Riding On The High Horse of Privilege

Saroo didn't find his brother that night after waking up on that bench at the train station. At the age of six or seven, I doubt he knew what he had gotten into when he entered that empty carriage. We know how much of a child he was when even after a “thousand miles” he still hoped to find Gudu.

 As I watched the story of this young boy I began to feel guilty, perhaps some of the kids who beg on the streets are just missing like Saroo was. Maybe not the “Lebanese” as we often think they are and we do see their parents hauling at them sometimes and I'm damn sure they aren't missing, maybe just unfortunate. 

Saroo met a “good” stranger who fed him for a day or two but his instincts pushed him back to the streets were he survived a few more days. How could a seven year old do this? Firstly, Saroo could run since he  and Gudu had to steal charcoal blocks, they would sell them off to get two sachets of milk which they would have for dinner with mum and their little sister. 

Saroo’s Mother had to pick rocks or stones, I'm not sure what it was she had to do to survive but it was pathetic. Saroo getting lost and getting to that orphanage must have been God’s way of pulling him out of suffering even though as a child he didn't think of his life as unfortunate. Gudu probably had to be killed by a train for this to happen since the only way it was going to happen was by his not returning to the station that night. Their mother had to cry and wallow in discontempt for twenty five years not knowing what had happened to Saroo even after losing Gudu on same night. 

Saroo was adopted and lived in Australia, went to school and had a degree, learnt surfing and had an American fiancé and eventually returned to his mother. 

Did you see “Lion” , the movie? “ In all those years Saroo learnt that he had been pronouncing his name wrongly which was actually ‘Sheru’ meaning ‘Lion’”. Nicole Kidman didn't age a bit in this one even after twenty five years, according to the story line. That aside, I really enjoyed this movie because it shed some light on the subject of privilege. Saroo was born in a local village in India. By virtue of his place of birth and the family he was born into, he was 'less privileged' because he wasn't going to go to school and offcourse didn't even have enough to eat. He had to steal at an early age so he didn't even have the privilege to learn morality. 

Saroo’s brother died on one of their heist unknown to him and he couldn't find his way back home so by virtue of place and time he became an “orphan” because he ended up in an “orphanage” making him even more unfortunate because the opportunity of being parented would elude him. 

Luckily, Saroo got adopted by an Australian couple and his life changed forever. The privilege of peace, education, provision, morality and even being parented came into his life. 

As I try to proceed further I guess I should recognise my dear friend Gideon who made me write this article, one forged to address the eventual end of those who are privileged and off course how privilege in itself is no guarantee for a good life or end. 

At this point it beats me that I should define privilege in the context being discussed and I do as “anything you have that you didn't work for which is to say, you don't necessarily deserve by virtue of deliberate effort”. While grilling this subject , I had wondered if it made any sense at all and asked Dele who was in the room at the time to throw some light where he said “privilege is an opportunity to do something that others cannot”. While this definition is conveniently short, I'd like to add that this supposed opportunity wasn't sort out for by you rather others do the work of creating the opportunity and shoving it in your guts, that's why it's a privilege you enjoy. 

Now that we have that out, I had asked Dele to tell me about the privileges out there that people enjoyed, and he said they were so many. Truthfully, they are so many but what are the most important privileges, the privileges that lead to other privileges and perhaps supersedes all others. 

No matter what privileges you think you enjoy, they are a function of two indisputable factors “Place and Time”. What you are and who you are is greatly affected by these two factors. They are two factors we can rarely change which are privileges associated with your birth. In my opinion, the place and timing of your birth is either a blessing or a “curse”.

Let me explain like Kevin Hart would try, a child born to the British Royal family is indeed privileged, isn't he? But that's a virtue of place not time. If he is born at a time of war, he's unfortunate because he is missing the privilege of peace. 

