If you’re born in a lower middle-class family, you learn to check the price first, and the dish later. You look at places from the outside and decide if you can afford to go in. And if you’re in an expensive place with a lot of posh people around, you hope you disappear into the crowd so no one notices you.
I come from a family like that. And so for a large part of my life, I’ve avoided upscale places.
The first time I couldn’t avoid it, was when I was 19 and a college friend took me to an elite Bandra nightclub. I tried backing out but it didn’t work. And so I remember entering a club for the first time, surrounded by elegant people, dancing, drinking expensive alcohol and having fun. I stood in a corner all evening. Didn’t dance, didn't drink, didn't have fun.
The other time it happened was when my former boss Dharmesh, took me to a posh restaurant to discuss some client work. I was 20, still in college and in awe of the place I was in. He paid the bill but I couldn’t eat much.
It happened many times after that. Still does. But over the years, things have changed. My job has sent me to lovely places. I’ve stayed in big hotel rooms, dined at big restaurants and buffets. I can afford it now. But I always remember how I once couldn’t. I can never forget. I don't want to.
And while I do enjoy the bigger things every now and then, I still prefer the simpler ones. The normal ones. The "middle-class" ones. The ones I belong to. The ones where I can be myself.
And I've gotten okay with the fact, that sometimes, I don’t go to some places or do some things, not because I can’t afford it. But maybe, because— I just don’t fit in.
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