“Wake up, wake up, it’s a beeyooutiful day,
The sunshine, the melody, the soft breeze,
Wake up, wake up your all new dreams”
He opened his eyes, humming to the alarm music, smiled and snoozed it, checked the phone. Long thread of messages waiting, but he felt sleepy. The cozy bed and that mellow blanket soothes his skin and droves him to another nap, the view resembles a flower resting inside the bud. And in less than ten minutes, “wake up, wake up….” This time along with the music, the scintillating French windows, glazed the marble flooring with the penetrating sunlight combined to orchestrate the greeting for his new day.
He woke up completely, thanks to the sun. Sitting on the bed, it was 9.50 am in the morning. Remembering the last night movie with his friends made him smile, soon interrupted with the reminder on his phone. When opening the reminder, it showed “DAY WITH DAY – OFFICE”, Oh shit! He said to himself. Ben will be here at 10, I should find a way to escape from this office day. Yes, Jacuzzi. He went inside the bath, the Jacuzzi welcomed him a warm steam like a hot spring on a mountain.
‘Ollie, Ollie’, he heard the voice. It’s ben, I know he said to himself. His dad went for in search for him. ‘Thank god, you woke up, the last time you didn’t wake up for the office day, its once in a month ollie’ his dad mocked him funnily. ‘Office is boring, ben’ he replied from the bath. Yes, its his dad Bennett hart, they’re more than dad and son, they’re friends. And he’s Oliver hart, a teenager, his life is like a jewel in the showcase, posh and shiny.
‘If office is boring, then try to find the interesting part of it Ollie, everything has two sides, you know’ ben said. ‘I think office had 4 sides and neither any of that is interesting ben’ he said with a laugh.
But this time Bennett wants his son to come to office, he started ‘Ok, then I will stay here with you in your room and we can play x-box all day long. Tell me where’s your CD collection? ‘.
‘Oh shit, he’s going for the CD collection’ that was a shock, directly to his tongue. Oliver bolted out, ben I came out, we can go the office’ Ollie sighed.
‘You’re the smartest dad ben’ Ollie pressed with an evil smile.
‘Yes, I should be, to run this whole business and to run my smart ollie’ he replied.
And ben asked his son to be ready in 10 minutes, Ollie then cladded himself a blazer and a jean with a blue shades. His dad, teased him ’Blue shades, you should be in formal Oliver hart’.
‘Yes Bennett hart, am in-formal’ with a witty reply. Then both walk past the pool to get in to their Bentley. The path to the office is clear and smooth inside the cozy vehicle. Ben started with ‘Are you excited Ollie, you missed this day for three months in a row’, Ollie tilted his face to show his daring look, ben started to laugh. He then, took his mobile out to check the messages, his friends shared the photos and videos that took yesterday at the movies and at the dinner at truffles.
Thinking back at it, the funny things, and the sarcasms, they were throwing French fries at each other after the sauce dip, those videos relieved his anger totally. He was giggling at his phone and ben was busy with the phone calls. While enjoying his memories, he glanced outside to find a boy at his same age grabbing some leftovers from the dustbin for his breakfast, the phone playing the video of French fries throwing and the reality shows the total opposite. He was blanked out instantly.
The laugh doomed, guilt dawned. His heartbeat throttled at the highest phase matching the speed of the Bentley. He turned to right to see his dad, he’s still on the busy call. There were at least 10 to 20 questions popping in to his mind every minute. The clear sky in the last minute, clouded with dark clouds desperate for a rain, or else there will be no sunshine soon.
He could still see peoples begging and craving for money and he could witness some peoples stuck with their same street shops for decades, since he saw them the first time. He felt really bad, thinking like ’am rich inside while many peoples are suffering outside, they don’t have any way to grow, maybe rich controlling everything, why don’t rich people help poor to grow up?’, his mind getting muddled with many clouds.
Soon, ben relieved from the call. And the rain started to pour.
‘Ben, am I privileged? Are we privileged?’ Ollie asked curiously.
‘Yes, Ollie. We’re alive’ ben said with a laugh.
‘Not that ben’ Ollie started, ‘yes, we’re. We know how to read and write, we have no physical disabilities’ ben replied without giving Ollie time to explain his question.
‘And we can think, yes we’re privileges’ ben continued to tease his son.
‘Ben, ugh. Allow me to ask the question first!!’ he said little angrily.
‘Ha-ha, tell me Oliver’ ben silenced and Oliver continued ’look at the peoples, they’re struggling for food, while am wasting it easily and enjoy doing it. The money that they’re craving for, am spending it for the less needy for my selfish enjoyments. They deserve a food right, we’re not the masters and they’re not the slaves right?’ he ended the question.
Ben didn’t answer, but was watching him. Oliver continued ‘I feel guilty now, I feel like am doing something bad’.
The wonderful question amazed ben, but not stumbled even a bit. Ben knew the answer, yet thinking to clear his clouds in an easy way.
Ben initiated with ‘Why do you feel guilty?’
‘Because we have many, but hesitant to give’ Ollie said strongly.
Then the questionnaires started,
B: Why should I give them?
O: Because, we have to help sufferers.
B: Help, what do they need?
O: They need food, shelter and possibly education.
B: What they’re doing for their need?
O: Begging, what they can do other than that?
