Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton,Charles Darwin .......and me...we all have something in common... we are all southpaws or left- handed. Also there is another thing not common between us- while the rest of them are dead and died famous, I continue my journey with life and living a commoner's obscure life...
As you must have guessed, this post is about left handedness.I don't know how or why but I am glad that the moment I was born, I was put among the minority 10% of the world population which differs from the rest of the world population in their handedness. Unlike humans, the other species of animals have handedness equally distributed among their population. Some studies attribute this to human social behavior where tasks are grouped and shared in the community involving sharing of tools and equipments which has moulded nature to make humans prominently right handed. It's interesting to see that quite a few studies have been done to unravel the reason for the handedness of just 10% of the population. One study says that a momentary lapse of oxygen supply to the brain while in the womb,leads to the change in handedness of the person from right to left. Most of the left handed people are males, and so also a theory that the handedness has something to do with the testosterone levels and exposure to it inside the uterus of mother. There is surely no hereditary involvement in my family at least, since I am the only one in the entire family, maternal and paternal sides both included,who enjoys the tag of being left handed. There are quite a few accolades passed on to the left handed- more artistic, genius, linguist, intelligent..blah blah.... * sigh* if only it were true... Phew..
Now coming to the handedness and how left handed are at a disadvantage. Most of the equipments are built with the right handed people in mind.... The first thing that comes to my mind is the chair with the attached writing table which I used to find so difficult to write on in the school, since they were all built with the right handed in mind ( there might be ones built for the left handed, but the schools do not buy stuff thinking of 10% of the world population). I being an ENT surgeon face the left handedness being a problem a bit more since our examination chairs are on the side and they are placed and built for the right handed. In the operation theatre, the nurses are pre instructed about my southpaw flaw as all the equipments have to undergo a mirror image change before I carry out the surgery. Explanations about holding instruments and operating are mostly detailed for the right handed and "changes to be made accordingly for the left handed" that's about the only detail added for the lefties..
No no ...I aint cribbing...I am glad and thankful to God or whoever else who is responsible for my being a lefty. It's stylish to see a lefty bat even if its a poor shot... to see a left handed Martina Navratilova flay her hand in air... and see my own pictures caught while I am penning some thoughts on paper ;). We manage to attract quite a few stares from the opposite sex since its kind of sexy to be different ( wink wink) ..until the myth is broken...
So until next time,
