Shadows of Status – Understanding Social Class, Inequality, and Discrimination

By Aisha Dhar

In a world that claims to value equality, the reality of social class inequality and discrimination remains one of the most silent, yet brutal truths. Class isn’t just an economic category; it is a layered system of privilege, access, and perception that shapes how people live, how they're seen, and what opportunities they receive. For many, their birth is a lifelong sentence to limitations they didn’t choose.

We often overlook it because we’ve become used to it. We see it in our homes, streets, schools, and offices-but rarely name it.

Take for example, the house help who works tirelessly in our homes. She cooks our meals, keeps our space clean, and ensures our comfort. Yet, when it comes to sitting on our sofa or using our bathroom, there’s hesitation—both from her and from us.Her children rarely get access to the kind of education we provide for ours. She may fall sick, but regular health checkups or paid sick leave are luxuries she cannot afford.In that moment, class draws a line even deeper than caste, gender, or religion.

Social class discrimination is often not loud, but systemic and quietly dehumanizing. It shows up in every corner of life. Let’s look at a few critical sectors where the impact is most visible:

1. Access to Healthcare

During the pandemic, while the wealthy booked oxygen cylinders and ICU beds in advance, countless daily-wage workers and laborers died on hospital steps. In rural areas and slums, even basic healthcare is a privilege. Preventive care is unheard of; treatment is delayed until it’s too late.

For someone in a lower social class, the hospital isn't a place of healing—it's a maze of long lines, ignored symptoms, and unaffordable treatments.

Lakshmi once stood in line for five hours at a hospital for a fever. She was asked to come back the next day. She didn’t. “Kaam chhod ke baar baar ja nahi sakti,” she said.

2. Education

Education should be the great equalizer—but it’s anything but. Elite schools with smart classrooms and international boards charge fees that equal a year’s income for a working-class family. Government schools, often the only option, lack teachers, infrastructure, and quality material.

In cities, two children wake at the same hour. One attends a top private school, learns coding, plays piano, and prepares for foreign universities.The other walks miles to a government school with broken benches, one teacher for four subjects, and no lunch at times.Both are equally talented—but only one has a real chance to dream.

3. Employment

We live in a country where a polished accent sometimes counts more than work ethic.

Ravi, an engineer from a small village in Bihar, walks into a corporate interview. Despite topping his university, he is judged for his shirt, his Hindi accent, and his small-town confidence."Would he fit in our team?" they ask, without ever testing his skills.He was offered a lower salary than others—without explanation.

It’s not meritocracy. It’s masked elitism.

4. Social Spaces

Even in public, discrimination operates in subtle ways. A domestic worker entering a mall in a sari is stared at, asked where she’s going, or told “delivery staff use the back entrance.” A driver is expected to eat outside. The working class is welcome to serve—but not to belong.

A young woman enters a mall in Delhi wearing a sari and holding a plastic bag. The security guard immediately stops her and checks her belongings, though others walk in freely.She senses the judgment—“She doesn’t look like someone who can afford to shop here.”In that moment, class became her identity, overshadowing everything else.

What Leads to Social Class Inequality?

Understanding how social class inequality forms are crucial if we want to address it.

1. Historical Hierarchies

Colonial legacies, feudal systems, and caste structures have long divided Indian society. Land, education, and positions of power were inherited—not earned—by certain classes, leaving others behind from the very start.

2. Geography and Regional Disparities

Where you're born matters. Urban centers have better schools, hospitals, and job access. Rural populations, especially in underdeveloped regions, face low investment, poor infrastructure, and limited exposure.

3. Unequal Economic Systems

India’s economy rewards those with capital, not labor. The rich invest and multiply wealth. The poor often stay in informal jobs without job security, savings, or social protections.

4. Cultural and Educational Gaps

Children from lower social classes often lack access to what sociologists call “cultural capital”—fluency in English, access to coaching, or professional networks. This gap persists even when intelligence and determination are equal.

5. System Justification

Sometimes, the most dangerous aspect of inequality is that people begin to accept it. “Yahi zindagi hai,” they say, not because they like it—but because no one showed them anything different.

How Do We Change This?

Addressing this deep-rooted inequality requires more than sympathy—it demands action. Here’s how:

1. Policy Change

• Strengthen public healthcare and education infrastructure.

• Enforce fair wages and protections for informal sector workers.

• Implement targeted scholarships and support schemes for economically disadvantaged students.

2. Promoting Awareness

• Introduce discussions of class privilege in school curriculums.

• Encourage films, media, and books that highlight these realities with nuance.

• Create social spaces where different classes can interact—not just serve or consume.

3. Empowerment through Education

• Support free skill development programs and digital literacy workshops in underprivileged areas.

• Encourage local mentorship and community-based learning.

4. Change Begins at Home

• Offer paid leaves, basic medical help, and respectful treatment to those who work for us.

• Ask your domestic worker if her child is in school—and help if you can.

• Create a home where everyone, regardless of their role, is treated with dignity.

Conclusion: A Shared Climb

We cannot build a fair society if only a few are allowed to dream freely.

The fight against social class inequality isn’t just about changing systems—it’s about changing hearts. It’s about seeing that the driver, the vegetable vendor, and the house help are not “others”—they are us, just born into different circumstances.

Empathy is not charity—it’s justice.

Let us not just rise. Let us rise together—so that when history writes about our generation, it remembers us for whom we elevated, not just what we achieved.

By Aisha Dhar