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Education. That is the theme in W’s family history. The family consists of himself, his wife S and one of their three adult daughters. S’s family, from Amritsar, had always valued education and she worked her whole career as a science teacher in a government school. Everyone on her side of the family are post-graduates. W, on the other hand, was the first of his rural Punjabi family to ever attend college. None of his six siblings did so, nor did any of their children. He says: “In Punjab not much emphasis is on education. [People are] interested in going abroad by whatever means possible.” However, he had topped his district in matric (10th) grade and went to public colleges in Jalandar (BSc) and Patiala (MSc) in statistics. He worked for his entire career in government service as a statistical analyst before retiring, happily, in 2005.

W and S were married in 1974. All three of their daughters went to Delhi University, two finishing with Masters of Computer Application degrees and the one, A, currently living with them, with an MBA. All are working in the IT sector.

While working, they lived in government accommodation. Now that they are both retired, they own a flat in an apartment complex of ninety units built by a cooperative society that bought the land from the Delhi Development Authority. The flat is a three BHK (3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, hall/living room and kitchen). If they did not own their apartment, rent would be about ₹ 25,000/month plus maintenance. W just pays the ₹2000 maintenance fee.

Aunty (that is, S) is diabetic and uses the Central Government Health Services (CGHS) – health insurance and facilities for current and retired government employees. Their medical expenses are very low because of CGHS coverage. They prefer the private empaneled hospitals that CGHS covers. Consultations at government hospitals can be rushed. Whereas in empaneled private hospitals “atmosphere sahi hai (is right) …care proper hai. Room emergency mein mil jaata hai (In an emergency you get a room.)”

They don’t vacation much but W regularly walks in the park just outside the society premises.

This is our “one percenter”.