The blessed curse of being left handed

As I realise that I belong to that 10 per cent of the world’s population with their left hand as their dominant hand, I can relate to a plenty of awkward, funny and happy moments that belonging to this scanty count has given me. Way back in 2005, when I was in my first grade, as part of punishment for not completing my homework, I was asked to solve a problem on the board.

With a triumphant feeling that I knew how to solve it, I instantly went to the board and started solvingonly to see my teacher running towards me with a wooden stick in her hand and a facial expression angry enough to scare a six year old. As she started yelling at me for being so bold and naughty to write with my left hand on the board, a real bold friend stood up and told that I actually am a left-hander. The whole class along with the teacher broke out laughing soon after.

Though being left-handed is something that very few are put up with, I always wonder why it ends up being considered unwelcoming and out of the way. On a general basis, the second thing that gets into anyone’s mind about being left-handed is first- it’s out of the way, second- it bestows a different level of intelligence.

Though the brain has different centres to coordinate different activities, switching hands can’t make any left hander an Einstein just because he was one. The problems that this right-handed world poses to a left-hander are abounding but the charming truth is that, it’s because of the world being biased to right-handers that left-handers eventually tend to seem unique and more intelligent.

It’s because of every attempt that they make to adapt themselves to this right-handed worldthat in some proportion, they tend to be ambidextrous and in the long run, make better use of their senses and stimuli than the so called dominants. It’s a general misconception that as wrong goes against right, left goes with wrong. And with this much of a clear thought, it is but natural that most of us don’t know, there’s a scientific term that defines left handers- south paw.

From cutting a straight line with a pair of scissors to writing in spiral bound books and managing ink smeared hands and to dining at restaurants making sure not to bump elbows with right-handers, there’s so much more to be a left-hander.
The only time I regret being one is, when I get caught by opening the family pack ice-cream from the wrong side!There can’t be anything funnier than a person who sees you writing with your left hand coming to you and asking,

“ hey, are you a left-hander?”it’s out of curiosity that this happens, but along with it, there is also an underlying negativity that arises for having defied nature’s law. Well, if that’s so, why don’t we have leggedness like we have handedness and why don’t we walk more with our dominant leg? Just because we have few things in pairs doesn’t guarantee symmetry in everything. All the ones and twos that we have are controlled by a single brain and the more we realise it, the better it is for the left-handers! Atleast, the myths end.

By Vaibhavi Vadali
The writer is a BE first year student from Osmania University College of engineering