Perspective


The glass is half full or half empty. Is it a sun rise or a sun set? How many times have we heard someone say "Only if you were to step into my shoes, you were to know the reality!"? How difficult is it to understand the situation from the perspective of the other person? It may be as easy as taking a comfortable single with a nod of the head, where the perspectives of both players are the same or getting run out in the way INZI got out in the World Cup clash between India and Pakistan. The only difference in the comparison is that cricket would give you a second opportunity to make amends but life does not.


"When you were small and unable to speak anything, I was able to understand all that you wanted. Now that you are grown up and can express your needs, I am unable to understand what you need". These were the words from Waheda Rahman to Fardeen Khan in the movie Om, Jai, Jagadeesh. A mother, who has been gratifying the needs of her small children abruptly bumps into the reality that she is no longer able to comprehend the needs of her grown up children. Is it because small children have no strong perception about the material realities of the world and hence there was no clash during the young days but as they have grown up to come to terms with the world, the way they look at the world is different from their parents? Whatever the case, the situation was perfect to explain how perspectives change as we grow and how a lack of communication can harm the best of relations.


The thought process is the incessant search of the human brain to find the perfect solution for the questions that have multiple answers (right or wrong will again depend on the person who is taking the decision) - each depending on what the mind has learnt through the past experience. The September 11 attack on USA led to a full fledged retaliation in Afghanistan to crush the Taliban and a war in Iraq to crush the hidden and unknown enemy. Many view the war in Iraq as a business gameplan of the President to further his own motives. This might be the hidden idea of the President also but all that won't matter if another 9/11 attack was to happen. All the perceptions will change and the business/personal plans/motives would not matter. On the other side of the spectrum, the proxy war being faught in Kashmir has continued and continued and nothing but continued. It hasn't led India to a war to crush the known enemy. The difference in perspectives of the leadership in the two countries brings a long term peace to the USA in return for a short war while it brings a long term war to India, just because our history teaches us to find solutions in a peaceful manner.


An uncle of mine used to tell me a story that I never found interesting till I reached the age where my perception of the story changed. There was a man who used to live with his father and son in a small house. They had a small farm near their house and the man used to work in the farm to earn the living. The life used to move on a day to day basis - dinner for the night would depend on the earnings made during the day. One day, the Sun was turning the earth into a hot oven and it was very difficult to work in the farm. The man had no choice but to go out and work. His father asked him to stay indoors because his son's safety was paramount to him. The man wanted to go out and work because filling the stomach of his father and son was paramount to him. There was a clash of thoughts - both were right in their own context, but the decision had to be taken by the man. He decided to go out and work in the farm. As soon as he had gone out to work, his father made the small son go out and help the man. The man was very furious with his father - The earth was burning like a hot oven and he had sent the small child to work in the farm. The perceptions had changed because the man was standing on a different side of the fence now.

As Winston, the chief protagonist of 1984 by George Orwell says "A single man having the will to change the perception of the majority is the one to which humanity is indebted to for its existence. A single man having the will to understand the perception of the majority is the one who leads the humanity to the path of success."

Category: Philosophy