Crossing Lines of Social Status Part 1- Madhu Priya

Society judges people immediately by their jobs, possessions, clothes, cars, appearance, race, religion, education, family background, city, language, and social status. There are divisions for everything according to which people are judged and classified. They are told to stay within the group and not cross their line. Madhu Priya faced such discrimination throughout her life.

She was treated differently by people around her because she belonged to a lower-middle-class. Her parents sold vegetables in the market, but her mother dreamt of providing her best education. That’s why she put Madhu Priya in a convent school. However, Madhu and her parents’ journey wasn’t easy, not from an angle, be it socially or financially. Her entire family worked together to manage the expenses.

If we put it in society’s language, then the rules would be this ‘Rich shouldn’t mingle with poor, and poor should think before coming around rich. Dark-skinned individuals must not marry fair-skinned individuals. Be friends with people like you. So on and on. Many differences and factors are present, and these factors are considered above humanity, love, friendship, and relationship.

But while differentiating, people forget that religious belief, politics, social status, and position differences are all secondary. When we look at someone with compassion, we can see beyond these secondary differences and connect to the primary essence that binds all humans together as one.

Let us hear this inspiring story and learn more about Madhu Priya’s life.

Madhu Priya – My Story

I’m Madhu Priya, born and brought up in Chennai. I belonged to a lower-middle-class family, and my father and grandfather worked as plumbers. My father was put into plumbing when he was merely ten years and continued working in the field until a few years ago. At the same time, my mother was interested in studying and playing sports. She was a volleyball player during her school days, but she had to drop her studies due to financial issues.

My parents have faced financial struggles throughout their lives. At one point, both of them started working as vegetable vendors because plumbing wouldn’t get them much money. Initially, it was a side source of income, but it became their primary source with time. This business was quite challenging because if vendors could not preserve vegetables for a long time and had to sell everything in a time frame of 2 days, the quality would drop, and no one would purchase it.

My mother wanted me and my sister to study in a convent school in this chaos. She wanted us to fulfill and live her dreams. So she approached one of the best schools in our city. She tried admitting my sister, but the principal rejected her petition. So she couldn’t get in. When I was old enough to go to school, my mother attempted again. The principal rejected her application after considering our social status and financial condition. They thought that we wouldn’t be able to pay the fees. 

However, my mother refused to give up this time. She tried pursuing school authorities, but they wouldn’t budge. She made an effort to meet the principal, but it was futile. Then to convince her, she would go to school early and come back around 1 pm. She’d sit outside and wait to have a word with the principal.

After seeing my mother sitting in the same position for days, the principal’s heart melted. The lady called my mother inside and agreed to grant admission. It was a proud victory moment for my mother. After a while, my elder sister also got into the same school. Although getting admission to the school was the very start of the challenging journey we were heading towards.

The school fee was around 40 thousand per year, excluding bus fare and extracurricular fees. So to pay our fees, my parents used to take one-time debt every year and pay it in small installments throughout the year. That means no savings and no extra money at all.
Shockingly, both of them still went for it.

To repay the debt, my parents struggled a lot, especially my mother, as she had to handle both our shop and house. Daily, my father used to wake up at 4 o’clock to go to koyambedu to purchase vegetables.

My mother would wake up at 5 o’clock to finish household chores and then go to the shop to arrange everything before my father’s arrival. Then both of them would stay at the shop and sell vegetables. They would work all seven days of the week from Monday to Sunday without taking a single day off. Still, they wouldn’t earn enough to save a penny. All the money would go to lenders, and they were left with short-term payments only. That’s the reason why my parents could not save for their retirement and future.

From kindergarten to 5th standard, I don’t remember much of my schooling. After that, I can recall memories. I was an average student but sharp in Maths and Science. I used to score between 90 to 95 in both subjects. However, scoring in Hindi was a tough deal because, in Chennai, people don’t speak Hindi that much.

In some exams, I secured low marks in Hindi, and in my school, below-average marks were compared with a failure. So I was termed a failure because low marks mean you are a failure for a convent school no matter in which subject. However, academic performance didn’t trouble me as much as my social status.

I was a loner in my school, and my friends were super-rich. I only had three friends, which is why my other classmates wouldn’t invite me to parties due to my family background.

It had so much to do with my family status because they belonged to a privileged background, and their parents were either officers, business tycoons, or celebrities. Whereas I was a daughter of street vendors, it was shameful for them to accept me as their friend. For a few years, I didn’t know why I was treated differently and why my parents never visited my school.

Continue reading part-2 of Madhu Priya’s life journey.

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