India, April 10 -- In Kolkata's social vocabulary, a particular group has long held a special place in public life, the 'Bhadralok', or what is often referred to as the 'Madhyabitta' (middle-class) society. In English-language discourse, this social class has often described itself as the "middling class". Later, the term evolved into the educated middle class, sometimes simply called the middle class.

During the colonial period, British officials, who first encountered this social group, referred to them as "educated natives." Like most modern social classes, however, the boundaries of the 'Bhadralok' community are difficult to define precisely. Membership of this group cannot be determined by any single rigid criterion. Under a class-b...