IS there anyone in class? Are you paying attention? I am talking about the fixation with classification of the classes. Whether in a teastall in Dehradun or a pecan farm in Decatur, the 'middle class' is now the hot topic du jour.
Lets call this obsession by a new moniker - Classifixation. Take that Merriam. Or Webster or Oxford or whoever is keeping count.
I am in the meantime completely nonplussed by the turn of events in where the use of the word 'class' has gone beyond the classrooms into the mainstream and into the deep waters, as in Akula Class vs. Typhoon class (types of submarines to the untrained yokels).
Add to that the working class now can be seen boarding First Class and Coach Class is full of the immigrant class which makes for a quagmire in the flying class. No one knows which color is their carpet so to speak (as in the dirty scrap of cloth lying in front of boarding gates in all manners of hues and shades). It used to require a first class in college to get a job worthy of flying any class but with 'pay for graduation' programs gaining popularity a pass class can also encroach on the available air space.
Getting back to the class warfare after having dealt with the war on terror, using the Centaur class of naval hardware we find our politicians attacking the high earner class with new tax bills while moaning the loss of the large middle class. High rollers are not laughing to the bank amidst this class half empty (er I mean glass half empty) scenario and are wondering if they can bankroll their child's education in the fine arts class at all (never mind why you never hear of a low roller).
So what do we make of this classic case of no class? Perhaps we will wait for Santa Class to provide a clue this Christmas.
On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...
Santa Class should of course be accompanied by Banta class, or else he'll be offended!
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