Multiple choice

Extolling 'the virtues of poverty while living in luxury' is an instance of

Directions: Read the passage given below and answer the question.

1. Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust - leadership by example. He ate,dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi's book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.

2. Frantz Fanon's book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the 'dark elite in white masks" in a post-colonial society - the mindset that the ruled and the rulers have different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers - was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.

Source: A Better India, A Better World'

- N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

  1. ideal of a good government

  2. need to make people adopt a simple life

  3. hypocrisy of people of our country

  4. practising what you preach

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The phrase 'extolling the virtues of poverty while living in luxury' exemplifies hypocrisy - saying one thing but doing the opposite. The passage criticizes Indian elites who praise poverty for others while living comfortable lives themselves. Option A refers to governance ideals, not hypocrisy. Option B misinterprets this as advice rather than criticism. Option D describes positive behavior, the opposite of what's being critiqued.