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The Pay that is not on Paper


 THE PROBLEM

“Kevalam tea vikkiravan car vachirukan”

“Paal vikkiravan bullet la varan”

“Bathroom kaluvuravan Iphone vachurukan”

You might have heard these kinds of comments at least once in your life and there is a fair chance you have laughed at it, well, there is even a chance you said it. But have you ever thought about why these kinds of comments exist and why it is normal and why they are deeply problematic?

If a tea seller has a car, it means that person has the money to buy and maintain that car.  Even though they have the money, why do people still say these kinds of things?

One obvious answer is their job. People are always rated according to their job. Some might call it internalized capitalism, but it is more than that even. A janitor job might pay no less than an engineering job (fact) but a janitor will never receive the same respect as the engineer. If the job provides for you and your family and if it is legal then there is nothing wrong with it right? Then why the discrimination? Because it does not require higher education? But then, most jobs really don’t.   

Is it absurd to rate someone with their job? An engineer who spent lakhs to complete his/her education and found a job (barely) that pays not nearly enough to afford three meals a day and a roof over their head thinks they are superior to other people because of the job they have. Ironic.



THE CAUSE

Why do we think like this? I do believe that everyone must have had thoughts like this at least once in their life. I am sure that we don’t give the same respect to a janitor as we give to our manager but why do we do that?

I blame our parents and the previous generation as a whole. We mostly grow up looking at our family members and elders, we take them as an example and act like them. We used to see our parents or some elders constantly treat a janitor without respect and we learn from that. The previous generation plagued our minds with many negative thoughts. This is one of them. 

One more reason our parents acted like this is because janitors can be from a particular caste. One set of caste people forced the other set to clean the bathrooms and didn’t let them go to school so they can live their elite life without any problem.

I strongly believe that the previous generation’s influence on us was really bad. Like religion, caste, this was taught to us at a really young age so it is hard for us to quit the habit. 



THE PROPOSED CURE

“un sasthiratha vida, un munnor ah vida, un vengayatha vida, un velakamatha vida un arivu perusu atha sinthi” – Periyar ( tamil it)

Unlearn and relearn. Unlearn whatever your parents taught you and relearn everything. (literally everything, seriously. DO NOT take advice from the set of people who don’t know the power button from the volume button in a cell phone, that’s all i’m saying) We always glorify our parents and idolize them, so many of us will just follow whatever their parents say without giving any of their own thoughts on the particular matter. Let me tell you one thing, parents are just humans who are related to you. That’s it. You don’t have to follow their orders because they gave birth to you. Just stop taking orders from them and start thinking rationally. If people start to think rationally most of the problems won’t exist. Thinking rationally is not that hard to do but most of the people are just not willing to think rationally just so they can have that little power over others. This is a problem which will never end unless people are ready to change. I believe we have the responsibility to change. We have the necessity to change.

Everyone can do a small part in this. You don’t have to do what Periyar did. I mean yeah do what he did but on a smaller scale. Just constantly talk against caste, religion, women discrimination to your friends, to your people. You don’t have to change the world, try to change the people who watch your whatsapp status, change the people who see your Instagram story. Don’t let the “they won’t listen to us” be a reason to stop you. Shout till they hear you. Shout so loud that even the deaf tells you to shut up.



Hariesh (March 17, 2022)

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