A few features of the land and its masses are flashed regularly in the columns of dailies of all hues in various languages. Two such features, namely poverty and corruption, both of which apply to a humongous number in the country’s population of 135 crore and counting, are taken by the readers of dailies in their stride. The twin phenomenons have a strange but valid connect. The erstwhile poor, getting a foothold in any government job, making their daily bread by being corrupt, move from the society’s poor section to that of the affluent, which doesn’t require any elaboration. The select vote-seekers, who make it to the gaddi as it were in the government after every election to any of the democratically constituted bodies, stand out as glaring examples of the country’s nouveau riche (new rich). Babudom provides examples in matching numbers.

While being poor or affluent is for individuals to experience respectively with misery or joy, the economic health of their nation remains to be grist for the country’s Finance Minister and well-marked global bodies doling funds to projects launched by the government. We get to read statements coming from these sources about the nation’s financial status leaving everyone guessing who is right and who is wrong.

Figures of the estimated percentage of poor people in India’s population published on and off apparently attracts far less attention than figures of the numbers of high net worth individuals and the money worth of their known assets. Understandably, the counterparts of these identified affluent gentries, who operate with immense money power, called parallel economy, prefer to remain incognito, although their dominating role both in commerce and administration is everybody’s knowledge. That is the beginning of the corruption story, but not the end. If the upright section in society, either by choice or lack of opportunities to lay their hands on tainted money, prefer to remain upright, it is up to them.

Achieving a makeover from the status of poor citizen of India to an affluent one is not everybody’s cup of tea. However, the young among the adults are obliged to bestir themselves to get cracking by learning about the rags-to-riches stories of some who are living examples.