Over the summer, I enrolled myself in a creative writing course at the British Council. During a character building exercise, we were given a "Secret Spy Task" in which we had to observe a stranger for 10 minutes and answer certain questions about him. The questions ranged from "What is his most prized possession?" to "When was the last time he cried?" It struck us as weird at first, formulating ideas about such personal information, just by a simple glance. However, we took up the challenge. I observed a man sitting at a distance, trying not to appear like a spy on his trail, and jotted down my answers. In my head, I built up a story revolving around a recent heartbreak, and went on to judge his views about religion and how he'd react in a robbery situation.
When we went back to the classroom and discussed our observations, we made ourselves believe that we knew a part of a person we'd never see again.
Does the task strike you as weird, dear reader? It must, for it appeared bizarre to me too. But, sit back and think for a moment. Don't we do this everyday? We observe people sitting beside us in the metro, glance at individuals sitting across our table at the cafeteria. We gauge their character by looking at the length of their clothes, classifying them on a range of loose character to a sanskari bahu. Don't we look for signs of their religion, a cap and a beard qualifying someone as a good Muslim. A red thread around the wrist a pious Hindu. Aren't we always quick to spot a man who's different from the rest, ridiculing his hand gestures and terming him gay. Haven't you ever looked at the brand of a person's clothes, shoes and phones, and judged their class, wondering how better their lives are.
We live in a nation that judges beauty by complexion, nationality by the size of the eye, piety by the number of threads, sexuality by the gestures. Our movies glorify love at first sight, our society encourages marriages arranged after a single meeting. We're all spies, then, building up characters and stories in our heads, far away from the reality.
When we went back to the classroom and discussed our observations, we made ourselves believe that we knew a part of a person we'd never see again.
Does the task strike you as weird, dear reader? It must, for it appeared bizarre to me too. But, sit back and think for a moment. Don't we do this everyday? We observe people sitting beside us in the metro, glance at individuals sitting across our table at the cafeteria. We gauge their character by looking at the length of their clothes, classifying them on a range of loose character to a sanskari bahu. Don't we look for signs of their religion, a cap and a beard qualifying someone as a good Muslim. A red thread around the wrist a pious Hindu. Aren't we always quick to spot a man who's different from the rest, ridiculing his hand gestures and terming him gay. Haven't you ever looked at the brand of a person's clothes, shoes and phones, and judged their class, wondering how better their lives are.
We live in a nation that judges beauty by complexion, nationality by the size of the eye, piety by the number of threads, sexuality by the gestures. Our movies glorify love at first sight, our society encourages marriages arranged after a single meeting. We're all spies, then, building up characters and stories in our heads, far away from the reality.
Nice post...keep on writing!
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