The Year Of The Indian Middle Class

When Outlook was launched in 1995, among the first decisions I took was to resist the temptation of nominating a Man of the Year for our Christmas/New Year double issue. As journalists we are designed to have built-in crap detectors and it seemed to me that this whole business of selecting one individual for honour was slightly spurious, if not altogether bogus. Despite my reservations, I note the virus is spreading. Today, there is hardly a media organ which does not indulge its craving for picking a single person. As you may have observed, Outlook continues to buck the trend but I must confess we are feeling pretty lonely.

If push came to shove, I would have to declare 2006 as the year of the "Indian middle class". They've never had it so good. My picture of the winner would be a jeans-clad, Esteem-riding family buying Swiss chocolates. As a companion choice, I would nominate the Indian media which is now so completely aligned to the middle class in its values that the two often work in tandem. Understandably, a fair amount of mutual backslapping is visible as the twins notch up one victory after another. The Indian middle class and the Indian media seem to be made for each other.

I have frequently been accused of being anti-middle class. That is a gross over-simplification. In fact, I am quintessentially middle class. Nevertheless, I constantly remind myself that there are other things in heaven and earth besides bigger and bigger shopping malls.

The 9.2 per cent growth in GDP was welcomed with shrieks of delight. And we were told that if the lower classes didn't strike too much, double digit growth was on the horizon. Doubtless, it has been a terrific year for the economy and the sight of Indian business tigers prowling around international markets, gobbling up companies twice and three times their size, was thrilling. David was not just taking on Goliath, but invariably beheading him. The India-China comparison became a cliche and some optimists believed the tortoise may overtake the hare.

The spectacular performances of corporates old and new have been hailed. Corporate social responsibility, meanwhile, has remained in the realm of contentious debate with the Big Boys determined to thwart any attempt to impose affirmative action of any kind. Let us do it our way, they told the nation without releasing their blueprint. I don't rush to judgement. All I say is: put your money where your mouth is. And don't lecture us that the first and highest social responsibility of a business house is to make money.

The champion buzzphrase of 2006 was "middle-class activism", courtesy which all the ills of our criminal-justice system were destined to be cured. As the Jessica Lall and Priyadarshini Mattoo verdicts came in, middle- class/media triumphalism ran riot. I do not wish to appear mocking or deny the successes achieved, but middle class activism seems confined to middle-class distress. I did not see many candle-light marches protesting farmers' suicides or female foeticides. While one welcomes the phenomenon, the area of activity needs to be extended. If the middle class are to truly awaken from their long slumber and discharge their civic responsibility, they will need to exert on a much wider canvas.

The Indian media, of which Outlook and I are an integral part, had a good year not just in terms of numbers but in the campaigns and investigations they launched. But time has come for self-congratulation to give way to self-introspection. Our brothers and sisters in the electronic media believe professional norms are optional. The phrase "public interest" was much abused to justify practices which were unjustifiable.

All the feedback from the viewer suggests that if news channels do not curb their enthusiasm for "exclusives", "breaking news" and "only on this channel", they will force audiences to increasingly reach for the remote.

Some things widely expected did not happen. The Sonia-Manmohan rift failed to materialise, indeed the relationship actually became stronger. God's own party had a terrible year, with the disarray in the BJP mounting. Few things were funnier in 2006 than the BJP's claim to have at last discovered a winning formula. And pray, what might that be? Ramjanambhoomi and cow slaughter! If I labour the point you will charge me with pseudo-secularism. Nevertheless, where are the second-generation saffron realists?

George Bush came to India for three days and charmed the nation. The landmark nuclear deal must be put down to his persistence. He is even more pro-India than Bill Clinton. Alas, anti-Americanism in India is still alive and kicking. The Iraq duplicity is not merely hurting the United States externally, it has poisoned every sphere of domestic US politics. Historians will judge whether the invasion was the Folly of the Century. Meanwhile, a bumper sticker seen in New York offers a timely warning to the world: "Be nice to America, otherwise we will bring you democracy."

Both Editor and I wish you a happy new year.