Privilege

Privilege

(noun)

;a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.

"education is a right, not a privilege" 

synonyms: advantage, right, benefit, prerogative, entitlement, birthright, due;

I come from a humble family, of generations of service goers. My mother gave me a book each time I was good or bad, she said it helped in any case.  A book for when I failed and a book for every successful milestone. A book for when I came first in class and a book for when I lied. She taught me even what she herself had never learnt. To be born not with a silver spoon in your mouth but with books in your blood and so much potential in your soul is a privilege indeed.  

I went to one of the best schools in the city of Mumbai, followed by a college that exposed me to people I admired and wanted to ape at the same time. The achievers, the intellects, the poets and the occasional genius. I was a graduate in accountancy by 2013 and before you put me off as someone who would be good only with numbers, let me tell you I count on my fingers. I was privileged to have a light to read by, a book that was not snatched away from me by force or circumstance and parents that pushed me to be my best.  

But there are children all around us, that are never able to see their true potential or ever hold a book. And it drives me, because I feel responsible. I feel the need to be involved and stop criticizing a system from the sidelines that I may not completely understand yet. I feel responsible as an educated adult, with so much to give back. As clique as it sounds, I wish to make a difference. I learnt at the age of 3 that a nuclear family is not one which is dis-joint but one which has learnt to love from a distance. And we've been ignoring our less privileged families for too long. The disparity in India scares me and makes me wonder how many people go to sleep hungry only because they were born into a different family than mine. Destined by birth to starve. I look at children and believe each of them is turning into a story worth telling, and if I can only be a facilitator in this journey. To change the life of someone who was never taught right from wrong is perhaps the biggest privilege.

I've just applied to mentor an underprivileged child you can too. Join the Green Batti Project.

This post is a part of my attempt to blog everyday for a month on the occasion of my blog completing 4 years :D Also there is a GIVEAWAY so do participate and win awesome things!