Myths and facts of the left handed individuals
Left handed people are also called lefty, sinistral or southpaw. They prefer to use their left hand to do day to day activities like eating, writing, playing etc. Their left hand is dominant and therefore, all skillful activities are done by it.
Since 90% of world's population is right handed, being a lefty was considered to be a social stigma and was associated with evil or misfortune. But, a look into the list of successful people (right from rulers, generals, scientists, to artists, entrepreneurs, celebrities) who are left handed will drive away such misconceptions.
We will be taken aback to know certain facts about sinistrals. It is said that they can easily adjust underwater than right handed people. It has also been found that people who score very high in IQ tests are usually left handed. Even in sports, being left handed works to their advantage. Research has proved that they are very good multitaskers.
One important fact one must know is that left handedness is not inherited from parents to their child. Due to the stigma surrounding left handedness, people even today try to coax and force their naturally left handed child to do daily activities with their right hand.Parents should remember that being left handed is absolutely normal and never try to change their left handedness.
Remember Professor Virus from Three Idiots? He could write with both hands! Well, there are some people in the world ( 1% of the total population) who have equal command over both hands. They are called ambidextrous. Leonardo da Vinci was one of the most famous ambidextrous artist in the world. With practice we may be able to use the other hand to perform work efficiently, but naturally ambidextrous people are very rare. Maria Sharapova is ambidextrous.
Now we know who are called sinistral and ambidextrous people. Another interesting term is 'cross dominance' which is used for people who use their dominant hand for certain activities, while the non-dominant one for others. Sachin Tendulkar is one such person as he is a right handed batsman but writes with his left hand. On the contrary, tennis ace Rafael Nadal plays with his left hand, but writes with his right one. This is known as cross-dominance. Jim Carrey, Sylvester Stallone , Sourav Ganguly are cross dominant people.
Similar to handedness, there is also a concept of footedness and ocular dominance. For example, in football, some may prefer to use their left foot. In shooting, players may have a preference while using either of their eye.
In a world where, most tools and machines are designed keeping right handed people in mind, it might become a bit difficult and cumbersome for the left handed. However, we will be surprised to know that most of the successful and noteworthy people in the world were left handed. There are so many left handed people who have excelled in their field and made a name for themselves that its going to make every sinistral proud !
