I'm quite fed up of hearing people say Asians are too afraid to speak. But sometimes, the truth just stares you in the face. One of my lecturers asked a simple question: "How many of you has heard of Google?" A good round number of people put up their hands: Zero!
It was getting embarassing, and to salvage the situation, I raised my hand. The lecturer said, "Okay, one person has heard of Google. That person should get an A for this subject!"
I'm amused and amazed at how people behave as if they are exposing themselves to a line of fire by raising their hands. Similarly, going in front of an audience is often considered similar to exposing yourself to a radioactive environment. Quite often, people say, "If you do something wrong, I'll make you go up and sing a song." Why is it such a punishment to sing a song in front of an audience? What's the worst thing that can happen? Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Is that really a punishment?
The cocoon of comfort is a wonderful place. But if we stay there, how can we metamorphosise into something that can add value to the world? Caterpillars leave their cocoon, turn into butterflies, add beauty to the world, and pollinate flowers, adding value to the lives of millions of plants. All this by leaving their comfort zone. Let's do that.
It was getting embarassing, and to salvage the situation, I raised my hand. The lecturer said, "Okay, one person has heard of Google. That person should get an A for this subject!"
I'm amused and amazed at how people behave as if they are exposing themselves to a line of fire by raising their hands. Similarly, going in front of an audience is often considered similar to exposing yourself to a radioactive environment. Quite often, people say, "If you do something wrong, I'll make you go up and sing a song." Why is it such a punishment to sing a song in front of an audience? What's the worst thing that can happen? Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Is that really a punishment?
The cocoon of comfort is a wonderful place. But if we stay there, how can we metamorphosise into something that can add value to the world? Caterpillars leave their cocoon, turn into butterflies, add beauty to the world, and pollinate flowers, adding value to the lives of millions of plants. All this by leaving their comfort zone. Let's do that.
posted by Vasanth Seshadri at 4:39 AM
1 Comments:
this indeed is the situation my friend. and it is reflective of the nature of the society. asians have a natural history of being overawed by people of caucasian origin(this statement is a deduction based on the facts that history proclaims and in no way rules out exceptions). the subjucation of the indian subcontinent by the british empire, the european(portuguese, spanish...) invasions in the past, etc. are some of the facts suggestive of the submissive nature of the general polulation. The government officials and the people holding power are elevated to demigodship and are deemed beyond criticism. there are plenty of politicians in India who are charged with corruption crimes(thanks to the intelligence which rarely branches out of the civil domain to counter the ploys of its pakistan counterpart). but the charges never take form of punishments and the politicians remain unscathed. this goes on to show that we are terrified by people who hold the power. be it in class, in society or in a nation as a whole. rarely does anyone realise that he/she is capable of effecting a change, contrary to what people in the west feel.
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