It is a Lefty's World

Being a lefty was never really a problem. I wasn't given rickety chairs to sit on or chipped glasses to drink out of. Neither was I denied the right to vote. But what I was subjected to were stares from curious, inquisitive teachers throughout school (the teachers in college were better at disguising their interest with indifference to the fact that I wrote with my left hand). This was usually followed by an "Even though you are left-handed, your handwriting is pretty good." Two other obscure lefties in class were cursed with awful, illegible handwriting. And I was thankful for not being put in that bracket (no offence to other lefties in the world who have... er... er... bad handwriting).

Let me assure you that "left-handed" compliments such as these didn't stop me from pointing out numerous other amused right-handed students who had yucky handwriting. Writing in school was like fighting a war. After assembly, we would walk to class in monitored lines. We were all allotted seats that were changed every week. Sometimes I would be seated between two of my classmates. And when it was time to write, my left hand would be busier fighting off my neighbour's right hand.

College solved that problem as we were given separate seats. But there again I noticed anti-lefty bias in the form of chairs that were made specifically for right-handed students (the kind that has writing space to the right). So this meant I had to sit at an uncomfortable angle to be able to write. I was given special preference, but only during exams. So while the rest of the class wrote on their normal chairs, I got a table to myself.

During lunch-break, people always seemed keen on whether I would tear up that chappati and put it into my mouth with my left hand, before dipping it into some curry. But sadly I had to disappoint them for I always ate with my right hand. But on those rare occasions when I was forced to seem comfortable with cutlery, I would realise after a point that the fork wasn't being held with the wrong hand.

By then I also began looking for other instances where we left-handed people had been ignored. Then I remembered the car in my house that had forced me to get used to managing the wheel with my right hand while I changed the gear. And need I mention other right-handed gadgets like the simple potato peeler?

"Face it, the world is made for the right handed," remarked a friend, who wasn't too happy about losing a badminton match to someone who held the racket with the left hand.

On such occasions I consoled myself with one-liners such as, "Left-handers have their brain in the 'right' place." And when they didn't work, I would rattle off a list of names of people who were/are left-handed.

For example: Harry S. Truman, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, Joan of Arc, Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Fidel Castro, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, David Rockefeller, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, H.G. Wells, Phil Collins, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Robert Plant, Seal, Paul Simon, Michelangelo, Picasso, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Tim Allen, Amitabh Bachchan, Charlie Chaplin, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Robert De Niro, Richard Dreyfuss, Greta Garbo, Whoopie Goldberg, Cary Grant, Goldie Hawn, Rex Harrison, Rock Hudson, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Lisa Kudrow, Shirley MacLaine, Marilyn Monroe, Luke Perry, Keanu Reeves, Julia Roberts, Christian Slater, Sly Stallone, Emma Thompson, Bruce Willis, Diego Maradona, Alan Border, Saurav Ganguly, Goran Ivanesevic, John McEnroe, Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles. And I should mention that this is a just quarter of quarter the full list of famous lefties.

Ours is a battle that is often belittled. In a world where the blacks are fighting apartheid, harijans untouchability, and mahila mandals women's liberation, everyone seems oblivious to the lefty who needs to enjoy a left-handed gadget, a comfortable seating arrangement in class, and ideal cars. Why not place the wheel at the centre with detachable gears that could be fixed on whichever side the driver prefers!

The struggle continues, but in the meantime, we have no other alternative but to cheerfully force ourselves to get used to the right-handed world.

But I have only a few words for the amused and indifferent: (Screeching loudly) Bart Simpson is a lefty. So was Jack the Ripper (Beware)!