Class - are you born with it?

Definition of "class"

the system of ordering a society in which people are divided into sets based on perceived social or economic status.

"people who are socially disenfranchised by class"

Recently a product was profiled as something designed for upper class clientele but marketed to all. I quipped about how convenient it is to buy a class for yourself through that product. Which may be interpreted as - "the class shouldn't be bought". Growing up in the class system of India, my brain is  trained to think that you are born within a certain class. For the most part it is true, but not quite.

Growing up I could see the difference in the way things are done in each household. Some families had specific traditions and processes that were followed in day-to-day life. Cooking processes, personal hygiene, caring for babies, way of conversation, being respectful towards others, everything. I was in awe of certain families, that showed higher level of thought behind each action. Financially stable families that could afford spending time cultivating certain standards of life for their little ones  came across as more sophisticated compared to those that were struggling to survive and didn't have time to think about anything else.

The royals are considered the epitome of class by many - is it the financial status...? Or is it because they develop their personality, thought processes and behaviors to influence the populace. I think the later.

You need not be born in an upper class family to be considered upper class, but you do need to put in many years of learning and training to earn the class. If you are born in an upper class family, you have a higher probability of starting early, and earning the label earlier in your life. Class is nothing but samskaras. And there is nothing wrong with developing classy behavior as long as you don't discriminate. Actually learning to not discriminate would be a part of classy behavior as well.