As 2020 winds down, this year reminded people of the privilege they have or the lack of it.
Privilege is not easy to acknowledge. Especially if one is privileged oneself. People are aware of it but probably never to the extent to which it extends itself. This year hopefully has made more people aware of it than ever before. It is important to know how privileged we are. It can make us more compassionate and empathetic towards fellow human beings.
In this privilege class, this has been a year of choice. People may disagree with this. After all, we had a lock-down. Were forced to work from home. Work at/for home. Were asked not to step out of our homes. No maids. No deliveries for a few weeks. How does this year then become a year of choice?
The choice is not always binary. We had the chance to still work vs those who did not have a choice at all but to sit at home while their business were closed. Maids who could not go to work. Cab drivers who sat in empty taxis. Delivery boys who were eager for people to order so that they could in turn feed themselves.
And yet, in all this mayhem, the privileged class had and made many decisions based on choices. Choices that we would otherwise not make. Choices that probably tell us who we are. Choices that explain our fears. Choices that explain our priorities.
What we ate during the lock-down was a choice that was based on ease of cooking + comfort and a fear of running out of rations. It gave a glimpse to many households on how even simple foods are enough to sustain us. On how much food goes to waste regularly when we do not bother and keep a track of what we eat. Food is a necessity. It was slowly become a luxurious lifestyle.
Who we met/want to meet once this all ends is a choice that points to the the priorities we have now developed amongst friends and relatives. People who care for them and people who they care about. The number of people we have been acquainted with may have hit a reset button in 2020. That number may go up for some who felt alone this year and wished for more people in their life while the number may go down for those who may desire to improve the quality of relations against the number of relations. Some may not need a rethink at all. Life and friends/family go on as usual.
What we shopped this year was done as a result of a lack of choice to buy the things we would had we gone out as usual. The lack of it has forced people to redo their shopping guides. This year has stripped out shopping to the most basics. The bare bone, essential shopping. Minimalism is a fast gaining culture around the world. While the pandemic may not convert everyone into one, it sure offered a glimpse into how much of clothes/other stuff we usually buy is necessary vs luxury. There is a difference between knowing about it and living through a year of it.
What we did at home showed us the choice we had all along. To do more work for home. This is exclusively for those men who never did anything at home. This year forced them to do stuff at home they never thought they would be doing. They always had the choice to do it and they refused to do so. Now the pandemic had thrown that choice out of the window and showed a sample of how a household would ideally be like. Would the choice still exist post all this or do we return back to the sexist world we were is a question to ponder. We should not need a pandemic to make the right choice.
How we conducted our marriages showed us the simple choice we always had. Important people in a small celebration vs the lavish money rich exhibitions that most marriages are turning out to be. I’m not betting on the latter going away though. I’m rather going to bet that people who could not do the lavish wedding may redo the wedding post covid with all the Hungama they missed. Yet, for a small percentage of people who always wished for a small simple wedding, this year showed it was possible and feasible. If you got married this year, lucky you!. If not, you always have the choice to do the same in a non-pandemic year.
The theaters we did not visit. The malls we did not shop. The temple/church/mosque we did not pray in. The stadiums we did not watch a match in. The restaurant we did not eat in. The coffee shop we did not spend our time in. The Uber vs Ola decision we did not make. The flights we did not catch.
They all made a difference. Or they dint. They made us perceive our life differently. Or it made no difference. Whatever it was, the choices will soon come back. What we do then will define us more than what is already past us.
P.S — This is a very very generalized article. A format I have deliberately avoided writing off late since it is the most easiest one to write and yet offers not much to the reader. A return to normalcy was probably what 2020 required and hence a return to this format.
