Different contexts! Divergent views !

 Posted on August 9, 2020 by Ruchi

I woke up today morning in an unusually creative mood. Having missed my writing schedule early during the week, the thought weighing heavily on my mind, I wondered about the conflicting opinions. The world is in turmoil, 2020 is laying havoc each day.

As if Novel- corona virus was not enough to sabotage the lives and the economy, the daily news is competing to be awarded the worst news of the year. Not living in your birth country during these times is stressful enough. Living in UAE which has brought down Covid cases drastically and reduced the viral load by early screening and widespread community testing, I feel like being in the womb safe, yet the umbilical cord is tied to India where due to population overload, overcrowding and huge economic disparity, covid is having a feast and most of the friends and family live there. Your daily dose of warnings to parents, friends fall on deaf years. Of course, they know better.

Just because they think differently, does not mean they are not being careful. No two person think alike, even if they are identical twins. Everyone’s prescriptive depends on their own life experiences, their vision, upbringing, education and lifestyle. Remember the parable of the elephant and the blind men. Those blind men have never come across an elephant. Each of them touches a different part. Hence, each one describes it differently. One feels it like a wall, the other like a fan, some like a tree trunk, and another one like a snake.

Each generation thinks apart. Most of this gap is owing to the circumstances in which the grew. Our parents had a difficult upbringing. Most of us would have heard stories, where they worked alongside school to earn money. some couldn’t choose their choicest profession, just because the fees was too high. Our generation had a mix of it. We didn’t grow in hardships. The economy was in a better shape. Our parents didn’t want us to go through similar hardships yet they kept us grounded because of their experiences. Fast forward to current generation, where most have been brought up in the lap of luxury. So yes, ideology changes over each generation and so does the thinking.

These days there has been much ongoing debate on the opening of schools. Each country has to decide based on the viral load and the status of economy. No one size fits all, and similarly its for parents. Some children have poor immunity and so for these kids, of course the parental concern on health is paramount. Some children are self motivated ( nerdy as my kid likes to call them ), and for them online teaching is better as they don’t waste time interacting. There are others who need that classroom interactions, especially for those who are hyperactive and impulsive, or those children with special needs. Then there are parents who do not have the support system, and for them sending to school means getting work done. There are some who believe in the overall holistic development and are not just concerned about marks. The concerns of each group are valid.. Yet, when i scrolled the discussions on the social media, I was overwhelmed by the amount of fight and unhealthy debate.

Why is it so difficult for us to accept the other’s viewpoint? May be it is not the one for you, but is there any harm in just trying to understand and comprehend.

Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com