Privilege

Avi Jain
1 min readMar 2, 2018

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Wrote this short poem for a picture prompt contest, where one of the prompts was a cartoon of 2 kids, one with a toy in his hands, and another with a shovel and tattered clothes. I couldn’t find the original image, so putting up a similar one. (Courtesy https://www.flickr.com/photos/zaneinzane/4097452527)

The city boys had milk and cereal for breakfast,
and all I got were leftovers from last night, if there were any.

They grew up watching Sesame Street and Richie Rich,
while I peered through the glass at the local electronics shop
to catch a glimpse of the cricket score.

They went to international schools in neatly polished shoes,
while I learned from used books, their pages stained and binding loose.

The city boys discussed airport lounges the way people discussed football teams, and walked around with lovely women wearing skinny jeans,
as I got through the nights with imagination and magazines.

Today they run businesses and call themselves self-made men,
while I aim to ensure my children won’t have to face this disparity again.

People might say otherwise, but I believe some things are destined to be out of your reach the day you’re born. And that chance plays a major role in determining whether you manage to get the best of what’s within your grasp.

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Avi Jain
Avi Jain

Written by Avi Jain

"believe in trying to make the best of the finite number of years we have on this planet (while not making it any worse for anyone else)" — Sal Khan

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