Pride and Privilege

However, when Kapoor says he never took anything for granted and worked hard like anybody else, he seems to see privilege only from the tinted lens of success. As if, his dogged work ethic justifiably got him the blockbusters and he lived up to his surname. Study after study everywhere in the world has shown where you’re born on the economic ladder determines where you end up, much more than how hard you work. Your parents matter. A lot.

Why single out politicians or actors, we don’t need an ORG Marg survey to show, that more often than not, children follow in the professions of their parents. For example, in the armed forces in India, over half the serving officers have an immediate family tie. The US even has a sole survivor policy, designed to protect families from combat duty if they have lost siblings in military service. The world is full of dynasties — literary, legal, musical, even sport.

There are some very mundane reasons for this. For one, it’s easier. You grow up in a certain environment, familiar with the workings of your parents’ careers. It’s not so surprising that eventually you find your interests align the same way. For some inexplicable reason, many parents seem to take great delight in children replicating their careers and actively encourage it. Though one would imagine it raises the more worrying question of whether the offspring actually have any original talent, or simply lack ambition to try out something new. The issue is less about children following in their parents footsteps and more about whether certain careers function like fancy country clubs, and are just not open to anybody else.

In India, with our long history of caste-based discrimination, the gap between the privileged and the rest didn’t make people as uneasy as it should have. Until now. Though crimes of class conflict continue, it’s hard to miss the subtle yet festering anger at how the system works. After actor Kangana Ranaut accused Karan Johar for perpetuating a culture of nepotism in Bollywood, it started a dialogue on exactly how hard outsiders have it. It won her more supporters and Johar eventually had to apologise.

In India especially, we are wired to appreciate a hard-luck story. Those dreaded family histories of old uncles walking 30-km to school, and that success through diligent hard work is the best source of long-term fulfillment is inbuilt in our DNA. If anyone has the gall anymore to flaunt a successful parent, at least humbly accept it as your good fortune and get back to work.