My dad worked for the government. We would be considered lower middle class, because we lived in middle class neighborhoods but we were the poor family in those neighborhood. We lived in gov housing, and I’m pretty sure the rent was covered. Healthcare was subsidized through the gov. But my dad’s pay was something like RS2k rupees a month for an office job. We had enough to buy groceries and pay the school fees. Life was always good. Dad encouraged I and my siblings to start teaching tuition. So we did and that is how we saved pocket money. We would put all our money in a pool and in a 6-8 months have money to buy a Bicycle we all shared. Then we bought another bike and then another.

My dad never took money from anyone and my dad refused to do favors for anyone. The one time I have seen my father cry is when he had to use sifarish to get my older brother released from jail. He was arrested because our neighbor was going to the market to get naan, and my brother decided to sit as his double swari. Apparently double sawari during heightened security was illegal. This is the time when the US consulate in ISL was attacked.

We lived with in our means.