The Blind Side

The process of hand holding and pointing has been an age old practice and is a coherent part of everyone's lifestyle. What I cannot comprehend are the seemingly trivial aspects that ebb out of people's perceptions. Everytime I notice something, I realize that it is not how I was told to perceive. Then, I end up correlating  the present state of mind to the experiences of my past and I can clearly observe the disparity.

My Grandmother always told me stories from the Mythic age, adulating the Gods and Demi-Gods elucidating the several good deeds and their warrior tales. She told me how good Lord Rama was, in obeying his parent's orders and how rightfully his brother accompanied him to the forest. Neither did she ever tell me about the circle of trust between Lord Rama and Sita devi, and its wreckage; nor did she tell me how great was Ravana, as a king.

Those bulky textbooks in high school spoke volumes about Mahatma Gandhi, Akbar and Alexander the great but never had a story about the unsung heroes Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose or Prithviraj Chauhan. One of the chapters in Social Studies even explained the greatness of Shah Jahan in building the Taj Mahal but never revealed the slavery and human trafficking he imposed to build the 'Artistic Graveyard' for his third wife. The first lesson I learnt in Social Sciences was the Preamble of Indian constitution which constituted the elements of Freedom of Speech and expression. I grew up only to learn that it was one thing that is forced to be curtailed at every stage in life!

Throughout my life, my mother gave me an impression (rather, I deduced it) that keeping a woman happy, is very simple - All you have to do is take care of her. She never hinted me about the mood swings, expectations and the different dimensions of "taking care". I always thought that the speed dials on my phone would remain constant but neither did my friends nor me thought that our priorities in life would change. My father always professed me that I have to be a part of the rat race to lead life and made me an engineer (the software kind). I have no complaints against it but grad school made me realize that there is more to life than just being one among the herd. It taught me that even cutting hair and shaping nails is an art and there is a certified degree for that.

The society, which includes everyone around me, emphasized on living by the rules. Any act you do is judged by a thousand others and the butt end of the debate would be to live your life as the society wants it but not by how you like it. As I grew older, I realized that that's not the case. 'Ruck Fules!' All my teenage friends denounced every person who had an attitude but as I grew old I realized that it is hard to have an attitude and one should never let go off it.

Most of the very dear Indian cinemas have "Happy Endings" where the couple live happily ever after. The foolish human brain lives in self denial and refuses to accept that life is not a movie; we wish it was, but it is not!

I've stopped living life by someone else's rules and hypotheses and started to ponder "Why" before I take a step. I might be late to the whole scene but I am just glad i didn't miss my bus. I started to conquer the Blind side that was a part of everyone's perception of life and someday I wish I'd master it. Here's a few lines to conclude my post: