail for acts which they don’t do. The same
was going to happen with him when Pinky madam committed an accident while driving in an
inebriated state. With no other way in sight, Balram takes recourse of crime to kiss the freedom
which he aspired for. He valued his freedom and social status more than his ethics and morals
and climbed the ladder of social mobility, finally becoming an upper class 'corrupt'
businessman.

The themes of the rise of the neo-middle class in India and globalization, with reference to the
contemporary status of the neo-middle class in India, have been discussed in Chapter 2. The
themes of class divide and rural-urban divide have been analyzed at length in Chapter 3.
CHAPTER 2: THE NEO-MIDDLE CLASS IN
INDIA
By Shatakshi (ID Number 2586)

The White Tiger is a novel written in the contemporary era and shows the social reality in the
present times. This chapter vividly explains inception, importance and implications of ‘neo -
middle class’ on present day political discourse especially when the pendulum is swinging
right. This is pertinent to Balram, the driver, as it is a phase where his class metamorphosis
occurred. Apart from this the caste inclination of contemporary India has been discussed.
Although the book is silent on caste having a substantial impact on the current scenario, the
researcher believes that it is still in fact a substantial part of social relations in India.

EMERGENCE OF A NEW CLASS AND THE IMPACT

OF GLOBALIZATION

The period after Independence saw the emergence of a class which was able to break out of the
shackles of poverty. People in this class are neither desperately poor nor comfortably over it.
It is a very dynamic class; with each and every day we find more and more people getting
added to this. This was particularly true of the period after liberalization, privatization and
globalization (Singhi, 2016). As people from the landless class and marginal agricultural
workers, comprising a considerable number, shifted to manufacturing and services, it caused
several families to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. To an extent, material benefits
have led to social amelioration. Balram’s time as a driver fits the description; he not only
improved economically but also moved up the social strata back at his village. This is one
reason this class has been widely exploited by the populist leaders irrespective of time and
space. Tall claims are made to lure this class as it is waiting for the opportunity to better its
conditions and these assurances give it a sense of safety that someone in fact cares about them
and their needs (Nayar, 2019). In the modern context the incumbent government is also
targeting this class, which is believed to be its largest ‘vote bank’, by hitting the sweet spot
with schemes like Ujjwala yojana. The scheme seeks to provide LPG connections at a
subsidized rate, thus targeting a section of society which is able to afford food but not ‘frills’
like LPG connection.

As the impact of globalization expands in India, it is adapting itself to interact with the global
economy. Balram recognizes and aspires to ride this wave of prosperity with his company,
‘White Tiger Drivers’, in Bangalore. It was his aspiration, as someone from the neo-middle
class, to break away from ‘darkness’ to ‘light’; that incited him to commit murder and later
indulge in unethical dealings. With globalization came in the western concept of individualism
exemplified by the emergence of nuclear families, especially after the reforms. In the novel we
see the reflection of this as Balram tries to, and eventually does, break away from family
pressure. This emancipation has always been his wish as he has seen his father toil hard as a
rickshaw puller for the sake of his family. Being one’s own boss is a common aspiration in
21th century and the advent of numerous start- ups corroborates the same, both in the novel
and in reality.

CLASS DYNAMICS

The two sides of the world that are being talked about in the novel as ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ are
the two sides of the dichotomy that exists in our society. These coexist with the dichotomy
between the rich and the poor. Some illustrations used in the novel for the latter are :the "men
with big bellies" and "men with small bellies" , the urbane city hospital frequented by the Stork
and the one where Balram's father died ; the ugly, faux-blonde prostitute hired by Balram and
attractive blonde one visited by Ashok ; the posh residential apartment building in Delhi for
Ashok and the servants quarters below it .This is particularly true for our nation which a large
stock of stored grains for indemnities yet has a significant share of undernourished people. ‘The
rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer’ is not a fancy statement but a
ground reality. With top one percent people owning about seventy three percent wealth of the
nation (Business Today, 2019), this duality is sure to deepen. Our GDP has increased manifold
but have we achieved inclusive growth? It was on the back of some sections of the society that
we reached economic growth. After globalization, in the race of the MNCs to capture the
consumer base by lowering prices and adopting other tactics it was the factory worker who was
exploited; his working hours increased, wages decreased and job security vanished into thin
air. Similarly, the government laxed the labor laws to bring in more foreign capital and
investments and this affected a huge section of our society.

