The trigger

Shashi Tharoor, the Union Minister of India (as of Sept 2009), termed the economy class (read the common man) travelers as 'cattle class'. These comments though a bit derogatory, aren't of the magnitude enough to have sparked the public ire demanding sacking of the minister. But reading his comments and all the drama around them this morning while performing my daily chores inspired me to start this blog- WeTheCattleClass. Though the remark looks down upon us, the common man, who looks for the cheapest available air ticket before planning and applying for leave, it also tells the story of the common man who has outgrown the railway's second class and graduated to traveling in economy class. The same common man who is termed as middle class(which is not considered demeaning but has got into our day-to-day lingo just like another caste) is also credited for driving India's economy at full steam. All said and done, we, the cattle class, are still weak- not bold enough. A bunch of peace loving, satisfied people with only aspirations to step into the next level of hierarchy- the upper middle class- a notch above our present class. We ought to shed our image of the meek and become a bigger contributor to India's growth story.