Leftie Matters

The LEFT-HANDED populace has their own set of challenges that seem to bother many of them. Left-handers are singled out for being different, often forced to convert, which affect their overall personality. Citadel analyses the dilemmas of left -handers and discusses various ways through which their lives can be made easier.

- Juili Eklahare

Do you remember the time you tried to write and it just didn’t feel right? And then, unlike most people, you switched the pen from your right to your left hand, and that’s when it felt like everything was all right?

In terms of population, the world has a higher number of right-handers than left-handers; as a result of which, lefties are often looked at differently. Being a ‘southpaw’ (a term originating from the practice in baseball of arranging the diamond with the batter facing east to avoid the afternoon sun; a left-handed pitcher facing west would therefore have his pitching arm toward the south of the diamond) myself, I often receive frowns or am expected to explain myself as to how I can use my left hand and survive each day.

Over the years, it has been observed that left-handers have been chastised for centuries and still are today. Kids who start out by writing with their left-hands are more often than not forced to switch to their right hands by their parents and teachers, thereby affecting the child unconstructively in quite a few ways. And the reasons to do so can be many: from helping them fit in a world where the majority is right-handed, to rituals, and to the idea that using your left hand for daily activities is unhygienic.

THE LIFE OF A SOUTHPAW