Labels

Sometime back I witnessed a strange thing. Somebody making tea. What is strange in it? It was done in our traditional way – keeping a utensil with milk and water in the stove, adding tea leaves, filtering it with a tea strainer, adding sugar… that person wasn’t using a utensil which will allow us to easily pour tea into a glass without spilling and naturally I saw tea getting spilled. Spilling...wiping... Once, twice, thrice…I saw it happening every time that person made tea. It looked like a daily ritual. The strange thing is that I saw a perfect utensil for making tea that can be then poured without spilling even a drop. But why that person did not use it?

According to that person, that utensil is for making a particular curry. I came to know that this is because that person’s mother told so.

Do we need to label things around us that way? Do we need to follow our parents blindly in this labeling process?

Everything might have a specific use but it also has a general use too. A safety pin, a swab, a kitchen fork, sewing needle, a rubber band, a dining table, a dining chair, a business card, a screwdriver, pliers, a piece of wood, a tea spoon, a roll of toilet paper, a coin...Prejudice about people, ceremonies, rituals, beliefs, culture, religion, faith etc too gets labeled.

When I saw that labeling, an incident came into my mind. Roughly 20 years ago, I was working in a factory as an accountant. They had lots of machines and tools, including some lathe. That factory used to open by 8 in the morning and the owner used to come around 10. One day, I saw my boss’s car coming early, I stood up in my seat to greet him and here he comes in a hurry and from his face I read that something is odd.

“Call Madhavan” he said

Madhavan was a strange worker there. He was not in our rolls. He was working with that factory as a supervisor but later on resigned and started his own workshop. But still, he comes here and works on an hourly basis. He was the best there..was proficient with every department there. Not just that, he was capable of fixing many things like motor bike, car, clock, electrical equipments, plumbing…he was very very talented.

Why did the boss come this early and call Madhavan?

As usual, he took his morning shower, cleaned his ear with a cotton swab and there it is…the cotton stuck inside his ear. But he did not go to an ENT specialist. This is not because he was a miser. But his trust with Madhavan. He did not label Madhavan as a Lathe operator.

(Madhavan or none of us did not dare to laugh when we came to know why boss called him coz our boss was very very short tempered)

As expected, Madhavan did not fail….

We need to grow beyond labels…Needn't we?