south paws...

Thankfully, the world, nowadays, has come to acknowledge the presence of these "anomalous" people who seem to do things the left way (well, "the right way" is for the less fortunate ones;-) ). However, alienation cannot be eliminated for these people who are born into a naturally biased world...the world biased against the left (no pun!!)
Though there is a well known justification that when a person's right side of the brain dominates, then the person tends to be left-handed; there is no clear reason why the right side of the brain should dominate in the first place for certain people. There have also been speculations as to the reduced life span of left handers and their susceptibility to disorders such as schizophrenia and delirium (what crap!!), but none has been substantiated as yet. Researchers have also observed that there are more left-handers than right, with an IQ over 140 (how true!!). Curiously, left-handers have been at the extreme ends of the spectrum, with Albert Einstien, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great on one end and Jack the Ripper, Boston Strangler and so on, on the other.
It is well known that, historically and socially, the left side was always looked down upon. The words that were used to denote the "left" in languages such as Greek and Latin, were synonymous with evil, sinister, clumsy, unwieldy and so on. However, the right always symbolized good, skill and dexterity. It is not by coincidence that the word "right" always has positive connotations and usages such as: the right(correct) way, in the right mind, whereas the poor "left" is more often used as in "left out" and "two left feet" (the bloody wicked right!!!)
Although the percentage of left handers at any point of time has been as low as 10-12%, there is some consolation in the thought that the process of natural selection has not eliminated left-handedness, as has been the case with most anomalies. This proves that left handers are probably not weaker biologically, but have been made so because they have had to adapt themselves to live in a right-dominated world.
One such element that discourages the south paws mentally, is the unwanted attention that they draw in a gathering. Well, it used to be embarrasing back then, but has now become a routine. "Ohh...You eat with your left hand!! Are you left-handed?"...."No, its actually a hobby to eat with my left hand in such gatherings", I'd want to say.
Personally, I was faced with a lot of problems as a kid, when I started learning to do things. My kindergarten teacher used to grab the pencil from my left hand and plant it in my right, and the fantastic explanation that she gave was that she thought I was "ill"!! My parents had a tough time teaching me to do stuff the "right" way!! I used to write from right to left, mark a tick the other way and even turn the pages the wrong way. Those who have not had the chance to interact with left handers wont even know that such problems even exist..."Ticking the wrong way??!! How can you even think of it?!!!". For left handers, writing from left to right, especially on a right arm chair, can be one of the most difficult practices to adapt to, because it would mean that the writing hand would come in the way of the eye and the paper, and hence a clear view of whatever was being written, would be impossible. Consequently, a leftist's handwriting (including mine) is usually so ugly that it looks almost enciphered!! My school never had a left arm chair and in those exams where we had to use the arm chairs instead of the desks, I would find myself sitting at right angles, turning my whole body to the right so that the paper could be on the left side of my body!!! And obviously, at the end of the exam, I would find the supervisor tugging furiously at my paper while I'd be begging him for a few extra minutes!!
Not just these desks, almost every device that we use is handed. Whenever I used to pick up a pair of scissors to cut some paper, I'd wonder why the damn thing wasn't working for me. After a few frustrating attempts, I'd throw the useless device and simply tear the paper with my hands. Left handers, unfortunately, have to put up with these right-handed scissors and knives, right-handed keyboards, numpads and calculators(numbers are from left to right), right-handed cricket gloves (was quite a hassle finding left handed ones for me), right-handed computer mice (wow!! what a pain it was, initially!! But, I still think I can do better at Quake3Arena with a left handed mouse!!) and so on.
Once, my bro-in-law had bought a new golf kit. I had never played golf, but the clubs were so pretty that I pictured myself swinging one of those gleaming clubs majestically, and staring fixedly into the distance(like those golfers do!!:-) ) , with the club over my shoulder, glinting in the sunlight. So we rushed to the practice range only to realize that those clubs were right handed!! My heart sank and my poor bro-in-law had to run all over the place to find me a left handed club. Finally, I had to settle for a rented lousy, old, orange-colored, half-broken, left-handed club :-((
It is surprising that for such genuine causes, there are no groups that represent this minority community and demand that all institutions and organizations be equipped with some basic left-handed devices and that the accessibility and availability of left-handed gadgets be improved by way of an increase in the number of stores that sell such devices. And yes, fight for some reservation as well, in view of the trauma that we face in this hostile world ;-)
However, inspite of such shortcomings, I'm sure my fellow south paws will agree that it does feel special to be left-handed!! The momentary stir and confusion when we arrive at the crease with the bat in our left hand(what happens after that doesnt matter!!:-) ), the brief murmers and stares when we catch the pen or the spoon with the left hand and the comments of some people, "How do you do it with your left hand? It looks beautiful". All these remind us that we're different, in a trivial but special way. Poor bourgeoise right handers!! ;-)