Talk to my hand

I have five fingers in each of my hands. Therefore, I am a sexist.

Each finger is different from the others. But all join "hands" to dislodge the tidbit wedged between the molars using the toothpick. They also perform all other tasks together. Always together.

Among all the fingers, the pinkie is the smallest but it can do the most delicately indelicate tasks. It reaches places the other fingers can't. It can clean my ears, when it itches (hoping nobody watches). In the left hand it can hold the 6th, 7th and diminished notes on the guitar. In the piano it stretches like a rubber band to hit the keys normally not reached by other fingers. Or in a school-bus when a child shows the pinkie, it signals that her bladder is full especially when she has no clue about where is the loo, and you have to go when you have to go!

Next to it is the ring finger. It is a finger of relationships. When men first propose to the girl of their dreams they push a circular metal studded with some shiny stone to announce their private intentions in a public place! Why they choose only this finger I don't know, but its very sexist to ignore the other fingers and treat them of lesser value. And why women prefer only this finger for the ring I don't know but its very sexist, though romantic. The woman is enamored, but in the end its very sexist. Why this finger alone is isolated for this ornamental role I have not been able to find out. Nobody wears a ring on the thumb, but on the ring finger it is treated with great value especially during those times when the ring gets stuck and can't come out. Of course, in India they wear rings on other fingers too. However this is not for relationships, its for superstition (health, life, protection from enemies etc depending on the stones used). As a result Indians are not sexist.*

Next comes the middle finger, and it can easily boast over all the others because its the tallest. It doesn't have any specific function of its own. But recently non-sexist and politically correct people have delegated it for an exclusive use in non-verbal conversations. In such dialogues they stick the middle-finger out. When used this way it has a meaning that is functionally similar to that of rectal endoscopy.

Then comes the pointer-finger. Generally, this is used to show direction. At other times teachers and preachers use it as a baton, as if they are going to cane someone with that finger if they dont heed the warnings. These functions are found only among the Homo sapiens. You don't observe it in any of the other species among the vertebrates. If you point the moon to a cat, it wont look up. If you show the finger baton to a street mongrel it might chew it off. Therefore, the pointer-finger points out that humans are different from animals. However, among the Homo sapiens a sub-species called the Homo sapiens cannibalis use it for another extended purpose. They use finger-pointing to cannibalize the character of others. A typical example of such character assassination is, "You are a sexist", or "that is a sexist remark". And in the guise of political correctness, ethical snobbery and spiritual progressiveness the orthodoxy-oriented counter-trend thinkers are dumped on the bleachers. Ostracized. Marginalized. Lobotomized. There is no room for a rational Socratic dialogue -- "Please dont confuse my mind with facts, my mind is already made up."

Finally, there is the thumb. It is almost as small as the pinkie, but its stout. Really stout. In some way this digit is more important than the others. When pointed upward you can get a ride on a road, or indicate that something is excellent. When pointed downward it means things are going bad. Then the thumbprint can be used in place of a signature for the illiterates. And in the scientific world we have the Fleming's left hand thumb rule (to comprehend Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction). Most functions are impossible without the cooperation of the thumb. In the Indian epic, Mahabharatha, Drona asks Ekklavya's thumb as gurudakshina (teacher's fee) to eliminate Ekklavya's superiority over Arjuna in archery. The thumb is important, but its of no value if the other finger aren't there. Imagine, that in an accident you lost all your fingers, excepting the thumb. What would you do with it? You couldn't even pick your nose! Again if all the fingers were identical, the hand would lose its flexibility, control and efficiency. 

This means that -- there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it (I Corinthians 12: 25-26). This is how the home, the church and the society should be built. All the fingers belong to the same hand. And though they are not equal in function yet all are needed for the hand. And the hand is needed for the body. The ring finger doesn't think that it is a sexist remark just because someone points out that the pinkie is different. In the same way to recognize that woman is different from man is not sexist. Endocrinology and anatomy display, without remorse, that women and men are intrinsically different from each other. The hormones that course through their blood are different. And these hormones even shape they way their social & mental processes differ. Neurologically the way the left and right halves of their brains are wired, are also different. But all this is not for the function of one-up-manship or the argumentum ad hominem of male-bashing and misogyny. Man and woman were created equal (Genesis 1: 26-27). They complement each other in their limitations and enhance each other in their skills. So in the guise of political correctness let us not undermine the value each has by squeezing everyone into bland xeroxes of conformity, uniformity and eventual deformity. At some point we must understand the meaning of unity in diversity. God made each of us different, not just man and woman. And each person is uniquely imbued with value and purpose. This value should not be narrowly confined to the bloated grandstand of gender harmony, but should include race, caste, language, tribe, education, age and status. For, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor master, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3: 28).

I have five fingers in my hand. Therefore, I am a sexist.

* The Times of India newspaper (26th July 2018) reported, in a statistical list of nations, that India is most dangerous country for women

Recycling Babel

Continuous globe-trotting has got its own occupational hazards. And it’s not just the jet-lag or the skewed up biological rhythm or the sudden government shutdown in America. You end up tired with a pessimism goading apathy and amplifying adjustment. And inadvertently I become aware that I’m in Babel. Yes of course, the same Biblical Babel in which nobody understands anybody but we're all having fun and think we are going somewhere. On further reflection, I discovered that there are three categories of Babel.

The first Babel is that of English. In India if you say "I am good" you are boasting. In America if you say, "I’m fine," it doesn’t connect. In Britain we call them cutlets but in America you call them hash-browns. In India we call them ear-buds, but in the US they are Q-tips. What you call as ladyfinger, brinjal and coriander in Britain, you call it ocra, eggplant and cilantro in America. When Michael Jackson sings "I'm Bad", it means in Black American slang that he is exceptionally good so as to be unbeatable. Earlier we knew that wicked was someone who was a witch, but now it means anything unbelievably excellent. I thought "throw up" was to aim for the sky but it means to aim for ground or a commode. Its same English, but you can be lost. And I have not even started about Australian English or its accent!

The second Babel is among the Christians. Take for example, the second coming. For some it is a symbolic process which has already happened, for some others it is specific date esoterically revealed; and for yet another group it is unknown and way out in the eschatological future. Or let’s take speaking in tongues. I mean this can literally be babel... pun intended... for some it’s the indication of salvation, for others it is the unconditional proof of the Holy Spirit, for another group it is merely an ecstatic utterance, for yet another group it is just an anthropological phenomena common to many cultures and religions; and for another abomination (oops, I’m sorry, denomination) it is unacceptable heresy meant to be forbidden in church! So, how in the world are we to talk to each other with the same language, and the same words?

The third is the institutional babel. When a woman says she is "fine" it means she is not fine and that she needs attention. And when a man says he is "tired" it means he is upset and wants to be left alone. So, communication becomes complex, and the home can become a vociferous babel. Everybody is screaming and nobody understanding. This screaming whether in the institution of the home, or in the church, or in the workplace, or in the government can be severe enough to bring about a shutdown. That’s exactly what happened in Genesis 11 - complete shutdown on the project of self-importance. And that’s why I don’t even want to attempt the political babel of whether I am a Democrat or a Republican. All I know is that I m a publican, worse than the chief of all sinners. I am what I am only because someone made me clean. That’s why I can have no boast about my being, or my character. My mechanism to communicate, therefore, is to get into the heart of Acts chapter 2 and to speak in a language that I really know so that others will understand it in a language that they know (which I may not know). It is babel reversed, and it is the beginning of community. And if we all could only be a community and cared for each other, then that would be language enough.