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Quote:Chandan Singh, 25, in Mumbai, found himself unemployed when the financial institution he was working for closed down three years ago. His efforts at both seeking alternative employment as well as setting up his own business were not successful.

"It was hard," says Singh, "I did not have the financial wherewithal to take out loans, rent a space, hire personnel, or procure stock in bulk in advance." Then, one day, Singh saw an ad in a newspaper. " I read it and decided to go to business school."

So far, so ordinary. But he's not talking about any of the B-schools you know, least of all the hallowed IIMs. Singh's B-school experience constituted a 90-minute seminar at eBay Academy, and he now earns about Rs 8,000 a month through online transactions on eBay, selling electronic items at this website.

full article: http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/oct/27ebay.htm

"Rs 8,000 a month"

$178 US a month

[quote author=dnc_ont link=topic=991.msg3840#msg3840 date=1130447904]
"Rs 8,000 a month"

$178 US a month

[/quote]

By India's low standards that is actually enough to qualify as (lower)  "middle class".  In the tech industry, for example,  outsourced workers in India are paid about 10%-20% of what their  counterparts in the US make.  The difference in wages gets even worse for unskilled/lower-skill industries like the garment industry, etc.