Last
Sunday evening I watched a talk show in Tamil called Neeya Nanna (meaning-You or Me) and the topic for discussions was
Judgment of a person by their appearance. Quite an interesting topic to be
discussed but the quality of the discussions by some of the participants was
much to be desired for certain incidents narrated by them were childish and
irrelevant. One of the participants stated that though she has cleared the
technical interviews and group discussions in company she was overlooked by the
HR in favor of a beautiful looking girl who hardly talked anything during the
interview. Other person said that he was overlooked for a job because of his
skin color, the other stating because he was fat and so forth. Listening to
many participants about their negative experiences on being judged by appearance was the catalyst
to this blog.
We
are taught not to Judge others by their appearances and there is an old adage
warning “Do not judge a book by its cover “and yet many people cannot help but submit
to their first impression of a person in their judgment which is done within a
minute of meeting the person. Appearances drive us and it affects every
judgment we make. We are taught to look as good as possible so that we are
judged positively in all fields be it for an interview or a social event. Yet
intrinsic value of the person is what the people have to look for and that is
most important. Looks may matter in certain job portfolios but then it is the
knowledge base which would reap the benefits and in the present day scenario is
difficult for a company to sustain by employing persons on their looks alone.
Judgment
by looks is very much prevalent in the society and person not confirming to
some preconceived notions are more likely to be rejected and experience problems,
like mockery or even discrimination. I have heard of parents telling their
children “do not associate with XYZ since he or she looks like a person of bad
character”. A stigma is being attached to a person without even knowing the
person. Recently was traveling in an auto and we witnessed an accident on the
way and the auto driver stated that people who break traffic rules, jumping of
signals are north Indians or similarly up north it is that Madrasi do not
create any problems. It is wrong on both counts for I personally know of
various instances both here in Chennai and in New Delhi where it was quite the
opposite.
One
of the panelist on the show blind from his birth has encountered mockery discrimination
throughout his life span because of his disabilities and in spite of the
discouragement he has done his masters has risen to be a principal of a College.
His determination to excel and prove himself to the world stands out in the
crowd and he said that “discrimination is the mile stone to his success”. I hope
that people who feel discriminated for having been judged based on appearance
do not despair or lose confidence in themselves instead raise up to the challenge
and prove their worth in their field.
Your
thoughts on this topics please !!!!!