Left-handers Day!

I am rarely into 'Days' but today is special, and I just found out about it. One thing that totally surprised me after coming to the US was the overwhelming number of left-handers! Growing up trying to write righty was a painful experience. In second grade, after a parent-teacher meeting about my poor handwriting, mom almost decided me to remove me from English medium school because I couldn't 'write' English (or any other language, but she would discover that only later). Later on I had to literally 'draw' alphabets for them to be legible. It affected my confidence as one of the few things I remember about my earliest friends is their handwriting. I used to get complex seeing how effortlessly they could write. Even now, unless I am paying attention, my handwriting drifts from almost art-quality good to horrible in a matter of a few lines. Imagine my sheer frustration when I realized that all this was probably because I was just writing with the wrong f*king hand! Even now I don't really know if I am left-handed or mixed-handed. It's always confusing while taking up a musical instrument or a new sport: which way to play?? (One reason I ended up with the mandolin because it became increasingly difficult to bow the violin right handed, and my teacher ridiculed the thought of a lefty violin student. Mandolin having the same fingering as violin, it was the obvious choice).

Anyway, enough of the rant. Being ((may/ may not be) partially) lefty has been a pleasure. And it has had its surprising advantages (just holding the bat ensures a couple of wides an over, and it's been always effective at psychologically intimidating opponents, esp. in racquet sports).

Anyway, I always strongly felt that the Indian society needs to open up to lefties. Our 'sanskaars' teach us that using the left hand for anything (other than washing your ass after potty) is bad. We are taught to not give/ take money using left hand because it will 'get lost'. Even our 'gods' don't like it if we offer them their favorite flowers through the left hand. Left-handed discrimination is not a first world problem. It doesn't require any technology to overcome that our country can't afford. It's just a stupid taboo that achieves absolutely NOTHING (its not as if its a right-handed fascist's conspiracy to wipe-off all the lefties! Nor does it discriminates against other religions, which has become an essential now a days for something to be followed religiously!) but costs so dearly to lefties! This taboo needs to go, freaking ASAP!!