All That’s Left
The story begins with my kindergarten teacher scolding my mother for forcing me to change my inclination towards the left. Finally, mummy gave up and thus began the life of her left-handed daughter.
I was 4, and my sister was a month old, we hosted this gathering where all the aunties from extended families come to see the child. I wanted to hold my sister so I asked my mom to hand my sister to me. Seems like her weight was too much for my tiny hands and I ended up dropping her. To which all the aunties looked at me like a lion looks at a deer. In simple words, they would just eat me up.
About 17 years later, my cousin gave birth to my only niece in the world. Again I wanted to hold her, but this time I have inside me my dwindling confidence. In spite of that, my brother was really supportive and handed her to me, and unlike in the past, I could hold her easily. So I went back and tried to think about what about me has changed. I realized that the way he gave the baby to me, was exactly how a baby should be given to someone who is left-handed.
Wow, I learned a new thing today, I must thank God for this. So I caught a taxi (cab) to the temple. The driver's uncle was really sweet, but before getting down I said "kitna hua", which means "how much?" to which he said 35 rupees. I quickly gathered all the coins that I have and paid him, and he said to me "baby right haath se do, left se dena acha nahi hota" which means "pay with your right hand, it’s not good to hand over money with your left", I was confused but I didn’t argue and proceeded towards the temple. After the puja, I went to collect the prasad(sweet) because that’s what is the most exciting part about praying, prasad! So I put my hand forward to accept the prasad, to which pundit ji said "baby right haath aage karo, left se prasad lena acha nahi hota".
And I noticed there's something different in me and the rest of the world. And now there are two ways the world likes to handles these things :
1.) Approach 1: Banishment - where others refuse to understand us and ostracise us and I'm being banished for vanvas(14 years of exile) like Sita/Ram till I figure how to use my right hand.
2.) Approach 2: Museum - where people from far and wide, come to see how cool or different is the fact that I use my left hand.
Don't worry you're not in court and you don't have to answer this in yes/no. Like black and white always has a gray, well we have a third option. Inclusivity - it's what ThoughtWorks(the company I work for) preaches. Be inclusive of the fact that there are people who are different, it's no big deal, and accept them and move on. Inclusivity not just in thinking and actions, but also in the kind of work that we do.
I'd like to take a moment to share this incidence with you - so when Youtube first began mobile uploads, they tried to analyze the data that was being uploaded. And a considerable percentage of the video footage was upside down. They tried to look into the matter and realized that they didn't consider left-handed users when they added mobile uploads causing the videos recorded in a left-handed person's view of landscape uploads to appear upside down. Bias creeps in without knocking on the windows of our minds. It's a mental shortcut. And we need to be conscious of such biases.
Well, so I started off with an introduction, and let's end with one. I know it isn't the norm to end with introductions but well, I am challenging the norms, ain't I? This sense of inclusivity and awareness actually got me my life's biggest achievements. I received the prestigious Google Anita Borg Scholarship for Women in Technology Asia Pacific, awarded to 50 women across the Asia Pacific.
Hi, I'm an APAC scholar. And just the other day when I was opening all my gifts that we received from Google, I found a wonderful Google cup. And I said to myself, this is going to be my morning milk cup. When I held it in my hand, perfectly ready to show off the logo while drinking milk, I realized the Google logo wasn't seen, because guess what it was after all a right-handed cup.
Thank you so much and keep watching out for - All That's "Left"
