Life: thy name is tragedy

Though the phenomenological experience of life is considered as the greatest of realities, its taste and texture are not the same for all souls. For some, it is about wealth and possessions; for others, life is a barren landscape. But for someone with a poor and humble background, life turns out to be a necessary evil — a tragedy.

Survival and continuity of life demands a sufficient supply of abiotic needs including water, food, clothing and shelter. In order to acquire these needs hard labour is required. The life of these souls gets entangled into the tireless though unfulfilled journey to nowhere. They have within their proverbial heart a cemetery where their dreams, desires, likes and wishes are decomposed and buried altogether. Through their all-out endeavours they conquer insurmountable challenges only to be welcomed by the more obstacles.

In this backdrop, a person from a poor background is left with two alternatives: i) to continue to suffer the fate for generations; or ii) to dare for more and challenge the system. The latter is more rewarding though testing. For children from lower-income households, getting an education entails high risk but it comes with the highest social and personal reward. However, the road to education for these students isn’t plain sailing as early school years pass in deprivation. The exorbitantly lavish display of possessions by students from affluent and elite backgrounds open up a new barrage of wishes and desires in them. Sacrificing these desires and needs is what becomes a habit for them. Missing educational tours and gatherings due to financial constraints on the pretext of “exams” or “illnesses” are but the only viable option they are left with. Skipping meals to save a few rupees is yet another survival technique. The life of these students is filled with such compromises.

Hailing from a humble background I remember how I had to wait around half an hour for the public transport to commute to my school in Kandhkot which was around 7km from my village. The memories of making it into the city on the villager’s donkey cart or other forms of transport are still fresh in my heart and mind. The words of my classmates who had mockingly asked in front of others if I had only a single school uniform to wear still echo in my ears. Nothing is as tormenting for a struggling student as the toxic mindset and malignant social attitudes prevailing in our society. In the social fabric interwoven in ultra-materialistic outlooks, external appearance and attire are what define the value of a person.

In the crudest sense, the brand of clothes is what one is judged by. The allure of kind gestures and high morals is being increasingly overshadowed by materialistic attributes. In the face of this, for a student constrained by his socio-economic condition, survival becomes overwhelmingly arduous. A poor student is thus treated by many as if he/she is a subhuman who doesn’t have the right to compete or grow. The discourteous and insolent behaviour of the administration and staff of educational institutions that I had witnessed is what I pray no poor student comes across in life.

However, despite the extent of these challenges, such students should realise that life is worth pursuing. We can’t control what we are born with. We can however change the fate and future of our life and the coming generations by working hard and embodying exalted humanistic values such as respect, empathy, compassion and altruism. A rewarding future does not require a rewarding past. In retrospect, all hardships and challenges turn out to be blessings in disguise since they prepare one for a greater assignment. There is a need to do away with the toxic and discouraging social psyche prevalent in our educational institutions and in society. It’s time we acknowledged that everyone regardless of their socio-economic background has an inalienable right to compete for a better life.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2021.

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