Peace? Wow! Is that a privilege? To have been born during the world war or civil war or maybe to be born now, at Syria only to be shipped away as an immigrant or rather a refugee, is that a privilege? Do we deserve peace? Those of us who live in areas least affected by insurgency, do we deserve peace? Peace is a good thing so every human deserves some peace, perhaps internal peace is a duty you owe yourself but that can rarely be achieved if there's no peace outwardly. What role have we played being born in “peaceful Nigeria” or so “peaceful Africa”? A privilege I tell you, one that has been sort after by our forefathers which makes me wonder why we feel privileges weren't worked for afterall. 

To you who enjoys them they are but a privilege but to those who had their lives hinged between the dead and living, they are but the spoils of battle. 

The privilege of time and place go together for the privileges of wealth or morality. Timing and placement affects wealth, to have been born when there is plenty like the tales of groundnut pyramids or to be born when there is famine like these days of “change”. To be born at a time when slavery is immoral or at a time when women are allowed to go to school. These are the broadest forms of privileges, the ones most humans enjoy but of course there are those who do not enjoy these because of the places they have found themselves and of the times that do exist. We are enwreathed by privileges but we sometimes can't feel them just as the privilege of having parents is quite different from that of being parented and all these determines the individual that emerges to a great extent but not in totality. 

My dear Gideon, with regards to your questions, I will tell you a story: A few days ago, Dele had walked into the kitchen to do the needful like we always do,  “Do you remember Ikenna?”  he asked. How can I forget Ikenna, I had thought, he made himself a person of note for notoriety, I couldn't forget him even after 9 years. “What about him?” I replied. “Ikenna is now a Taxi Driver in Lagos”. At first I was a bit disappointed, Ikenna? “Oh! Uber right?” I asked. “ No, taxi, real taxi” he replied. I was curious about getting the source of this information, this is why some of us never go for high school reunions, rumours of our lives never seem to go away and they always start and end with high school mates. So I had to investigate, “ who told you?” “I met his younger brother today, he said their dad died and Ikenna had to drop out of school to take care of him”, My disappointment swiftly changed to a homogeneous mix of pity and applause. I was happy he had taken life by the horns and wasn't ashamed to do what most would see as “low” considering his background. Yes, Ikenna was a rich kid at school, a nuthead maybe, but rich. He had been expelled from the big schools, Faith High School was only doing his parents a favour considering they were members of the church and of course as a missionary school, it's designed to fix nutheads at an affordable price. I wasn't sure what Ikenna would become in those days, I mean he probably had everything, he had miss FHS as his girlfriend, they both got a private university education or so we thought. When he was made to kneel before the entire school assembly and prayers made to fix that knot, I never bothered about what he would become, he was a spoilt kid who had everything. To have heard this on that day, I was proud of him because he had turned out great even when he lost it all, well most of the privileges he had. I guess he learnt to face life and entitlement didn't get in the way of that or he should be smoking himself to death at an alley. 

Life presents itself with different kinds of privileges, firstly the most important ones are probably those of outward peace and then that of morality. The privilege of provision or education are not available to most people simply because of their birth place or time of birth. As humans we are aware of these privileges and they are a blessing and a curse. A blessing it is because it gives us a higher ground to build on, others may have to climb before they get to where we have started but it becomes a curse because some begin to have a sense of entitlement and security over something they didn't even work for. It permits laxity in the lives of those who have them in abundance. It's a broad subject to be disseminated in one post. I think what matters is seeing the privileges accrued to each and every one of us because even “lack” is a privilege, one that creates an unending desire to seek for provision, a desire that may never been found in one who had never been subjected to the harsh reality. A reality that awakens us early enough to the extreme obscurities that life would present. It is a mixture, there are privileged people who understand lack and have taken advantage of that privilege and even shared what they have with those who have been unfortunate. This is why it is a privilege to understand  morality and to in fact have been parented. It is a mix of privileges that creates the unique individual just like our DNA, what remains is the fact that privileges are privileges and nothing else. They don't guarantee your future and can be lost too, if we can lose the things we so worked for, how swiftly can privileges be lost. 

I must appeal to this generation however to continue in this unending circle of creating privileges. While you don't work for the privileges you got, people did and it is our responsibility to create privileges for those who are to come, like that of maintaining peace and order or that of maintaining moral awareness. It is our responsibility and we should see it through.