Okay Oliver, I think I have to show you the world, which is much important than office. Oliver was excited and ben too. Ben asked the driver to reroute the car to a public place like train or bus station. After 10 minutes, they reached the nearby bus station. They parked the car and both son and dad got out from the car. So many peoples, beggars, hawkers, on road merchants were there. They looked like the odd one out at that scenario.
‘Just, go to that beggar, who’s with his family about their need’ ben asked Ollie.
Ollie then ran to the beggar, and asked what his dad asked him to. He heard something and ran back to ben and said ‘They need food and money ben’. With a smile ben again asked ‘Go and ask him why he was begging for a long time, when begging is not helping him to feed his family’.
Again Ollie ran to him and conversed him and back to his dad, this time Oliver also asked some hawkers who sell the exact same products for a very long time, and gathered their answers too to ben. The answers were like, ‘that’s all he know ben, he has nothing more to do’ from beggars and ‘That’s all my dad left for me, my dad’s poor and am poor. My dad never saved me any wealth like yours’ this answer is from a hawkers.
After Oliver recited all the answers, Ben goes with Ollie to ask some questions to that begging family man. Ben reached him and crouched asking him,
‘WHY DO YOU BEG?
WHY DON’T YOU WORK?’
‘Who will give me a work, am a beggar’, he exclaimed.
Again ben asked
‘THEN WHY DO YOU BEG, IF THIS WON’T GIVE YOU WORK?
WHY DON’T YOU SEE?
THERE ARE 100’s OF WAYS TO UPLIFT YOUR FAMILY!!’
Beggar hesitate to anger and got really anger on him ‘Give me money or go away’.
Oliver watching that rough conversation but he couldn’t understand what ben is trying to show.
Ben came back harder again
‘WHAT WILL YOU DO,
IF I GIVE YOU 1000 RUPEES NOW?’
Beggar with a laughing face, ‘I will feed my family for 10 days’
‘AND THEN’ ben asked strongly.
‘What I can do next, I will continue my begging’ beggar replied.
Ben stood up and saw Oliver, ‘did you noticed something, he’s not privileged!’, Oliver was so confused and ben continued ‘If I give him 1000 rupees, he needs me every 10 days. He will never try to improvise his life, rather getting dependent on that 1000 rupees and begging doesn’t make him less privileged, but his lack of determination to uplift his family made him that’.
Oliver couldn’t able to relief from the moral thoughts, kept saying ‘But that’s the thing he needs, maybe he doesn’t know how to use that money other than for food’. This time, that seemed to made sense.
‘No, Oliver. He’s seeing the world, he’s seeing thousands of labors, merchants and hawkers every day. If he’s willing to uplift, he would have found the way much sooner. Turning 1000 in to 2000 doesn’t need a mastermind, doesn’t need a tactic. Just some simple work from his lazy and adamant life, they’re afraid of moving on, they like the place they’re staying in right now and it will continue to their kin too’. Ben said clearly.
‘THEY SEE THE WORLD,
THEY SEE THE WAYS,
THEY’RE FINE IN THEIR PLACE,
THEY DESERVE A LIFE, WHICH
THEY THROW EVERYDAY,
ADAMANT, BLUNT, LAZY, STUBBORN’.
‘Ben, you don’t do charity? What we do with all the money?’ Oliver came directly to the point.
‘Charity, my charity should reach privileged, who are privileged enough to turn that to uplift their life, not to depend for their daily routine’ Ben was hard this time. Understanding that he was hard with that point, ben wants to loosen the converse saying ‘Look Ollie, forcing charity to the fools will never improve their life, let them find their mojo. Forcing is bad whether its love or charity, if they want it, they will come to us’
Oliver again posed a tough question ’your dad is rich, so you’re rich and…’
Ben received a phone call that interrupted the question, but ben rejected the call and put his phone back to his pocket and replied ‘my dad is poor until his 20th age and then…’
Ben paused it and said ‘Ollie, go to that boy, he’s at your age and ask him whether he can read and write’.
‘But ben, okay I will ask him’ Ollie asked him and ran toward ben to say ‘yes, he can’. Ben replied ‘Then give this book to him and request him to read it fully. And tell him if he read fully he will get him a food. Oliver am leaving to office, you hand the book to him and follow him for a while to check whether he’s reading that or not’. And Ben left Ollie on the road and left.
Oliver went back to that boy and did the same what his dad advised him to do. And he moved away from him, followed him for half an hour. After sometime, the boy opened the book and suddenly ran to a paper store and sell that book for money. Oliver was so perplexed, and the rest of the day at his home was so clouded and doesn’t understand anything.
And in the night, when Ben came back to home, Ollie rushed to him.
‘What happened Ollie?’ asked Ben.
‘Ben, he sold the book and got the money’ Oliver exclaimed.
‘It happens Ollie, you know my father is too poor in his teenage. One day a man came to him and gave him a book when my dad was in a four day hunger. You know what my dad did that day?’ Ben raised the question.
‘He sold the book?’ Oliver asked.
‘He read the book’ Ben replied. And ben continued,
The most privileged peoples are,
WHO SEE THE DREAM,
WHO PAVES THE WAY,
THEY’RE THE PRIVILEGED,
DREAM, DEDICATION, DETERMINATION’.
‘Now tell me Oliver, are you privileged?’ Ben cleared his dark clouds.
Both smiled at each other.
The Privilege.
Privilege is an illusion for the dreamers and the obstacle for the realists.
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