“For the aam aadmi, costs go up again” screams the headlines in Business Line.
Now, this term ‘aam aadmi’ is a cliché that is frequently used by the media and I have always wondered who they are referring to. Apparently, they have the Great Indian Middle Class in mind.
Do the newsreaders count themselves as part of the aam aadmi brigage? If so, why do they use it in a neutral, third-party sense? Am I an aam aadmi or not? Should I then write, “ us aam aadmi” instead of implying “they aam aadmi”. I find myself in such existentialist dilemma.
According to Wikipedia, “ for an Aam Aadmi, his set of aspirations include three essential things: Food, Clothing and Shelter”. Trust me, my set of Maslowian aspirations include these three essential things too. I can't live without them.
Be that as it may, when costs go up, they don’t go up selectively for the aam aadmi, as the Business Line headlines seem to convey. Costs go up for the rich person ( the gender-neutral, opposite of aam aadmi) too. Maybe, it hurts the aam aadmi more. Too bad for them, sorry us.
Update 02-04-10 : See this cartoon in The Hindu today
Update 02-04-10 : See this cartoon in The Hindu today
3 comments:
but we are the bourgeoisie .. those aam aadmis are the people who build our 2/3 BHK houses, unclog our pipes, sell us vegetables etc. etc
I think you qualify to be the aam aadmi only when you have nothing left after paying for your roti,kapda and makaan kiraya.
Usha, be it known that we shall henceforth follow this definition.
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