Left Hand Drive

I knew only a few people who were left handed. That was before I came to the US where I came to know many more.

Almost 10% of the people are left handed. Ten percent is actually a significant number; a group which comprises ten percent of the total population ought to be visible. This is, however, not the case in India. I have found that the percentage of left handed people is much higher here in the United States than in India. It is just an empirical observation, but most people I have mentioned it to agree.

Left handedness is a taboo in Indian society. Parents force children to use their right hand for actions such as writing and eating. It is easy to meet someone with the natural left hand but who does most major tasks with the right hand.

Do such children have to work harder to learn skills such as writing when using their weaker hand? It appears so, because whenever such folks have to take up a new task , something they have not practised before, they prefer to use their left hand. For example, the child will start throwing the ball in the cricket field with his left hand. I wonder if this insistence on using the right( as in corrent) hand hinders natural and appropriate growth of children.