The Million Dollar Question Merit or Luck

talent

is equally distributed but opportunity

and luck

are not excited yet jittery

that’s how i felt as i entered a

sprawling apartment complex

on the outskirts of wadodra india dirt

caked the walls of the buildings vibrant

clothes hung from strings outside the

small units

children played on the uneven road

stream with potholes

suddenly everything stopped all eyes

were on me

the 13 year old boy with a nike t-shirt

sitting in the passenger seat of a

bright white four-door sedan

eyes and mouth wide open in shock

yes i had seen poverty the homeless in

boston

new york city london and they all struck

a cord in my heart

but this was different this was my first

time

witnessing the severe poverty of this

world

it pries your eyes open so why was i

there

i was there to teach those kids english

and math and i approached that apartment

complex

with the confidence and pride of someone

from a first world country

nervous yes but also with a strong sense

of self-worth

so i cautiously stepped out of the car

walked up the steps

to the third floor of building a there

was excited chatter

as i entered the small apartment 17

bright faces staring at me

one of which i remember with unusual

clarity

deep thief was one of the students that

i would be teaching for the next few

weeks

although only seven years old he would

quickly become the leader of the class

he was not the oldest he was not the

smartest but he had

that special something he would

translate from gujarati

the local language to hindi the language

that i speak

he was vocal asking questions helping

others

actively he had that desire

to learn and to succeed i could imagine

deep growing up to become the ceo

of an important company one day you know

the way we invest in companies to see

them rise i would want to invest in deep

to see him rise as a person

but and there’s a big but

it’s not just about talent

when born under an unlucky star talent

can mean absolutely nothing

now let me tell you about someone both

talented and lucky

whom we read about often his name is

sunder pichai

the ceo of google he went to stanford

and before that the indian institute of

technology

both a result of hard work and

tremendous talent

no doubt in our meritocratic world

the analysis of success usually stops

there

but sundar pachai was not born poor he

did not grow up in a slum where hunger

pervades everything

no that’s called luck the role of your

dice

at birth sunder pachai had the chance to

utilize his talents

his circumstances gave him the

opportunity to excel

deep on the other hand was born so

unlucky so poor

there is little he can do to change his

outcome

the sad reality is that his context

the opportunities he is presented with

will probably force him to leave school

at a young age

work to provide for his family and be

stuck in that unfortunate cycle of

poverty

for his lifetime context

and opportunity those are the key

elements that so

often separate destinies into a pitch

eye

or a deep not talent

not character but context and

opportunity

think about it there’s so much talent

around this world but society is only

picking up the very lucky

it’s like hunting for diamonds by only

looking at what’s on the top soil

let me give you another example on that

same trip i met another profound mind

he was a 13 year old tour guide that

knew spanish

french hindi russian and gave me and my

brother the entire tour in fluent

english

there he was a 13 year old polyglot in

the slums of india

now how’s the world going to utilize

this talent

probably not that well

in modern society we don’t recognize the

role circumstance and privilege play

when it comes to our success

we celebrate the individual and while it

is important to celebrate

the merit of our talent our drive and

our determination

we seem to forget about the happenstance

that brought us there

this type of thinking tears society

apart

it alienates the less fortunate and

diminishes our ability to feel empathy

for each other

yes to a certain extent our success is a

result of our own actions

but given a middle class upbringing

where

would someone like deep be what if he

was like me

what if his parents emigrated to united

states

what if he was born in boston had the

privilege of going to a private school

like st

john’s prep i’d like to think of myself

as an accomplished student

i have good grades i play sports but

does that make me better

than someone like deep no

i was lucky deep was very

unlucky my precious time in

india gave me humility to see the deck

of cards that i was handed

i learned that the key to empathy to any

sort of empathy

is being grateful and the underlying

element of being grateful

is understanding that so much of what we

have was by

chance luck shapes our success

when we recognize the stark difference

between these two terms

better and luckier maybe we can begin to

feel some sort of

empathy for each other once we see life

see those around us through this lens it

brings us together

increasing our sense of kinship and

healing our divide

now what would it look like when

everyone understands with total clarity

the role luck and circumstance have

played in their lives

to that end we returned to india

to the kids who’ve been dealt the worst

hand in life

the same kids in that cramped 200 square

foot apartment

where i taught they knew that their luck

had placed them in one of the worst

situations possible

materially they had close to nothing

but in a sense of love they had

everything

community friendship hope

that was all that they could count on

and they were happy with it

regardless of age regardless of gender

regardless of whatever background they

came from

they loved each other helped each other

had empathy for each other

because they were all in it together for

better or for worse

i still vividly remember my last day

teaching them

when i walked into the class that day i

could hear them screaming

unshe’s here anxious here smiles

plastered across their faces

as that last class came to a close they

came up to me

and handed me a paper circle two folded

straps

hanging down from the side in hindi they

said

we wanted to give you something before

you left

we could not buy you a watch so we made

you this instead

and three years later this watch the

same paper watch made from the hands of

the children born to india’s slums

is pinned to the wall of my bedroom that

contains a bed to sleep in

a pillow to rest my head on a desk to

study at

and this watch serves as a reminder that

no matter how far i get

how successful i become i was just born

in the right place at the right time

i was lucky thank you

you