Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Language doesn't make me who I am


It so happens that in almost everyone’s life there is this one person, may be closely or remotely related to him/her, who stammers and it becomes just so difficult to take that person seriously. Isn’t it? Even if we try to control laughing at his/her face we are too busy struggling to maintain our seriousness so much so that it can’t be channelized to him/her. I just feel disgusted with such kind of people. 
It’s fine when a person is being made fun of as long as it’s within a certain limit because that’s what friends do---have fun at each other’s expense, laugh, joke etc--- but even after all that judging a person and forming opinions about him/her based on his/her ability or disability is just pushing such people’s level below zero and giving away “who they are when no one’s looking” and please don’t argue by saying that its but natural to laugh. I would like to see them laughing at their mother, father or children for that matter if they would (and I hope no one is impaired in any ways) have the same.
 I am definitely not getting into the philosophical argument of what’s good or bad but I am sure of one thing -no one likes being made fun of. Ofcourse I don’t even spare myself when it comes to this. Even I am guilty of making fun of so many and to worsen it, behind their back, but every day I try to be a better person and at least make an attempt to understand all kinds of people around me. How much selfish and self-centered can you be even if you try? You just can’t ignore the people around you. So when I say I make an attempt implies that I do spare sometime trying to understand these people around me. I mean what’s the use of sparing time to pray or even call up your parents when you are in your hostel missing them when you can’t even understand what’s being human. 
The interesting part is after writing these few lines itself my mind is yelling “Why so serious?” but well this is where it all begins-you need to seriously consider people with their complex repertoire of behavior and try to spend some time with each of them before passing any judgments. Do you feel impossible to do so (spending time with everyone)? Then don’t even judge them just by their behavior. 
When it comes to respect I’d been taught of respecting my elders and all that crap. I strongly disagree. I just respect people by their work. This solely makes them who they are. No matter what they say, how “good looking” they are (yeah this is for all those idiotic girls and boys who decide a person is awesome or not based on their looks), how important their relation is with me or any of that sort. Yeah the obvious counter argument would be about respecting some of my professors unwillingly as they decide my grade since I’m in college. Another common argument which I am sure many of us have felt is unwillingly respecting some members of our family (most of the times cousins). But that’s a total different topic of discussion where one has to unwillingly accept certain things or have the balls enough to go against it.
The point is, judging a person and making opinions about him/her is completely in our will. Despite this we disrespect so many around us. Ofcourse it’s not that if this would happen then everyone would like everyone else but at least a few misunderstood could live peacefully. Also, "not disrespecting" and "liking" are two different things.
Language doesn’t solely decide what kind of a person I am neither for anyone else. There are so many of us especially being in India who laugh at people who can’t speak English properly or for that matter their style of speaking is off beat. Let me remind them that most of our mothers and fathers can’t even read or write. That doesn’t mean we think of them in anyway lowly than what their position is for us then why for others? I being from a metropolitan city have observed so many idiotic fools who think being from the city and living a hardcore urban lifestyle gives them the right to look down upon our people and our very country. Shame on such people who decided to go for a complicated life but well just cannot handle the complicacy. 
I study in a national institute called the IIT which is an abode to multi-cultural students from all over India and it’s said that at least one language changes every hundred kilometers in my country. It’s so fascinating to come across such diverse cultures of India in comparatively a small region like my campus. Here the problem is worse. The individual judging takes form of regionalism and groups which seem to be self-sustaining and absolutely inert to anyone else who’s considered foreign to their set of beliefs or culture. Seriously what’s the use of staying away from home and coming so far for education when you don’t have the basic ability to mingle with anyone else? Stay at home forever. Yeah agreed it’s not necessary to tolerate anything and everything but at least respect one another for who we are and where we come from. Anyways I guess my point is clear. I make words, words don’t make me but whatever I do it defines me.

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