I’m like my mother. I stereotype. It’s faster.
- Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) – “Up in the Air”
Stereotype, as wikipedia says is a commonly held public belief about specific social groups or types of individuals.
We all stereotype. We all are stereotyped. Frankly there is a lot of truth to what Ryan says above. Stereotypes are brain’s way of caching a process. Its a gift and saves from the proverbial trouble of re-inventing the wheel.
However, things are not quite rosy when this stereotyping gets more myopic. People start applying other’s stereotypes into their situations. If your friend had a bad feel about a movie, you would tend to think the same way. If this happens to a large number of your friends, you would be so sure that the movie is bad. This is dangerous. You are not your friend. You are unique. There is a saying in Tamil:
கண்ணால் காண்பதும் பொய், காதால் கேட்பதும் பொய். தீர விசாரிப்பதே மெய்.
This roughly means, what you see is a lie, what you hear is a lie. What you analyse and find is alone truth. This essentially advocates against the grain of stereotype.
Personally I love to see people who stereotype fail. They are essentially not stupid, but somehow they missed the rational call to verify. I have many instances in my life where people have thought I am from REC (NIT) Trichy when I say I studied in Trichy. Really?!
IIT. IIM. US of A. 3BHK. Prius. Spelling bee child. Carnatic music child. Bharatanatyam Child. Pittsburg Balaji. Mylapore. Import Hershey kisses. Export Maavadus. Too much of same stuff. Uff!
The society is infested with stereotype generators and is always viewed via a stereotyping glass. Be wary and break as much stereotypes as you can enjoy the fun! Start with doing atleast something small in a different way. It leaves people wondering and creates an enigma around you.
P.S. This post was initially titled “I shall not buy a Suzuki Swift”.
P.P.S. This post is not to offend anyone, don’t take it seriously!
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Tags: Stereotypes, Thoughts
amazing stuff….. Loved it …very insightful. And very timely for who as a father running around for my daughters college admission….my battle is against stereotypes and urban legends. Its hard….u make ur self vulnerable when u say no to IIT and get into a normal arts college… somehow i found this decision to be a bit easy as my daughter was so clear on wot she wanted ..and the stereotypes just did not make sense.
Assuming that colleege educates is quiet a deception in itself…
Thanks for your feedback Benny! Yeah, please leave your daughter according to her wish. People who want to find faults will do it anyway. Even if she studies in IIT. Cut the crap, be a reasonable father. I am glad you liked it. Thank you
Its faster, convenient and usually a result of ignorance and that’s why so common.
so true Bala.
I’m so very very offended
Oh! Why so? You see it was not targeted at anyone
Hello,
I happened to go through your blog a couple of days back and was impressed. Then I saw your About and was even more impressed. Let me get straight to the point. We have a forum at http://www.chennaichatter.com exclusively for Chennai-ites where we discuss various issues pertaining to Chennai and the nation. I think it would be great if you join us and take part in the debates. It would add a whole new class to the discussions.
Have a great day!
Thomson.