Yes, the discrimination very much exists!!

We have folks to write, opine and debate about discrimination based on colour, creed and gender. But I have seen none who would even acknowledge this discrimination!


This discrimination, like charity, begins at home. My parents could not understand how on earth I became like this. If you would ask ‘em – “Have you ever thought about putting her for adoption?”, they probably would have replied “Every day till she went away for her college”.

If I try to use fancy term like it is congenital and have been wired like this, they unanimously raised eyebrows and pointed their finger at my younger bro – who was not like me
Having been convinced by parents and relatives that this affliction of mine is indeed very unusual and indicative of something else and has to be cured at any cost, I even approached folks who I presumed to be qualified to address this problem of mine. Funnily, they could not even see what is the issue and worsened the situation by claiming it was nothing unusual. Of course, unlike folks at home and those on their side, these qualified folks did not sound so convincing and some even tried to state things in a pretty diplomatic way – hardly unequivocal. I was torn between having to trust folks at home or by the words of those eminent folks. I chose to go by the latter as it was convenient for me. Anyway, I had already found a place in the golden book of family history even before I came out of my teens. This claim to fame is all I ever hear just after my name whenever I happen to be in a congregation of these folks who happen to share few genes with me - the critical mass requried for this event being number of folks greater than 3.


Fast forward to college days – situation did not improve; thats when I realized the majority of universe was indeed discriminating against people like me; One look at every rule conceived – reeked of the mockery of our handicap. We never thought it was handicap but the world around us kept re-iterating the same. But I could not give up my identity just like that; Sometimes I ignored the names that were hurled at me by those who called themselves my friend; Sometimes I had to resort to pathetic excuses like “Spectacles broke and there was no point of being here without the same” when dealing with folks who wielded authority (It was fun coz the look on their face would have thousand questions on it – Did you really wear glasses??). Luckily for me, the academia I was at did not believe in being a totalitarian and was quite accomodative as it believed in its younglings! It used to be quite amusing the way all our club work used to go about – they were probably the only ones who were least bothered by this side of me as long as we were on track! Except for funny names few coined, rest was not quite unnerving at the end I should say!


Then came the corporate life – the time when I thought I could finally be myself; Well, being part of an IT company, this perceived disability should hardly be a hurdle for being a productive employee and hence policymakers would not make much of an issue about it - thats what I thought! Au contraire, the effects of having the trait was used as the most common way of showing who is the boss!!! It does not matter you are in no way any less than those who were fortunate enough not to be afflicted with what I have! It did not help that I got into a project which required prison of an ODC and there went the WFH option out of the window which would have helped me escape from the mocking glances of people around me everytime I entered ODC! Sometimes, it was really advantageous for establishing the credibility of team as the clients were able to get a solution with the least turn-around time! The counterparts at onsite were the ones who really seemed to be pleased with me for this thing which used to make me the odd person out otherwise!


I dread everytime I receive a mail with the subject “Official Work Hours”. It does not matter to these heartless folks that I stay at workplace longer than quite a number of folks but like a grain of sand in their eyes, what bothers them so much is that my swipe-in is past 9 AM!!
YES – I CANNOT WAKE UP EARLY! The only way I can watch sunrise is when I don’t sleep till then! So what -If I sleep the best between 3 AM and 9 AM in the morning (and keep sleeping pretty cozily till 10 AM if there is nothing to stop it), I also work the best even at 2 AM in the night!!


PLEASE STOP THIS DISCRIMINATION! Just because we sleep late and wake up late – we do not become qualified to become a member of ‘Oversleeper’s Anonymous’ community in Orkut. We are no lazier than those who gets irritated by lights after 9.30 PM coz thats when they go to sleep and wake by 5 AM in the morning! Please understand and accept we are humans too – with a wierd bio-rhythm, thats all!


:D

PS - Crossposted on Wipro blogs!