Mirror mirror on the wall, would I rather be them all?

I consider myself one of the luckiest beings alive, cause I have taken the path less traveled by. Well, I didn’t exactly take the path, but I was born into it. Less traveled by because not many have the opportunity to complete secondary education and further more get a chance to go to college, that to abroad. I was born into my family and hence I can afford it, if not where would I be right now?

I could have been into a remote village in India, where I would learn my alphabet under a tree under the scorching sun or leaking roof. I would start working as a laborer at the age of 13. I would eventually start getting involved with alcohol, gambling and crime by the time I was 18 and then probably be in jail, or drunk in some corner with no-one who I could call my own, or killed in a brawl. The system is such that only the weakest and the strongest survive, the rest are left to fight it out and die. Women in villages are the ones who show their children glimpses of hope and of a future. The men are drunk and abusive. The few good men are checked and stopped at every step. They are usually the ones who get up after every beating they take just because they care for someone other than themselves. To be frank I have lived in the roomful of mirrors. I saw only me and my life revolved around me. I have finally realized that joy is something I can only get if I gave joy to others. Seeing a small kid run up to you calling to join her in her game of stone throwing and catching and giggling every time I failed and faltered gave not only them a reason to laugh and smile but for me to laugh and smile at myself. At first it seemed as if they were mocking me. Telling me that I had a good life so why the hell should be here, but later it became quite clear that my presence gave them hope that they could be like me. They could help their own community and makes others feel joy, I don’t know how I did that but apparently I did. This one daily wage laborer working on the site with me told me he was helping build this school so his brother could have a better life than what he had had. This other woman said to be that she was working here because doesn’t want to feel helpless anymore, when her kids ask her questions she didn’t have an answer to, her kids would get a chance to find their own answers.

Now, moving on to more developed countries. I could have been born into poor minority community living in the projects, in the US, where I lived for gang pride and honor. Where as a kid I would be taught to hustle and use weapons to kill. I would be taught that we rob the rich and kill them so that we can survive. I would be told that I had no future working a legit job, which is very true. Racial discrimination was prevalent for a very very long time. But today I might have a fair chance at living a normal life instead of hustling or killing or extorting for pride. But then again this is an extreme case. I could have also been born a middle class child who had to live his own life the minute I turned 16 and begin to support myself and branch away from my family who couldn’t afford me any more. I would slowly lose respect for humans and transform into a druggie who stole from relatives and friends and smoked up their money.

I am brown and I always will be. Why should I try to be someone else when I am not?
Why should I try to sympathize with those who I don’t even know? Why should I feel pity or jealousy? Why should I live in fear of someone? Why should I live my life for someone else? I should learn best how to be me and the way I can help those who are less fortunate not by felling pity or sympathizing, but by empathizing and reaching out and seeing through their eyes. How ever hard the system tries to reduce me to a wooden puppet, I will resist. How ever hard society tries to mould me into a being socially acceptable, I will resist. I will only facilitate my growth as me. I have lived in a roomful of mirrors, and so far I have only feared me. Breaking the mirror will destroy the image and my fear and open up a pathway into a more colorful world!