THE IMPACT OF CASTE ON THE NEO-MIDDLE

CLASS

One thing that the protagonist doesn’t agree to is the prevalence of caste as the defining factor
of class. This cannot be said to be entirely true, and we see the reflection of this in various
aspects of social life. In work like manual scavenging and sanitation, most, if not all, of the
workers come from the ex-untouchable castes. It is the municipal corporation, a government
entity that employs them. In subtle forms caste is indeed a defining factor in our life; why do a
miniscule proportion of Hindus indulge in inter-caste marriages if it doesn’t matter? Why do
almost all the priests in the temples come from the Brahmin castes? Urbanisation does not
completely subvert the caste system; we meet people from different castes in our workplaces
but the question is: are people from all castes actually present in the corporate circle? In
government services also it is upon individuals who they fraternize with. In the novel we see
Balram, coming from ‘Halwai’ caste, rejects the caste making any difference in his life because
his family’s profession does not match his name but the fact is that his family is subservient to
the powerful castes of the village and he himself later works as a driver under one of them. The
link connecting all these incidents is the inferiority of some castes as compared to others.
Establishing urbanisation, reservations or for that matter education as the panaceas for caste
disparity will be too mechanical. Reservations in particular have led to the upper castes
complaining about the subversion of ‘merit’ (Balagopal, 1991). This is a dangerous discourse
as it does not recognize the various hindrances, both in social life and in economic terms, that
people from lower castes face in competing for jobs with the upper castes. The sociological
phenomenon of caste has not been given much importance by the protagonist but it is extremely
significant in the assertions of his problems which more or less revolve around inequalities
along with servility and in the quest to overcome the same.

The next chapter will discuss the two most important aspects of the book related to the neo-
middle class in India- Class divide and Urban-rural divide. It will specifically focus on how
they are reflected in the book.
 THE WHITE TIGER AND THE NEO-
MIDDLE CLASS
By Saumya Singh (ID Number 2584)

The White Tiger is a poignant tale of the struggles of the neo-middle class as its members try
to face the social and economic barriers that they encounter to come out of poverty. 2 aspects
of its emergence have particularly been highlighted in the book. They will be discussed in this
section.

THE CONTRAST BETWEEN ‘DARKNESS’ AND

‘LIGHT’

One constant refrain that is reflected throughout the book is the dichotomy between ‘darkness’
(the rural areas of India) and ‘light’ (urban areas). Among other factors that have resulted in
this dichotomy, the limited reach of the benefits of globalization is one that has been alluded
to in the book. Globalization has led to the creation of new job opportunities, such as the
concept of ‘outsourcing’ that is the engine of the economy of Bangalore and is the basis of
Balram’s business. It has also led to the assimilation of many elements of Western Culture into
the Indian society while weakening traditional social structures such as the caste system. The
political framework adopted by India after Independence, based on democracy and values like
liberty and equality, was also inspired to a large extent by Western systems and values.
However, the book brings out how such changes have largely been limited to urban areas. The
urban areas have become more prosperous in terms of the financial status of the inhabitants in
general, the educational and employment opportunities that are available to them and the
availability of public facilities. On the other hand, the book vividly describes the abysmal
condition of the inhabitants of ‘darkness’. They lack proper facilities such as sewage, electricity
and properly equipped hospitals. According to the book, even though the caste system is not
very rigid now, job opportunities are very limited and most do not offer any scope of progress
(like those of the ‘human spiders’ Balram describes). A few rich (such as the four ‘animals’)
control much of the land and exploit their servants egregiously, not scrupling to go to the extent
of harming their families for perceived transgressions. The political scenario is also not
encouraging at all. Balram gives a vivid account of how democracy in villages is a sham; the
votes of people are bought and sold for political gain and those who try to raise their voice
against such malpractices are suppressed. Constant suppression leads to the development of
fatalism among the people and they start believing that they have no say in the political process;
a notion that is antithetical to the very concept of democracy. The contrast between the ideals
and reality of democracy in Indian villages is brought out most sharply by the symbol of the
Great Socialist’s party- hands breaking free of chains. The same leader who uses this symbol
participates in buying votes and suppressing the voices of the poor.

However, it would be erroneous to make a generalization about the status of all inhabitants of
villages and cities. In villages there are a few people (like Vijay) who have been able to make
use of the new political opportunities to move up the social ladder. However, such people
remain exceptions. In cities there are stark differences in the financial and social status of
inhabitants. The poor, including those who migrate from the ‘Darkness’ in search of job
opportunities, seem to form a city different from that of the rich. This is because of the class
divide that exists between the rich and the poor.

