Monday, October 26, 2015

the other side

Two students got into a major argument... both convinced that ‘I am right’ and ‘the other is wrong’. Their teacher decided to teach them an enduring lesson. She brought them up to the front of the class and placed them on two sides of her desk. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. She asked them to state the colour of the object.

One said ‘White’ while the other said, ‘black’. Another argument started between the classmates about the colour of the object. The teacher asked them to trade places... their answers interchanged too! It was an object with two differently coloured sides!

Kurosawa’s great film – Rashoman – is the story that involves various characters providing alternative, self-serving and contradictory versions of the same incident. What we see depends on the position we are placed in... not just the geographical position but the ideological conditioned corner that we get pushed into. We must travel to the other side and explore the view from there too. We must know the other side!

Sticking to single positions is woe betide
Check out the view from the other side

- Pravin K. Sabnis

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