South Paw Survives

August 13th marks World Left-Handers Day, a time to celebrate the uniqueness of being a leftie in a world designed for the right-handed majority. This day holds special significance for me as it brings back memories of a session I had with Mr. Rajesh Singh of HappinessSoulutions. After an intense age regression therapy, I had an epiphany—I was back to using my left hand, and it was an incredibly empowering moment. For years, I had conformed to the world’s righteous right-handedness, desperately trying to fit in.

The questions were endless: “Are you really left-handed?” The answer I longed to give was, “No, I’ve just been pretending to use my left hand my entire life because I enjoy the thrill of improperly using scissors and injuring myself.” But the truth was far more painful. My entire life had been a charade of pretending not to use my left hand, just to be accepted.

As time passed, the perception of left-handedness began to shift. Suddenly, being left-handed made you a wonder, even fashionable. But trendiness aside, being left-handed inherently makes a person special. Just think about it—Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, and a host of other geniuses were lefties. The list is long, with luminaries like Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Mark Twain, and Hans Christian Andersen among the ranks of left-handers. For those who feel one Madam Curie isn’t enough, rest assured that many brilliant women, like Janis Joplin (and of course, yours truly), are also left-handed.

But let’s not get too carried away with romanticizing the left-handed experience. According to Maggie O’Farrell in The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, “Two and a half thousand left-handed people are killed every year using things made for right-handed people.” Being a South Paw some forty years ago was more than a struggle—it was a nightmare. And to be honest, I’m still living it.

Born to a left-handed father and a conservative, box-fitting mother, my trials began early. My father, blessed with ambidexterity, coped relatively well with the left-right dilemma. Perhaps, if left to my own devices, I too might have developed ambidexterity, minus the trauma.

One of my earliest memories is being forced to eat with my right hand. The result? I became confused and clumsy, gulping down food hastily and snacking at odd times to stave off hunger. This issue persisted until my maternal grandmother returned from Delhi when I was eleven. She put her foot down and allowed me to eat with my left hand, just like my father. I even started using a spoon to avoid offending others.

Then came school, where my left-handedness became a bigger issue. At Padma Seshadri in Chennai, using my left hand wasn’t a problem. But when I transferred to Manipal, Mrs. Premlatha—yes, I’m naming her, because that’s the only way I can find closure—made it her mission to “correct” me. She would cane my left palm, and when that didn’t work, she’d lock me in a dark room. I wonder how many other children suffered at her hands.

The discrimination didn’t end with teachers. Fellow students refused to share desks with left-handers, unable to cope with the different dynamics. I know parents who requested that their children be seated away from left-handed kids. Learning to cope with a left-handed partner, it seems, was too much to ask in a world that preaches inclusion.

Simple tasks became daily challenges. The world is designed for right-handers, and even in dental college, where I found some solace among six other left-handed classmates, we had to petition for a chair reorientation. I don’t recall if it ever happened, but at least I didn’t face issues there. Yet, driving on the left side of the road—a custom dating back to horse riding when the right hand was used for whipping—remained a constant reminder of the right-handed world we live in.

Cooking posed another hurdle. People would refuse to eat what I cooked simply because I used my left hand. So, I learned to cook with my right. If that’s not dedication to survival, I don’t know what is.

And it’s not just me—10% of the world’s population is left-handed. Yet, left-handedness is often associated with the devil, evil spirits, and other superstitions. While some cultures, like the ancient Zuni tribe, consider left-handedness a sign of good fortune, the majority remain skeptical. Superstitions abound—itching in the right palm means you’ll receive money, while in the left, you’ll give it away. The left eye twitching is supposedly a good omen, but when it comes to handling money, the right hand is always favored.

But here’s the thing: The high IQ society, Mensa, believes that as many as 20% of their members are left-handed. So, while Agatha Christie might have enjoyed playing with mirrored reflections, the truth is that we South Paw survivors are here to stay. Let’s raise a toast to finding our rightful place under the sun, and to slaying the monsters like Mrs. Premlatha along the way.

Here are two interestings links if you are interested. The Lefty’s Lament song http://www.lefthandersday.com/