Debauchery's bad.. "De - gauchery"?
I was at the photocopy center of our college this morning running around for print outs for my typically farce record. I had these sheets with the college header removed from the record. Now, these sheets do not fit in the printer case directly. One needs to shorten their width to enable so.And for this, I found a paper-shearing machine lying in one corner. And here I go to the machine and try to do the obvious, but then something knocks my gray cells. Look what we have here. The shear- handle is meant for right handers! Well that exclamation mark would sound like an exaggeration to anyone. But my dear junta, I have a point here.
Here was yours truly, trying to cut the sheets with my right hand and making a laughing stock out of myself. And the reason? Well, I simply can't do it because I am far more dexterous (call it obsessively or compulsorily) with my left hand. I ended up making a mess out of the record sheets and later begging samaritans out there for extra ones.
This small event forced my thought-train to catch up this route. Why is it that most of the products, be it small or big, be it good or bad, necessarily be "right-hand oriented"? Are there no left handers out there in the world? I decided probing a bit further onto this thought and ended up as follows:
Note - Its just personal fancy.
* According to Norman Lewis's "Word power Made Easy" (quite an interesting workbook), two words give a glimpse into the history and development of this whole "right is called right because it is right; whereas left is just the other option left". The word "gauche" actually means dexterity flowing on the left hand side, and "adroit" means dexterity in the right hand side. But then, the cultural rigmaroles and revolutions have entirely changed the meaning of the same two words in current world scenario. Consequently, "gauche" now means sinister, and "adroit" now means quick and skillful. This could be the power of indoctrination depicted in subtleness. My inference from this is that , in earlier days, left handers were derided or devil-ified. A simple dogma that right is good and left is bad can easily result in what we have today.
* I am partly left handed, and partly right handed. I do not know the reason for this! I mean, my strength, my agility, my skills are all higher on my left side. The exception being that I eat and write with my right. (I erase,cut, use the phone, hold the umbrella, brush my teeth and what not with my left). But all the junta of the older generation look at me like am a clumsy criminal incapable of even sinning properly, when they see me using my left hand at things. May be fearing this, my parents might have retraced my writing from left to right.
* We also find that the taps, door knobs, peelers, sharpeners, and many other things are all for "adroit" people.
I seriously wish, there was a world which would not discriminate the left and the right. It is very essential to differentiate the right and the wrong. But applying the same for right and left would only project the lack of free thinking.