HOW TO BE UNAPOLOGETICALLY IRONICAL: A WAY OF LIFE OF THE NEW- AGE HUMANS
The complex behaviour of “Homo Sapiens Sapiens”, is a mystery to even the most-brightest scientists of our times. From Darwin to Wallace and later generations of paleoanthropologists have conducted numerous experiments and studies to decode human behaviour which is still an ongoing process in our contemporary period.
It is said that the distinguishing characteristic of human beings is that they are “logical and emotional”. The three stages of infancy, adolescence and adulthood are significantly shaped by the people around us and through the relationships/bonds that we create during the process. In my humble opinion, human beings are loathed with contradictions, in so many ways.
We often preach to be open-minded but often we succumb to the ingrained reflex of judging people ruthlessly. I know so many people who tell their friends to open up and talk to them but as soon as they do, they show disinterest and do not pay attention which only leads to the person retreating into themselves. For example, my friends used to tell me to talk to them as I was usually very quiet and didn’t speak up but whenever I did, they would talk right over me or just not pay attention to what I was saying.
“Furthermore, this made me wary of sharing my thoughts with them again since it hurt a lot”.
Often, people do not even realize they might have hurt someone emotionally, physically, or mentally. While something might be casual for you, the same thing could hold a lot of meaning for someone else. The sheer insensitivity and ignorance towards one another that is widespread in our society ensures to baffle me.
We always talk and read about how we should be open about our feelings and thoughts and communicate but in certain situations, we are taught to hold our tongue or simply lie to be polite or to not be ourselves.” I wonder where does all the moral policing vanishes from a certain section of the people during such circumstances?”
For example, I remember when I was a child my parents would tell me to be comfortable with our relatives during the visits but when I tried to eat some of the snacks they got for us my parents would always reprimand me and tell me to behave in front of our guests even though a few moments before they had told me to treat them like family and be comfortable with them.
It always confused me, especially in Indian households, food is a way to show goodwill and affection for each other. So, when they told me not to eat with them it felt like, however unintentional, they were putting a barrier and were preventing me from being truly comfortable with them.
There are also people whose words come off as cold and rude but through their actions, one can see their love and kindness. I have a friend who at one point I used to consider as one of the most open-minded people whom I have ever met, unfortunately, soon after, I also saw her ignorant side as well. For example, she would talk about how anyone was allowed into her house, no matter what anyone said about them or whether she herself had a grievance with them but then in the next moment she would talk about how Chinese people’s eyes were so small or implied that people of certain communities were more likely to be criminals. That always made it very difficult for me to trust her. Moreover, I was never sure whether she would take my feedback on a positive note?
As we are a specie who is bound to evolve further with a gradual passage of time, we as human beings should embrace everyone’s individuality and should adhere to the motto of, “live and let live”. Self- introspection is the necessity of the hour so that we together are able to create a sensible and conscious community.
