Perceptions

I read an article a few days back in The Star about indian youths from estates migrating to the city, caught in the tangle and get involved in crimes. Why? Because of their appearance, because the society didnt accept them, their parents are used to find faults with them, the economy offers them no employment and for the employed, there is no room for promotion. Frustration builts up, they get involved, get caught and then the society just pushes them apart.

I felt like i was being slapped in the face when i read that article because just earlier in the morning prior to reading that article, on the way to work, i saw a bunch of indian guys gathering near a shop and i was asking myself, what on earth are they doing there and there was already a bad perception in my mind.

I had also turned my face away whenever i saw an guy with long hair, untidy apperance and unruly attitude all these while. I wonder out aloud now, what would have my behavior signalled to them? That they are so terrible that even a girl wouldn't want to look at them? Was it their fault that they had come from such a background?

i had a friend who used to tell me that ever since he was in school, he and his friends always had a different treatment right from the teachers, from employers, from other girls. when i heard him describe it, i almost cried. he now holds an university degree together with his friends and leads a decent life.

These are a number of people who managed to shun the perception surrounding their apperance but what about the rest, how many had given in to the perception, succumbed to low self esteem, withdrawn and spent the life feeling like an outcast?

Time has arrived for us to stop making perceptions from looks, color, appearance, and background. Embrace everyone with love and somehow a tiny acceptance can give a huge difference in an individual's life without you realising it. I'm going to change today. How about you?