About
80% of the world learns the difference between left and right in the age of 5
or 6. But then there is another 20% inclusive of me, who can’t tell their left
from right. Well, to start with, I am a
medical researcher and have had an excellent formal education since schooling.
Like any other weird and strange person on this planet, I perform tasks like
anyone else and have certain set of qualities that makes me stand apart. Time
and again, I have proved myself that I don’t know left from right. I am sure
that I have this strange disorder in the left parietal lobe of my brain, where
I can’t tell the difference nor tell the time from an analog clock. In addition
to this, I can’t comprehend fractions nor is my judgment of measuring a
distance right any day. In short, these symptoms direct to a brain disorder, dyscalculia.
Despite
the special talent I possess, sometimes I tend to become the butt of all jokes.
Once during my engineering, we had mechanical workshop, where we were supposed to wear covered
shoes as personal protection equipment. As I see through my eyes, both my feet
look the same to me. I don’t understand the difference in shape of my feet nor in the shoes people try to point out at me. So, it is obvious, I put the wrong
shoe in the right foot and walked all over campus, till some idiot noticed it.
Everybody had an uncontrollable laugh on that gift of mine. And the sarcasm continued for endless days after that. So, while wearing
shoes, I always try both the shoes on my feet. Some lucky days I get it right,
other days I survive through help. God bless the soul who made the buckled
shoes! On conversing with someone, I keep lifting my right hand and say my left hand was injured, as result of which they end up in getting confused. Now that's the real talent, giving people a hint of how exactly you confused brain works ! While driving, I cannot really comprehend, when the passenger sitting
next to me gives me directions in a hyper mode – go left, go right. I panic and
stop my car. So, before driving, I ask the passenger to hold my hand if they
want to go left and not if they prefer to go right. If someone asks me time, I
really get confused to answer if the hands of the clock are somewhere in the
middle of two numbers. For instance, I can’t tell time when it is 5.45 or 5.50.
God bless thy soul, who created digital clocks. It’s been a boon to me as I can save myself from certain public embarrassments. Never a pro at mathematics, I used to dread
exams, until I found to teach myself and keep my calm. But still, some days,
when am asked suddenly, on finding out the share of bills, mentally in my mind,
I write down numerator and denominator. Cancel it and find the quotient and
reminder. That is how I get to my answer, even though if its bit delayed.
At
one glance, I can never say if the shoe belongs to left foot or right foot or
the time is 5.45. I need to give a close look, think, experiment and analyze,
only then I am confident to express my opinion. I have tried to learn several times,
but failed miserably. I have had my share of bad days. Now I take flaws in my
stride and laugh at it, believing am exclusively exotic, to have a special
talent that not everyone can possess, even if they wished to! Now I laugh all along with others and
sometimes tell it to people myself even before they discover my special talent.
I have realized that every person has an inner flaw and sooner they make peace
with it, sooner they will find ways to deal with it. Like, I found a way to
tell left from right by memorizing that my left wrist has a tiny mole.
But on certain bad days or rather nights, when light is low and I am unable to spot my mole. I mess up, giving people another reason to laugh at me. Well, I keep people happy with my talent, and from the consequences of my confusion, I give them another good memory to cherish for lifetime.
