Wednesday, 2 September 2009

Arriving at a definition of 'Normal'

Wondering as always at the things that are taken for granted a phrase from a friend made me pause on the question: What is normal? I may pack certain things which for me are pretty normal but then it may not be the kind of definition that my sister or mother may adhere to. Probably let us analyse certain insights into the very common word -- normal.

A schizophrenic: That voice, the voice which echoes within me always. Its the most normal thing. Voices.

A student: Classes? Movies perhaps. This is pretty normal yaar.

Lover: Roses/Moon are passe. Gazing into the eyes. Na. Why do the normal?

Rakhi Sawant: Arrey arranged marriage is naarmal. I go for Swayamvar. Not so naarmal these days.

Mother: Sacrifice, love that is unconditional. These define normalcy for mothers throughout the ages.

Scanning through the above instances, the word 'normal' is pretty unique to individuals and maybe types. But then is there something 'normal' that fits into the vocabulary of every one irrespective of being a mother, student, etc. Maybe sleeping in the afternoon, eating and other habits can be classified as 'normal.' I must admit that this post is a tad fuzzy but then normalcy is like that after all.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice post. But first things first. Your new blog template is refreshing and 'friendly', if I may say so. But the colour scheme, ummmm, well...... I wondered for a moment if it was my ageing eyesight that made it difficult to read. But no, please use a different colour for either the font or the background.
    About the post - you have opened a big topic which can lead to endless thoughts. Consider an extreme case of the people we call 'mentally retarded' and send them to asylums. Why we consider them 'not normal' is only because they don't see the world as we want them to see it. And we (supposedly the normal ones) outnumber them. So normal is another word for majority actually. For Taliban, public lashing or stoning of women is perfectly normal, which is considered abnormal by everyone else. But then Taliban have a majority there.
    On a less drastic level, MF Hussain who walks about barefoot should also be then considered abnormal. By the way, some years ago I tried walking barefoot for two full days. Nothing abnormal or untoward happened. My feet are still 'Normal' :-)
    I particularly liked the way you have ended your post. Very normal, I would say!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The colour scheme offered by blogger templates are pretty mundane. I tried to play around and it muffed up. Glad that you mentioned it. Rightly said: Its all about majority but the majority is decided by whom. That majority has a lot of sub sets too which makes it further complicated.
    Me replying to a comment is normal whereas certain others never reply to a comment. Maybe that is normal for them. Alas!!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails