I was angry! They never knew how difficult my life is, I told myself. "I have worked bloody hard and most of it all alone, to have come to this level", I patted myself on the back. It cannot have been easy, for nobody in my family understood what it meant to be a 'non-medico' in the family. Nobody studied engineering. None quit engineering to enter the social sector. Almost none went abroad to study. And surely nobody works with the government.
Classic sulking upper-class privilege! Ah, the privileged home-bred dog complaining about not getting food on time. That was me!
Suddenly I remembered that word, 'Privilege'! Google defines it as 'having special rights, advantages or immunities. So I stopped my filthy monologue and started to write my privileges down; simply put, certain advantages I have over others, which I have not done anything to deserve.
Born to doctor parents have to be a privilege, ain't it? And surely having both of them alive and well till my twenties was too. Going to a rich private school seethes of privilege for only 25% of my country could afford them. To study in a top engineering college and to do a masters in what is considered among the world's best institutes without a student loan was a privilege too! That meant someone else had to work hard so that I study.
Did I deserve the car we had? The bed where my head rested? the bicycle I drove to the school complaining that I do not have a motorbike? The food on the table, four times a day? Well, I ate four times a day, all through school and college! Of course, I did well in my first interview to have got through to my first job but wasn't my language skills a privilege? For far better experts in the subject could not get through the interview for want of better language skills.
I often boast of quitting the high profile job to work in a remote part of the country! But how can I boast of it as my achievement for my dad helped me get the job! I did clear the initial stages of the civil service exams, for I had a room in the heartland of the capital, somebody who could teach the subject, someone to cook and someone to wash my clothes. There were surely people who had to work and cook and wash and also prepare for the exams.
The privilege of the economy, society, religion, culture, family, and of course the locality!
I can go on and on and on, on this! I will stop here. Just realising I have had special rights, advantages and immunities all along with my life, for which I had to be thankful. And surely be cognizant of the privileges.
And if you are reading this, having the internet in your personal computer, recognize your privileges and be thankful for them!
Classic sulking upper-class privilege! Ah, the privileged home-bred dog complaining about not getting food on time. That was me!
Suddenly I remembered that word, 'Privilege'! Google defines it as 'having special rights, advantages or immunities. So I stopped my filthy monologue and started to write my privileges down; simply put, certain advantages I have over others, which I have not done anything to deserve.
Born to doctor parents have to be a privilege, ain't it? And surely having both of them alive and well till my twenties was too. Going to a rich private school seethes of privilege for only 25% of my country could afford them. To study in a top engineering college and to do a masters in what is considered among the world's best institutes without a student loan was a privilege too! That meant someone else had to work hard so that I study.
Did I deserve the car we had? The bed where my head rested? the bicycle I drove to the school complaining that I do not have a motorbike? The food on the table, four times a day? Well, I ate four times a day, all through school and college! Of course, I did well in my first interview to have got through to my first job but wasn't my language skills a privilege? For far better experts in the subject could not get through the interview for want of better language skills.
I often boast of quitting the high profile job to work in a remote part of the country! But how can I boast of it as my achievement for my dad helped me get the job! I did clear the initial stages of the civil service exams, for I had a room in the heartland of the capital, somebody who could teach the subject, someone to cook and someone to wash my clothes. There were surely people who had to work and cook and wash and also prepare for the exams.
The privilege of the economy, society, religion, culture, family, and of course the locality!
I can go on and on and on, on this! I will stop here. Just realising I have had special rights, advantages and immunities all along with my life, for which I had to be thankful. And surely be cognizant of the privileges.
And if you are reading this, having the internet in your personal computer, recognize your privileges and be thankful for them!
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