Wisdom & Knowedge - Chapter 3 : Right to Choices

As a human we are all entitled to a defined set of human rights accorded to us by the virtue of being humans, among which perhaps the most important include the right to life & liberty and the freedom from discrimination. Most of us can’t even comprehend what it’s like to be discriminated but to a huge section of our society, this is still a luxury. Discrimination on the basis of caste has been a part of our society from centuries, people exempted even from basic human rights & dignity and yes we have come a long way since that but even today it’s prevalent in our society along with a different form of discrimination – one on the basis of choice. Sounds strange, right? But sadly, true; even in the world’s largest democracy people are discriminated and judged by the choice of their romantic partner or rather the choice to not have a partner, choice of profession and even belief (not just religious). We are alright with a public figure being openly gay or choosing to remain unmarried, but we don’t allow it when it comes to our own family; a person being gay is something that even today our society can’t full accept – they are judged, treated differently continuously, sometimes as simple yet strange as just staring at them. We praise and vote for kids on reality shows but that’s until our own children ask to try a profession other than science. Why can’t we show the same love, support and acceptance when it comes to our own close ones? We may have upgraded our lifestyle, the phones we use, and the cars we drive but have we updated our thoughts. It’s easy to buy a smart phone with a wide angle camera and 4K display but the tough part is widening the hole from which we see the world. Imagine how much better the world be without judgments and prejudices.

We all have the right to choose and we exercise it every day, as a democratic citizen choosing our leaders, as a consumer choosing a brand, as a social being our choice to reproduce; but we feel scared when someone makes a choice which isn't in conformance to ours. Everyone out there has a right to have their own set of principles, a choice to a way of life; and to defend that way of has been primordial to us, and it’s embedded into our very DNA. But to challenge or stop some other person’s way of life just because it doesn’t conform to yours is against the laws of being a human. We are humans, we fear anything we can’t comprehend, we fear the unknown and the only thing that can defeat that fear is LOGIC –ask yourself, “Is there actually something wrong with it?” or “Will someone else’s choice actually affect my way of life?” & you would have your answer. Our intellect, our very ability to understand the logic behind things, make an educated choice about is perhaps mankind’s biggest tools and we need to acknowledge every person’s right to do that. I am not asking you to always agree to a person’s choice in a said matter, but to respect it .The idea of free choice is synonymous to freedom and the degree of maturity of a society. The day we accept and understand that right, we would have grown as a society.