THE CLASS DIVIDE

In the book, Balram narrates how the struggle between the rich and the poor in India is an ever-
lasting one, and the rich have always won the war. His story reflects how that is the case even
in contemporary India. There is no doubt that the introduction of democratic politics in India
has led to the weakening of the caste system, especially in cities. Jobs are no longer determined
solely on the basis of caste and social mobility is possible even for the poor. According to
Balram, there are only 2 castes in India now: the haves and have-nots. However, as he gradually
realizes, a vast chasm exists between them. He reveals how even in cities like Delhi, the rich
and the poor have completely different ways of living, as if they formed two separate cities.
The poor, many of whom come from the ‘Darkness’ in search of job opportunities, lack social
and economic capital and political rights. They are not allowed into public places (such as the
mall in Balram’s case) as these are considered reserves for the rich. Even those who are
relatively rich (like drivers and servants) do not have means of social or economic progress;
Balram was shocked to find out that if he continued as a driver, he would at best be able to buy
a house in a slum and get his son into college. According to him, the rich always get the best
of everything and are active participants in the process of stopping the poor from moving up
the social order by not treating them well. Servants, especially drivers, are frequently made
scapegoats for the crimes of their masters, and this was about to happen to Balram too. His
frustration at the unfairness of such a social order led to his eventual moral corruption. Initially
he was a very loyal servant to his master and tried to please him, sometimes at his own expense.
However, gradually he starts violating the instructions given by the ‘Mongoose’ and stealing
indirectly from Ashok. He rationalizes the same by saying that his master owed him much more
than what he stole. He comes up with the logic of the ‘Rooster Coop’ to explain the paradox of
servants submitting to such an oppressive social order. According to him, it is because of the
fear of damage to one’s family that one remains loyal to his master. To gain ‘freedom’, one has
to let go of such inhibitions. He ends up killing his master, Ashok, and running away with his
money, even though he knew it could put his family in danger. Though he doesn’t deny the
unconscionability of his act, he rationalizes it by saying that in the present social order,
everyone has to take drastic measures to free herself/ himself; he was one of the few successful
people who had managed to escape the leash of poverty. His economic success comes at the
cost of his morals. In a way, the story is reflective of the struggles of those of the neo middle
class, especially in the era of Globalization when material progress often comes at the cost of
one’s conscience.

Even though the book attempts to depict the transition from a caste-based society to a class-
based society, the researcher believes that it does not give enough importance to the impact of
the caste system on Indians in the contemporary period. The documentary ‘India Untouched’
by Stalin shows how caste-based discrimination continues to take place in both rural and urban
areas, frequently resulting in violence. In urban areas caste-based discrimination has not
ceased; it has just become less visible. The cases of suicide being committed by promising
Dalit students in the recent past are just one indication of the pervasive presence of the caste
system in the society even now.
 CONCLUSION
By Shubh Mittal (ID Number 2587)

Aravind Adiga in his epistolary novel depicts India as a dark and vast jungle in which
corruption, ruthlessness, sycophancy and hierarchy are commonly practiced. Adiga’s novel is
a story of a man’s quest for liberty and how a person emerges from the shackles of poverty or
from the ‘India of darkness’ and enters the ‘India of light’ in today’s modern-day capitalist
society. This story is shocking as well as thoroughly entertaining in equal amount.

Adiga’s protagonist Balram represents the poor in India, who yearn for their tomorrow.
He sees himself as a quintessential entrepreneurial success tale representing India's future and
poses himself to the Premier as such. His tale is a New India parable with a macabre twist. He
isn’t only an entrepreneur, but also a remarkably self-justifiable rogue murderer. Poverty,
inequality and corruption are the background against which he works.

Much of the story traces its development from a meek person to an inflamed person who can
kill in quest of his own achievement. He has a Macbethian ambition of living his life as a king.
Balram's commentary is full of paradox, irony and rage running through each page like poison.
It is above all a vision of a society that is complicit in its own enslavement for which Balram
remembers what poet Mirza Ghalib said about slaves: “They remain slaves because they can’t
see what is beautiful in the world”.

Balram's individualism philosophy comes near to the Machiavellianism of Mr. Ashok.

Balram's individualism emphasizes self-confidence and independence disregarding any kind
of morality while Ashok's Machiavellianism defines his propensity to manipulate and mislead
others for personal benefit.

“Those living below the poverty line are anxious to free themselves from the curse of poverty.
Those who have got an opportunity to emerge from the difficult challenges have become
aspirational. They now want to be part of neo middle class.” Current Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi came up with the term "neo middle class" in 2012, when he was Gujarat's chief
minister, which meant individuals who came from the group of the poor but who are still to
settle in the middle class. The neo-middle class comprises of Indians the lives of whom have
improved in fields such as employment, education and income from one generation to the next
and who continue to aspire for better standards of living. According to the NDA government,
the “neo middle class” is the “aam aadmi”. But today, this category with its "new cash" is very
susceptible and populist politicians are luring them with a bright future because they are a
prospective vote bank that can-do wonders for them.

This “neo middle class”, i.e., the new aspirational class, is a post-liberalization product. In a
manner, the novel reflects the struggles of the neo middle class, particularly in this age of
globalization where material advancement comes at the expense of one's conscience. After
LPG, distinct multinational corporations in their quest to earn profits and increase the customer
base applied different tactics which led to the exploitation of the common worker, as their work
hours increased, salaries reduced, and job stability disappeared into thin air.

