Live and let live
We live in a world where we talk of eradicating the evil of racism and segregation. But do we realise that within the small circle of our society there is a distinct division between people who are labelled as “cool” and the other group labelled as “uncool”? The people belonging to the “un-cool” group can’t enter the world of so-called cool people until and unless they transform themselves according to the wishes of the so-called cool class. If they don’t do this then they should be ready to face remarks like “here goes that hippo”, “look at her clothes, they are so tawdry” and “that guy is such a jerk”. These derogatory remarks start as a casual joke and later become quite distressful for the people who are the target of such remarks. Their confidence staggers and they have thousands of apprehensions before they do anything, as they fear the abusive comments their act might attract. And after getting fed up with all the satirical comments about their aesthetic sense, appearance and personality, they transform themselves in order to fit in the group of “cool” people. Is this fair? Is this what we call liberty? Can we call ourselves free as individuals?
No! We can’t, because every four out of five people abandon their right to live their life according to their own wishes in order to be socially accepted. Just one person out of every five people lives his life the way he wants and struggles to get himself recognised the way he is.
The thing I am trying to say here is that, why do we give a tough time to the people who want to live their lives on their own terms? Why can’t we let such people live as they want? Why do we have to belittle such people? If there is a person whose appearance or personality we don’t find appealing, why can’t we let that person be the way he is instead of telling him how repulsive he is?
I don’t say we should stop advising people. In fact, I believe that sincere advice can shape the future of a person in a positive way. It’s just that when we taunt someone, we are not advising him. Instead we are hurting the feelings of that person and making him feel that he is actually “uncool”. So I would like to appeal to all of you, who took out the precious minutes from their time to read this article, to please live your life the way you want to and let others live the way they want.
