05 April,2011 10:21 AM IST | | Tunali Mukerjee
Can handedness determine success on the field and off it, active! Asks the experts. Plus, are left-handers more prone to learning and developmental disabilities?
Last Saturday, the nation watched with bated breath as the Men in Blue steered India towards a historic World Cup win. At the forefront of India's win were two left-handed batsmen: Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir.
Yuvraj was also awarded the ICC World Cup 2011 Man of the Tournament. Several cricketers who've gone on to make their mark in the world of cricket are left-handed.
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The list includes Sourav Ganguly, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram and Sri Lankan skipper, Kumar Sangakarra. We get the experts to tell us why - in a country where there continues to be a stigma attached to the preference - some of us choose the left hand over the right.
Neurologist Dr Girish Nair clarifies that being left-handed is not a disorder. "A preference for the left hand depends on a network of neurons called the Praxicon, which controls specific motor skills.
If present in the left hemisphere of the brain, a person is right-handed, and vice versa," he says. "There is nothing that a right-handed person can do that a left-handed person cannot."
As for as the belief that being left-handed causes dyslexia, Dr Nair says, "Lexicon is a bunch of neurons, which control language skills, including reading and writing, and like the Praxicon, is usually present in the left hemisphere of the brain.
Sometimes, during birth, if there is stress in the left hemisphere, especially in the areas of language function, the Lexicon and Praxicon shift to the undamaged parts of the right hemisphere, causing dyslexia and left-handedness," he explains.
"It is important to understand that what causes left-handedness also causes dyslexia, but it is not a mater of cause and effect, nor are all left-handed people dyslexic," he stresses.
Advantage: sports?
With Yuvi and Gautam smashing sixes into the stadium and Zaheer's left arm fast balls earning him the most wickets this World Cup, having left-handed sportspersons on any team are an advantage, according to Marshall John, sports coach, Aditya Birla World Academy.
"In cricket, a partnership between a left-handed batsman and a right-handed one makes it more difficult for the bowler, as his length and line keeps varying. In football, it's way easier to have a left-handed footballer stay on the left side of the field, than make a right-handed one cover that position."
Marshall John however cautions against handedness determining success on the field. "That comes from individual skill and dedication."
Times are changing
Marieola Fernandes, a teacher who has closely worked with special needs children, believes that deeming left-handers inferior is a cultural problem. "When certain children start to write or scribble with their left hand, parents and teachers should let them be, instead of interfering and forcibly turning the child right-handed.
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What often results is illegible handwriting and that can be mistaken as a sign of dyslexia," she says, adding, "Nowadays, parents are more open to letting their children be, and the only problem we face is using material meant for right-handed people with the left-handers."
"The term used for left-handedness is sinistrality, derived from sinister while right-handedness is called dexterity, derived from dexterous.
In the '60s and '70s, even abroad, left-handed children were schooled to turn right-handed, which is wrong, because a forced change of handedness compromises theu00a0 skills one can acquire," says Dr Nair, elaborating, "If a left-handed person is taught to be right-handed and then learns to play the piano, there is a chance that he might have been a better piano player had he been allowed to continue left-handed than he is right-handed."
Fifty-fifty
By the same yardstick, does being born left-handed determine genius? "Genius or not has nothing to do with either handedness, but with excellent coordination of both hemispheres of the brain. When Yuvraj Singh bats, he needs excellent hand-eye coordination, which is a function of both hemispheres and has nothing to do with him being left-handed."
The fact that those who excel in the creative fields and sports earn more fame than those who excel in academia might be another reason for so many left-handed celebrities.
The left side of the brain, which is the dominant hemisphere and creates right-handedness, is associated with logic, reasoning and language, while the right hemisphere, which creates left-handedness is associated with depth perception, visual cues, music, beauty and art.
Which might explain why those who have a 'good' or more developed right hemisphereu00a0 are left-handed and more inclined towards the creative arts, politics and have better people skills.
"When it comes to a life in the public eye, one needs emotional intelligence and positive body language. The right hemisphere of the brain controls just that, and hence, most left-handers can easily charm crowds and win hearts," says Dr Nair.
So now we know the secret to the charisma behind Mahatma Gandhi, Barack Obama and Amitabh Bachchan, to name just a few famous left-handers.
Did Youu00a0Know?
The Roman Army introduced the right-handed shake, the right-hand salute and also the right to left alphabets.
Certain cultures associate left-handedness with evil. The Devil was often portrayed as being left-handed in many images. It is also believed that we see ghosts over our left shoulder and that the Devil watches us over our left shoulder.
August 13 is International Left-Handers' Day. The day is set aside to increase awareness of the advantages, as well as the difficulties that come with being left-handed.
Left-handers can be faster typists. On a standard QWERTY keyboard there are about 3,400 words that can be typed solely with the left hand, compared to about 450 words typed solely with the right hand.
Left-handers typically have difficulty with...
Writing. English and other languages can be a pain to write, especially with ink that doesn't dry fast enough. It's another thing if writing in Arabic or Urdu, though!
The hand-shake. With Asians considering the left hand 'dirty', the formal handshake can be a bit of a problem. Also, it's terribly embarrassing to get the side of a kiss wrong when greeting, with people planting a firm kiss on the lips instead of the cheek.
Dressing up. Tying children's laces, wearing socks, buttoning up can cause a bit of a confusion.
90% of every human population that has ever lived appears to have been right-handed. So, nine out of every ten people is right-handed, or one out of every ten people is left-handed.
