Right from our childhood, we are taught to learn the opposites. The opposite of black-white. The opposite of good- bad. The opposite of love-hate. If something is not good, it has to be bad, this is a common notion. If something is not sweet it has to be sour. If you don’t love somebody, it is implied that you hate that person. There is no room for any middle path. The acquired knowledge of such opposites fills our mind with extreme thoughts and such extremities can be felt in the growing intolerance worldwide. You are supposed to have a strong opinion about someone or something. For example, if you do not support any political party, you are expected to hate that party. If you love Christiano Ronaldo, you are supposed to hate Lionel Messi. There is nothing in between. Such preconceived ideas often result in misjudging people. We often make prior opinions about a person without knowing him fully.
A student may not have very good handwriting, but his writings may be full of good quality content. What if we form an opinion just by seeing his not-so-good handwriting? Are we not depriving him or her of an opportunity he or she deserved? We have heard that someone is not a good person. So immediately we come to the conclusion that he is a bad person altogether. He may be good at certain things which would have otherwise helped us in many ways. None in this world is perfect. By being judgmental, we are not only shutting the doors for new possibilities but also, we are fooling ourselves.
It is unfortunate to see the growing hatred across all the social media platforms. Everyone is ready with some venomous comments to make against anyone. Trolling has become very much a part of life. But this is not healthy and not going to sustain in the long run. Our judgmental mind full of either love or hatred is ready to make someone an instant hero or someone the most hated villain. There is actually no space for the character artists. There is no supporting role in a world full of expert panelists and opinions. Everyone is ready with an opinion either to shower laurels or to throw venom.
By nature, I tend to be of selective opinion. For example, I love Roger Federer. But that in no way implies that I hate Nadal or Djokovic. I love Messi but I am a fan of the hard work that Ronaldo puts to score goals, to win matches. The selection of such a middle path where we can build opinions after giving a fair amount of chance to everyone is the need of the hour to put an end to the growing intolerance all around. We may not love a person. But hatred may not be the only alternative. We may be indifferent. A person may not be very good but he may not be very bad as well. Life goes on in the middle path, too.
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