Sunday, April 02, 2017

Learning to accept the 'different'

 Today I watched a touching TV ad by Vicks shown in India, which is ‘trending’ in the Internet. I am happy to see that the topic of the rights of the transgender population is starting to get addressed in India. Like homosexuality, trans-sexuality was a tabooed subject when I was growing up in India. My first exposure to the transgender population occurred during my short stint as an Electrical engineer in Mumbai (Bombay in those days). Transgenders were called ‘Eunuchs’, and you could find them (usually in groups) in public places like the trains I commuted on. As a fresh college graduate from Kerala. I knew nothing about transsexuals. I used to wonder why a man goes through the humiliations and insults by dressing up as a woman. Nobody is going to believe he is a woman anyway, I thought. Although I felt sorry for them, I sort of admired their daring attitude, doing what they want without showing any awareness of the stares and comments of others. Years later, I developed the same ‘I don’t care’ attitude when I was in public with my autistic son and his colleagues with mental handicaps. I could care less what others thought. If someone is bothered and upset about the behavior (and the loud incoherent sounds) of the mentally handicapped, it is his problem!

I pray that the people around the world would learn to treat each other with respect despite of ones sexual orientation. USA is far ahead of other countries in this respect, while India where homosexuality is still a crime is far behind!

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