Sir,
A privilege is a right or an advantage, and people who are underprivileged lack such rights and advantages. Such people mostly live in poverty. Their kids go to the worst schools and mostly they don’t go to schools. Their life is penurious and ends as the same.
But are the poor sections of the society only underprivileged? What about the people who have everything, still are underprivileged?
People often learn about privilege in seeing what they lack. That is why the wealthy have a hard time dealing with the class issues. Why privileged get an ego level that takes them so high- that even their own positives and negatives are not relevant to them?
All of us are privileged in some ways and disprivileged in others, and getting closed off and defensive about that system that does not do any good. If we have learned anything from being an adult, it’s that most important things aren’t about oneself. No body cares about what we do- but we should care about what we are doing. Why to feel bad if people remember you only when they need your help? One should feel honoured that they need you when their life is in dark.
Privilege is the other side of ‘oppression’. It’s easier to notice oppression than privilege. Do we blame other people for making us recognise there’s a problem? If yes, our privilege is not the problem- we are the problem. It is we who can make ourselves priveleged or underprivileged. There’s a proverb-
‘Eyes but no eyes’. Same ways, people have so much, still dont realise its worth. We aren’t really in a position to complain because we can do what we want to. Whatever hardships one sees in his life- should take it as a learning and still live with privilege. Fear is not knowing where our next meal is coming from? Infact, fear is watching a child get hurt; it is known that we are going to die. But there’s no fear in what we do – can do!
We are privileged and should consider it as a gift. We can and should hope to share it with others- we can and should hope to use our privilege positively- to educate others when we can- and most importantly, to listen when we need to.
Yours etc….
Mehak Grover
on -email
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