Back to the paddy fields. COVID smashes Indian middle-class dreams

Ashish Kumar, 20, who used to work at a plastics factory in western India, checks his mobile phone outside his house in Dutta Nagar village in Gonda district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, July 10, 2020. REUTERS/Pawan Kumar

DUTTA NAGAR, India (Reuters) - Until late March, Ashish Kumar was helping to make plastic boxes for Ferrero Rocher praline chocolates and the plastic spoons tucked inside Kinder Joy eggs to scoop out the milky sweet cream inside.

With a diploma in plastic mould technology, the 20-year-old had a foot on his chosen career ladder. His younger brother Aditya chose law, but Ashish had his sights set on plastic.