In a nation in which the norms are so overwhelmingly stacked against the deprived, Balram
comes to think that one must be prepared to sacrifice everything, including attachment to one's
family and traditional morals, to build a better life and "break out of the Rooster Coop." In
addition, he asserts that the poor consciously prevent one another from escaping, either
willingly cutting one another down, or less deliberately but almost as powerfully, through a
culture which makes them expect such servitude and oppression. The 'Rooster Coop' is
regarded by Balram as a unique symbol of India's underclass condition. A system which he
dubbed as the 'Rooster Coop', pits the Indian underclass into a perpetual state of servitude. It
includes both the upper-class intentional techniques as well as a mentality that has been
imposed on its own by the underclass. The ‘Rooster Coop’ can be regarded as a reference to
the proletariat and bourgeoisie theory of Marx. The bourgeoisie or the rich continuously exploit
the poor or the ‘Roosters’ that are the proletariat.

Balram believes there are two India’s: one is the rural, internal part, the continent's
impoverished "Darkness" and the other is the urban coastal India's "Light". Whilst in
Delhi, Balram encountered the two types of people, those who eat, i.e., the predators and those
who are eaten, i.e., the prey. Balram wanted to become an eater, "someone with a big belly",
and the story tells us how this desire turns out.

We have still not achieved inclusive growth, though our GDP has grown significantly. We
cannot rise higher on the back on some parts of the society. Balram reveals in the novel how
the fight between poor and rich is one that last forever, and how the rich have always won the
battle. This can be ascribed to Weber’s theory. According to Weber, a class is a particular
group that has a similar economic position and by virtue of that position, receives similar
economic reward. People will have similar opportunity if they share a class position. The
chances and opportunities of achieving something desirable in life will be directly affected by
one’s economic position. In this the non-ownership and ownership of property factors also play
a significant role. The poor who has less or no property has less market value and skill than the
rich or the property owners. All this translates to the economic returns, acquired by the two
classes. This theory of Weber also emphasizes the gap that can be observed between the two
classes owing to the factors mentioned above.

As per Balram, the wealthy always have the best of everything and are actively involved in the
procedure of preventing the impoverished in going up the social order. The rich’s unkind and
tight-fisted behavior can be seen from the lost coin instance in which Mongoose slurs Balram
for not having found a rupee coin which he lost and that too after bribing someone with millions
of rupees. His disgust at such and unfair social order resulted to his ultimate moral corruption.
Although he does not reject the unconscionability of his deed, he tried to justify it by stating
that drastic steps have to be taken by everybody to free themselves in the current social order;
and that he was one of those successful individuals who managed to free himself from the
shackles of poverty. Balram was thinking of confessing all his misdeeds, but he felt “rage”
instead of guilt and justified by thinking “the more I stole from him, the more I realized how
much he has stolen from me.” He demonstrates the very same loss of humanitarian principles
and morals, which he inherited from his master.

Adiga also attacks on India’s secularism, where a Muslim person has to change his name to a
Hindu name, i.e., Ram Persad to get a job.

Relentless oppression leads to the growth of fatalism among individuals and they begin to
believe that in the political system they have no say; and this notion, is directly opposed to the
very principle of democracy. The most significant highlighted contrast between the reality and
the principles of democracy in Indian villages is the Great Socialist parties’ symbol- “hand
breaking free of chains.” But the irony is that the very leader who utilizes this symbol is
engaged in purchasing votes and trying to suppress the poor people’s voices.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS
 Arvind Adiga, The White Tiger (Free Press 2008).

JOURNAL ARTICLES
 K Balagopal, ‘Merit and Reservation’ [1991] EPW.
 R. K. Merton, 'Social Structure and Anomie' (1938) 3(5) American Sociological
Review 672.

WEBSITES AND NEWSPAPERS

 Abheek Singhi and Nimisha Jain, ‘The rise of India’s Neo-Middle Class (Livemint, 4
October 2006)
<https://www.livemint.com/Politics/HY9TzjQzljCZNRHb2ejC2H/The-rise-of-Indias-
neo-middle-class.html> accessed September 10 2019.
 Amarnath Tewary, ‘Patna High Court withdraws judicial work from senior judge’ The
Hindu (30 August 2019) <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/patna-
high-court-withdraws-judicial-work-from-senior-judge/article29292128.ece> accessed
4 September 2019.
 Businesstoday, ‘Income inequality gets worse; India's top 1% bag 73% of the country's
wealth, says Oxfam’ (Businesstoday, January 30 2019)
<https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/oxfam-india-wealth-report-
income-inequality-richests-poor/story/268541.html> accessed September 11 2019.
 Lola Nayar, ‘'Neo-Middle Class' Worked For Modi In 2014 Elections: Leela Fernandes’
(Outlook, 30 April 2019) <https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-
neo-middle-class-worked-for-modi-in-14/301535> accessed September 11 2019.