The lies we tell ourselves about the rich and poor

What is it like to be poor in this country Itrsquos a question the middle and upper classes studiously avoid thinking about as we spend more on a pair of sneakers than a domestic worker might make after three months of backbreaking labour If we confronted this uncomfortable truth of course wersquod be forced to ask the next question mdash why donrsquot the poor rise up and kill usBut author Manu Joseph has never been one to turn away from bleak truths either in his years as a journalist or his novels Serious Men and The Illicit Happiness of Other People In his latest release Why The Poor Donrsquot Kill Us The Psychology of Indians mdash his debut in nonfiction literature mdash Joseph brings his trademark dark humour and biting commentary on the dysfunction of Indian society as he seeks to explore the titular questionSome contrast photography conveys the vulgarity of the wealth disparity says Manu Joseph such as a beggar outside the luxurious Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba or the disparity between the cityrsquos chawls and its glass skyscrapers standing cheek by jowl PicsGetty ImagesWhat sparked the query in his mind we ask the Gurugrambased author on a phone call ldquoIn July 2017 some maids and their men attacked a housing society in Noida A young maid had gone missing and the mob suspected that a family in the society had detained her and accused her of stealing moneyrdquo he recalls ldquoItrsquos not something you imagine happening in India where the working class is so servile But Irsquove seen more signs of it recently such as maids talking back to employers and security guardsrsquo attitudes changingrdquo Rare as the Noida incident was it did not shock Joseph ldquoWhat is surprising is why they do not attack more oftenrdquo he saysBefore you get a bucket of popcorn to enjoy a takedown mdash only in the literary sense of course mdash of the countryrsquos billionaires a little heads up This book is not about them itrsquos about us Itrsquos about the urban middle class that likes as Manu puts it so succinctly to use the poor as a moral pedestal to stand on and accuse billionaires of vulgar wealth And yet he points out that to the poor ldquoItrsquos the middle class that is the most visible section of lsquothe richrsquordquo Why would a poor person care more about Mukesh Ambanirsquos 27storey home at Altamont Road mdash Mumbairsquos ldquoBillionairesrsquo Rowrdquo mdash more than authoractivist and friendtothedisenfranchised Arundhati Royrsquos home in Delhirsquos posh Jor Bagh locality he questionsJoseph himself is not exempt from his unflinching observation ldquoMany times my Zomato order is more than my maidrsquos monthly payrdquo he writes honestly ldquoand I have developed the habit of snatching the parcel before she can see the billrdquoThe income divide is so wide the rich and poor are like ldquopeople from two different countries living side by siderdquo he says reminding us instantly of the controversy comedian Vir Das had invited on his ldquoTwo Indiasrdquo bit Many weighs in ldquoI donrsquot know what the fuss was all about Nobody who lives in India can deny this disparityrdquoThe book is a gut punch from the very first chapter where Joseph takes us to Gujarat in the aftermath of the 2001 earthquake As a reporter on the scene he recalls seeing men numbly trying to salvage whatever belongings they could after realising they had lost their entire family When all is lost the only thing one can afford is to move on ldquoThe poor donrsquot need a natural disaster to be this wayrdquo he tell us ldquoThatrsquos what poverty does it breeds this sort of feral pragmatism Living in poverty is living in a state of just constantly accepting catastrophe and that you donrsquot have any control over your misfortunesrdquoLiving in constant survival mode ldquopoor people are like our prehistoric ancestorsrdquo says Joseph ldquopoverty puts them decades or centuries behind the rest of civilisationrdquo To this scribe reading Josephrsquos book feels a bit like trying to ride the Mumbai local train in rush hour Itrsquos utterly miserable at times but the authorrsquos unflinching commentary on society compels you to keep reading Is there hope at the end of the journeyNot if you go by the title of the last chapter mdash Inequality Cannot Be Solved But Joseph is not here to comfort us Hersquos here to hold up a mirror to just how hypocritical and exploitative we are in our privilege We celebrate ads that talk about treating domestic staff with dignity but balk when the cleaner asks for leave We argue against any hikes in their meagre salaries while spending more on our pets than their entire budget to run their entire household for the monthJoseph though places his hope in an unexpected quarter ldquoI see hope in politics It is in the interest of politicians ndash who are entrepreneurs mdash to give a few things to the peoplerdquo he says He foresees rising tensions as the nation grows more prosperous though ldquoA Tamil leader had once told the poor that they are poor because of the sins of past lives There might have been one man in the crowd who stood up and objected to that statement But with more awareness comes angerldquoIn the slums many make peace with their situation because this is all they have known But there are always a few who want to be something more And they are the one who are miserable because they realise that the system of progress that society has claimed is bogus Itrsquos not like you go to college and do well and then the doors open The doors are held shut by the privileged club But with time people are not going to be so forgiving of opportunities they donrsquot have Itrsquos easier to be poor in a poor country than poor in a rich countryrdquo he saysOn the voter fraud controversyUnlike so many of his ilk journalist and author Manu Joseph holds faith in Indian politics and democracy as one avenue of succour to the poor While on the subject we ask him what he thinks of the voter fraud allegations levelled by Rahul Gandhi recentlyAs always Manursquos perspective is different from the masses ldquoThe most interesting thing to me is that he chose a press conference to break the news In another time even 10 years ago like with the Radia tapes controversy he would have given the information to a trusted journalist and then it would have been an exclusive cover story That is how stories broke before Now there is no such thing as trusted free media anymorerdquoAs far as where he stands on it he says bluntly ldquoIntuitively I find it hard to believe that BJP is not as popular as the elections make them out to be But journalists are checking the veracity of some of the claims letrsquos see how far the story goes and what comes out of itrdquo